Brutalist Seating
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
- Prioritizes functionalism, minimalism and utilization 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 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.
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Seating
Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Seating
Oak, Walnut
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Seating
Cowhide, Wood
1960s Austrian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Wood
2010s Canadian Brutalist Seating
Wood, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Swedish Brutalist Seating
Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Seating
Wood
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Seating
Fabric
1960s German Vintage Brutalist Seating
Oak
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Seating
Wood, Faux Leather
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Seating
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Seating
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Armenian Brutalist Seating
Oak
1960s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Seating
Metal
2010s Mexican Brutalist Seating
Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Seating
Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Seating
Oak
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Seating
Oak
1930s British Vintage Brutalist Seating
Pine
Late 20th Century American Brutalist Seating
Iron
Mid-20th Century German Brutalist Seating
Wood, Pine
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Seating
Bronze
1960s French Vintage Brutalist Seating
Wood
1970s Austrian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Fiberglass, Plastic, Textile
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Seating
Wood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Seating
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Seating
Bouclé, Oak
1960s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Seating
Oak
Mid-20th Century European Brutalist Seating
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Seating
Oak, Walnut
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Seating
Metal, Brass
1970s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Seating
Oak
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Seating
Bouclé, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Seating
Oak
2010s Mexican Brutalist Seating
Hardwood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Seating
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Spanish Brutalist Seating
Wood
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Seating
Faux Fur, Oak
2010s Mexican Brutalist Seating
Hardwood
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Seating
Bronze
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Seating
Upholstery, Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Seating
Wood, Oak
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Brutalist Seating
Cowhide, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Seating
Oak
1990s North American Brutalist Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Seating
Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Seating
Oak, Walnut
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Seating
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Swedish Brutalist Seating
Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Brutalist Seating
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Seating
Oak, Walnut
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Seating
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Seating
Oak
1950s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Seating
Wood, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Dutch Brutalist Seating
Leather, Pine
Late 20th Century Swedish Brutalist Seating
Concrete, Cut Steel
Early 20th Century Swedish Brutalist Seating
Wood, Birch
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Oak
1960s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Oak
1980s German Vintage Brutalist Seating
Oak
Mid-20th Century Finnish Brutalist Seating
Elm
21st Century and Contemporary Moldovan Brutalist Seating
Oak
2010s American Brutalist Seating
Bronze
1970s Danish Vintage Brutalist Seating
Leather, Wood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Seating
Hardwood
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Seating
Steel, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Brutalist Seating
Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Seating
Oak
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Seating
Elm, Rope
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Seating
Pine