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
CHARACTERISTICS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
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 criticized 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, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
$861Sale Price|20% Off
Hand-Crafted Rustic Hardwood Stool or Lamp Base, Wabi-Sabi Style, Italy, 1870
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
M/1322 - This rustic wooden stool is maybe an Italian farmer stool with a burn mark: perhaps a forgotten candle still burning. The hard wood prevented the...
Hardwood
French stool in solid elm and rattan, 1950
Located in Amstelveen, NL
Robust and primitive French oak stool with unconventional proportions with very solid (elephant) legs and a beautiful rattan seat. Totally unmessed with, as honest as furniture could...
Rattan, Oak
Set of 4 chairs in the style of Charles Dudouyt, France, 1950s
Located in SAN PIETRO MOSEZZO, NO
Set of 4 chairs dating from the 1950s in the style of Charles Dudouyt (France). The production of this set is Italian. Lime wood and straw frame. The seats except for one are all i...
Straw, Wood
“Big Iron” Dining Chair, Iron, James Vincent Milano, Italy, 2023
Located in Milano, IT
“Big Iron” Dining Chair, Iron, JAMES VINCENT MILANO, Italy, 2023 Dining chair. Floating seat. Polished and brushed iron. Engraved logo plaque in chrome satinated brass. Handcrafted...
Iron
Brutalist Stool, circa 1950
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Brutalist stool, circa 1950.
Wood
$3,834 / set
Set of Six Brutalist Chairs
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Unusual brutalist chairs in oak.
Oak
Brutalist Oak Stool, circa 1950
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Brutalist oak stool, circa 1950.
Oak
$7,177 / set
6 Mountain Chairs, in ELM, circa 1900
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
6 mountain chairs, in ELM circa 1900.
Elm
$897 / item
Two Elm Stool circa 1950
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
2 elm stool circa 1950.
Elm
Set of Eight Brutalist Chairs in Oak, Brass and Velvet, circa 1950
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Set of eight Brutalist chairs in oak, brass and velvet, circa 1950. Dimension chairs: 122 x 50 x 48 cm / HS 50 cm Dimension armchairs: 122 x 58 x 50 cm / HS 53 cm. another darker oak...
Brass
Set of Eight Brutalist Chairs in Oak, Brass and Velvet, circa 1950
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Set of eight brutalist chairs in oak, brass and velvet, circa 1950. Dimension chairs: 122 x 50 x 48 cm / HS 50 cm Dimension armchairs: 122 x 58 x 50 cm / HS 53 cm. another lighter oa...
Brass
Pair of Brutus Style Armchairs, Contemporary, Bone White, Fiber Concrete.
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Pair of Brutus style armchairs, contemporary - Bone White - concrete and moulded fibre, mid 20th century design. Pair of Brutus armchairs in white, sculptural designs for modern int...
Concrete
Pair of wooden brutalist chairs resting on a tripod pedestal CIRCA 1950/1960
Located in Mouscron, WHT
Pair of wooden brutalist chairs resting on a tripod base, the backrest updated. circa 1950/1960
Beech
$4,250 / item
Futuristic brutalist modular lounge chair
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Contact for additional custom work. Designed and built in Los Angeles by Joseph Dieppa of Dieppa Design. A 1 of 1 piece entirely hand built. Conceptually with see this piece as a ...
Steel
$7,999Sale Price / set|25% Off
Exquisite Lounge Set by Atelier Sonja Wasseur, Dutch Design
Located in Voorburg, NL
Unique lounge set designed by atelier Sonja Wasseur. Consisting of two lounge chairs, one stool and a center table. All with a very solid dark brown wooden base and chocolate brown l...
Leather, Glass, Wood
3x Very rare Modernist Brutalist armchair designed by architect Fritz Zeiger
Located in Breda, NB
3x Very rare Modernist Brutalist armchair designed by architect Fritz Zeiger. Fritz Zeiger was a German architect known for his work in the first half of the 20th century. He is ofte...
Wood
$1,800 / item
1960’s Brutalist Dutch Oak Chair, 6 Chairs Available
Located in Chicago, IL
Midcentury Brutalist Dutch Oak tall back dining chair. Six chairs available.
Wood
$1,148Sale Price / item|20% Off
Contemporary Live Edge Style Bench in Solid Oak
Located in Burlăceni, Cahul District
Contemporary Live Edge Style Bench in Solid Oak Transform your space with the natural beauty and modern design of our Contemporary Live Edge Style Bench in Solid Oak. This stunning ...
Oak
$837Sale Price / set|41% Off
6 Beech Wood Dining Chairs, 1940s
Located in Montelabbate, PU
Solid and massive chairs in a brutal eclectic style, beechwood, floral tapestry fabric.
Beech
Contemporary "Arz" Chair in Solid Atlas Cedar by Mādda: Minimalist Moroccan
Located in Marrakech, MA
A contemporary seating piece by Marrakech-based design studio Mādda. Titled "Arz"—the Arabic word for Cedar—this chair is a study in reductive modernism, rooted in North African craf...
Cedar, Wood
Pair of Brutalist Easy Chairs, 1960s
Located in Brussel, BE
Pair of interesting and comfy two brutalist easy chairs.
Wood
Brazilian Brutalist Rosewood and Leather Lounge Chair by Jean Gillon
By Jean Gillon
Located in BUSSUM, NH
Large Brutalist Lounge chair by Brazilian designer Jean Gillon from the 1960s In a very beautifull vintage condition. New Premium quality leather cushions, in typical Brazilian Dee...
Leather, Rosewood
$5,383 / set
Set of 4 Solid Oak Brutalist Chairs, 1970s
Located in Echt, NL
Very impressive Sculptural chairs in very good condition. These chairs were made in the 1970s in Spain. They are made of solid oak wood and constructed with visible joints. The cu...
Wood, Oak
Set of 4 Mid-Century Brutalist Iron Stacking Dining Chairs
Located in Godshill, Isle of Wight
Set of 4 Brutalist iron stacking dining chairs Great pieces, a set of good heavy iron chairs which have square seats and round backs with inset h...
Iron
$1,591Sale Price|30% Off
Brutalist Armchair Bench
Located in Vezzano Sul Crostolo, IT
Beautiful bench the oak wood and leather. Excellent condition . The structural wooden parts are carved with gouges that make the article elegant yet rustic.Ideal for any kind of fur...
Iron
Set Three-Legged Wooden Stools in Ash in the Style of Charlotte Perriand, 1970s
Located in Hellouw, NL
Balance and clarity characterise this refined pair of wooden stools, echoing the design language of Charlotte Perriand. Their straightforward yet thoughtful construction pays tribute...
Ash
Black Maple Leaf Chair, Contemporary Armchair
Located in Santa Edwiges, MG
Black maple leaf chair to boconcept Ottawa chair (karim rashid by Estúdio Iludi) Unique piece Invited by BoConcept, Estúdio Iludi receives the mission of reimagining the Ottawa chair, from the homonymous collection by the prestigious designer Karim Rashid. In order to accomplish this task, Estúdio Iludi faces the double challenge of highlighting the Egyptian designer’s visionary esthesia and stamping its own mark on an international hit. The Ottawa chair, which in its original conception presents a leaf-shaped seat, structured on four open legs after the fashion of a tree root, is lifted off the ground in the Iludi rereading. Thus, placed on a framework that is suspended from the ceiling by a rope and a hook, the chair is made into a swing. Movement, the watchword of the creations by Estúdio Iludi, becomes a perfect way to potentiate Karin Rashid...
Steel