Brutalist Credenzas
The term brutalism — which derives from the French word brut, meaning “raw” — was coined 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 Marcel Breuer–designed Whitney Museum of American Art and Paul Rudolph's Yale Art and Architecture Building.
Lately, the word “brutalist” has been adopted by the realms of furniture design and the decorative arts to refer to 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. Brutalist design 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.
Paul Evans is Exhibit A for brutalist design. His Sculpture Front cabinets laced with high-relief patinated steel mounts have become collector's items nonpareil, while the chairs and tables in his later Cityscape series and Sculpted Bronze series are perhaps the most expressive, attention-grabbing pieces in modern American design. Other exemplars of brutalist design 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.
The names of other brutalist designers are, so far, unknown to history. The authentic brutalist furniture and sculptures on 1stDibs lend unique, eccentric, human notes to an art and design collection.
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
Early 20th Century French Brutalist Credenzas
Mahogany
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
Mid-20th Century English Brutalist Credenzas
Brass
2010s Italian Brutalist Credenzas
Marble, Metal
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Walnut
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Stone
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
20th Century Belgian Brutalist Credenzas
Aluminum
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Bronze
1960s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Pine
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Credenzas
Wood
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1990s Dutch Brutalist Credenzas
Metal
1980s Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Wood
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Hungarian Brutalist Credenzas
Brass
1960s Scandinavian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Birch, Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Shagreen, Wood
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Aluminum
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Aluminum
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Walnut
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Fiberglass, Wood
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Credenzas
Concrete, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary European Brutalist Credenzas
Metal
1970s European Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Aluminum
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
2010s Icelandic Brutalist Credenzas
Onyx
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Carrara Marble, Brass
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Metal, Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Credenzas
Brass
2010s Italian Brutalist Credenzas
Marble, Metal, Bronze
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary European Brutalist Credenzas
Metal
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Metal, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Credenzas
Brass
Late 20th Century European Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Slate, Metal
Late 20th Century Belgian Brutalist Credenzas
Oak
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Wood
20th Century Italian Brutalist Credenzas
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary European Brutalist Credenzas
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary European Brutalist Credenzas
Metal
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Mahogany
1970s European Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Wood, Oak
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Credenzas
Wood