Brutalist Furniture
The design of brutalist furniture encompasses that which is crafted, hewn and worked by hand — an aesthetic rebuke (or, at least, a counterpoint) to furniture that is created using 21st-century materials and technology. Lately, the word “brutalist” has been adopted by the realms of furniture design and the decorative arts to refer to chairs, cabinets, tables and accessory pieces such as mirror frames and lighting that are made of rougher, deeply textured metals and other materials that are the visual and palpable antithesis of the sleek, smooth and suave.
ORIGINS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
- Brutalism emerged during the mid-20th century
- Term coined by architecture critic Reyner Banham
- Originated in the United Kingdom
- Brutalist architecture gained popularity in the United States beginning in the early 1960s
- Inaugural brutalist projects include Unité d'habitation and the city of Chandigarh, India, both of which owe to influential architect Charles-Édouard “Le Corbusier” Jeanneret
- Le Corbusier’s cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, designed hundreds of chairs, tables, cabinets and lamps for Chandigarh
- Informed by the Bauhaus, constructivism, modernism and the International Style; part of mid-century modernism
- Contrasted starkly with Beaux Arts style
CHARACTERISTICS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
- Use of industrial materials — tubular steel, concrete, glass, granite
- Prioritises functionalism, minimalism and utilisation of negative space
- Spare silhouettes, pronounced geometric shapes
- Stripped-down, natural look; rugged textures, modular construction
- Interiors featuring airy visual flow and reliance on neutral palettes
BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE BRUTALIST FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The term brutalism — which derives from the French word brut, meaning “raw” — was coined by architecture critic Reyner Banham to describe an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s featuring monumental buildings, usually made of unornamented concrete, whose design was meant to project an air of strength and solidity.
Le Corbusier essentially created the brutalist style; its best-known iterations in the United States are the Whitney Museum of American Art, which was designed by Marcel Breuer, and Paul Rudolph's Yale Art and Architecture Building. The severe style might have been the most criticised architectural movement of the 20th century, even if it was an honest attempt to celebrate the beauty of raw material. But while the brutalist government buildings in Washington, D.C., seemingly bask in their un-beauty, brutalist interior design and decor is much more lyrical, at times taking on a whimsical, romantic quality that its exterior counterparts lack.
Paul Evans is Exhibit A for brutalist furniture design. His Sculpture Front cabinets laced with high-relief patinated steel mounts have become collector's items nonpareil, while the chairs, coffee table and dining table in his later Cityscape series and Sculpted Bronze series for Directional Furniture are perhaps the most expressive, attention-grabbing pieces in American modern design. Other exemplary brutalist designers are Silas Seandel, the idiosyncratic New York furniture designer and sculptor whose works in metal — in particular his tables — have a kind of brawny lyricism, and Curtis Jere, a nom-de-trade for the California team of Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels, the bold makers of expressive scorched and sheared copper and brass mirror frames and wall-mounted sculptures.
Brutalist furniture and sculptures remain popular with interior designers and can lend unique, eccentric, human notes to an art and design collection in any home.
Find authentic vintage brutalist chairs, coffee tables, decor and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1960s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Glass, Mirror, Ash
Mid-20th Century Spanish Brutalist Furniture
Metal, Iron, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Brutalist Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Brutalist Furniture
Brass
2010s Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Composition
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wrought Iron
1970s Danish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic
1970s Swedish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Bronze
1970s Brazilian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Quartz, Bronze
1950s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Iron
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Onyx, Metal
1950s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Copper, Wrought Iron
2010s Italian Brutalist Furniture
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Brutalist Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Brutalist Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Brutalist Furniture
Concrete, Cement
2010s Italian Brutalist Furniture
Concrete, Cement
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Brutalist Furniture
Brass
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Resin, Glass
2010s European Brutalist Furniture
Resin
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1980s German Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Slate, Concrete, Limestone, Brass, Copper
1970s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Oak
Mid-20th Century Finnish Brutalist Furniture
Elm
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Furniture
Beech, Rope
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Rush, Oak
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Steel, Pewter
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Brutalist Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Finnish Brutalist Furniture
Elm
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Brutalist Furniture
Steel
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Furniture
Hardwood
1960s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Mid-20th Century Spanish Brutalist Furniture
Iron
Mid-20th Century Italian Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Copper
Late 20th Century European Brutalist Furniture
Oak, Goatskin
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Brutalist Furniture
Oak
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Hardwood, Oak
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Oak
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1960s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Travertine, Wrought Iron
2010s Danish Brutalist Furniture
Stoneware
2010s American Brutalist Furniture
Concrete
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Furniture
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Marble
2010s American Brutalist Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Brutalist Furniture
Metal
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood