If it weren’t for the Bauhaus movement, there would be no Ikea; so you can thank architect Marcel Breuer for those cheaply produced, easy-to-assemble chairs in your starter apartment. His modernist designs spread throughout Europe and into the United States when he emigrated from his native Hungary to become a professor at Harvard University. Breuer’s tubular-steel chairs (the “Wassily” is his best-known), as well as his cantilevered homes, stores, and churches are considered mainstays of architecture and design. The National Building Museum’s exhibition “Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture” divides Breuer’s career by materials and by construction techniques for spaces and houses. Famous works, such as the Whitney Museum, receive the same amount of attention as private homes. Missing from the exhibit, however, is Breuer’s local contribution: the curvilinear Housing and Urban Development building at 451 7th St. SW. The exhibition is on view from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays, to Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008, at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. $5 (suggested donation). (202) 272-2448.