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.
Late 19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Brass, Wrought Iron, Copper
19th Century Italian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Stone
Late 19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Late 19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Mid-19th Century Danish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Oak
Mid-19th Century Danish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Oak
Late 19th Century German Antique Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic
Mid-19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Rattan, Oak
Early 19th Century Scandinavian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Pine
19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Late 19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wool, Cotton, Foam
Early 19th Century Spanish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Leather, Oak
19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Zinc
Late 19th Century North American Antique Brutalist Furniture
Metal
1870s Swedish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Pine
Early 19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Bronze
1850s Swedish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Pine
Late 19th Century Unknown Antique Brutalist Furniture
Lead
19th Century Swedish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Pine
Late 19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Elm
1890s Italian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Iron
19th Century Indian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
19th Century Italian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood, Oak
Late 19th Century Swedish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Pine
1850s German Antique Brutalist Furniture
Oak, Lacquer
Mid-19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Copper
19th Century Austrian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Walnut
1820s European Antique Brutalist Furniture
Steel
1820s European Antique Brutalist Furniture
Steel
19th Century Norwegian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Early 19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Iron
1880s Antique Brutalist Furniture
Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Brutalist Furniture
Ceramic
Late 19th Century Dutch Antique Brutalist Furniture
Rush, Oak
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Brutalist Furniture
Hardwood
1890s Danish Antique Brutalist Furniture
Pine
Late 19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Brass
Mid-19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Iron
19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wood
Early 19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Nickel
Early 19th Century European Antique Brutalist Furniture
Marble, Bronze
Late 19th Century Antique Brutalist Furniture
Wool, Cotton, Foam
Early 19th Century Japanese Antique Brutalist Furniture
Stone, Schist