Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
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.
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Stainless Steel
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper
1960s Mexican Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome, Iron
20th Century Spanish Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron, Gold Leaf
20th Century Spanish Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal, Iron, Gold Leaf
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1970s Mexican Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Aluminum, Bronze
Mid-20th Century Italian Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
2010s American Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
20th Century Spanish Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron, Metal, Iron
Mid-20th Century Unknown Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Stained Glass
Mid-20th Century Unknown Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1970s Swiss Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
2010s Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Bronze
Mid-20th Century Mexican Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
Mid-20th Century Finnish Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Copper
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1960s Swedish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
Early 20th Century Italian Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal, Wrought Iron
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
20th Century American Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Late 20th Century Danish Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal, Copper
Mid-20th Century Mexican Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
2010s American Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1970s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Chrome
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
Mid-20th Century Danish Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
1970s Czech Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
20th Century Unknown Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
1970s Austrian Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal, Chrome, Nickel
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
1970s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper
1960s German Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper
1970s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
20th Century Unknown Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
1970s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper
Mid-20th Century Mexican Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
Late 20th Century Czech Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Mid-20th Century German Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
2010s Portuguese Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Travertine, Metal, Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Copper, Steel
1960s Danish Vintage Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass