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.
Mid-20th Century Swedish Brutalist Furniture
Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Marble
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Copper, Pewter
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Straw, Bentwood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Plywood
Mid-20th Century Danish Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Cut Steel
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Leather, Pine
1990s American Brutalist Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Marble
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wrought Iron
1890s Italian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Iron
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wrought Iron
20th Century American Brutalist Furniture
Oak, Softwood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Hardwood
1980s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Travertine
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Furniture
Stone, Cast Stone
Mid-20th Century Tanzanian Brutalist Furniture
Wood, Ebony
1960s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Walnut
1970s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Velvet, Wood
Early 2000s American Brutalist Furniture
Paper
1950s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Beech, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Marble
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood, Hardwood, Oak
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Pine
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Hardwood, Walnut
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Copper
1960s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Wood, Oak
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Nickel
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic
1930s Scandinavian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Furniture
Steel
2010s Spanish Brutalist Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
Mid-20th Century Hong Kong Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Copper
2010s Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Marble
1950s European Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Steel
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Marble
1980s Italian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Marble
2010s Portuguese Brutalist Furniture
Marble
1970s Mexican Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
1960s European Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Wrought Iron
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Lava, Wrought Iron
1960s German Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1960s German Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Crystal
1960s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century European Brutalist Furniture
Plaster, Plywood
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Furniture
Hardwood, Fruitwood
1960s French Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Furniture
Wood, Burl
1970s Finnish Vintage Brutalist Furniture
Bronze
2010s Mexican Brutalist Furniture
Oak