Brutalist Shelves
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 Danish Brutalist Shelves
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Colombian Brutalist Shelves
Wood, Cedar
1970s Swedish Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
Slate, Brass, Copper, Steel
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Glass, Resin, Wood
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Resin, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Brutalist Shelves
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Brutalist Shelves
Stainless Steel
1950s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Metal
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Brass, Chrome
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Resin
1870s Swedish Antique Brutalist Shelves
Pine
Mid-20th Century Danish Brutalist Shelves
Beech
Late 20th Century Belgian Brutalist Shelves
Oak
2010s Italian Brutalist Shelves
Concrete, Cement
2010s Dutch Brutalist Shelves
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Russian Brutalist Shelves
Oak
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Slate, Brass, Copper
Late 20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
Copper
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
Bronze
1970s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Pine
20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
Steel
1960s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Wood
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Resin
20th Century Italian Brutalist Shelves
Travertine, Iron
20th Century North American Brutalist Shelves
Iron, Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
Copper, Iron
2010s Brazilian Brutalist Shelves
Steel
1970s Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Resin, Wood
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
Metal
2010s American Brutalist Shelves
Oak
2010s Hungarian Brutalist Shelves
Pine
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Brass, Chrome
2010s Italian Brutalist Shelves
Wood, Walnut
Early 1900s French Antique Brutalist Shelves
Iron, Brass
1920s Swedish Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Oak
Mid-20th Century Danish Brutalist Shelves
Pine
1960s Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Glass
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Brass
Mid-20th Century European Brutalist Shelves
Wood
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Brutalist Shelves
Oak
1990s German Brutalist Shelves
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Unknown Brutalist Shelves
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Shelves
Wood, Walnut
1940s French Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Oak, Wood
1960s French Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Elm
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Bronze
Late 20th Century Italian Brutalist Shelves
Iron
1960s Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Mahogany
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Shelves
Iron
1770s American Antique Brutalist Shelves
Glass, Hardwood