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
- 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.
2010s Canadian Brutalist Furniture
Walnut, Leather, Wood
1990s French Brutalist Furniture
Travertine
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wood
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Macassar
1970s Unknown Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Furniture
Composition, Brass
1950s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Furniture
Wood, Burl
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Oak
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Furniture
Brass
1960s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1980s Danish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Furniture
Oak
20th Century English Brutalist Furniture
Yew
1970s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Copper
1960s German Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary European Brutalist Furniture
Metal
2010s Chinese Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1970s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Rush, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Furniture
Oak
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Furniture
Oak
Mid-20th Century European Brutalist Furniture
Oak, Fabric
1960s Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Walnut
2010s Chinese Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Early 20th Century German Brutalist Furniture
Brass
2010s Brazilian Brutalist Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Brutalist Furniture
Murano Glass
2010s Chinese Brutalist Furniture
Glass, Wood
1980s European Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Beech
Early 2000s French Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Oak
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Brutalist Furniture
Pine
20th Century American Brutalist Furniture
Walnut
1960s Brazilian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Leather, Teak
1970s Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary European Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Furniture
Fabric, Oak
2010s Brazilian Brutalist Furniture
Hardwood
1950s English Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Furniture
Fabric, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Silver Leaf
1940s Danish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1960s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Stone, Metal
Mid-20th Century Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Brass
1780s German Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Elm
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wrought Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century Hungarian Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Furniture
Oak
1940s Danish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Sheepskin, Oak