Brutalist interior: heavy wood and raw iron

In this photo: Brutalist wrought-iron round coffee table with bronze-coloured top – 1970s (€ 895) · Pair of Brutalist oak lounge chairs with rush seats – the Netherlands, circa 1935 (€ 395) · Raw Brutalist Chain Candlestick, Mid-Century Design (€ 295) · Brutalist bull mask – wrought iron assemblage on wooden base, 95 cm (€ 425)

Brutalist interior: three brass table lamps by Max Bré in a limewashed cellar

BRUTALISM

heavy wood, raw iron and shapes with weight

In this photo: Max Bré – set of three Brutalist table lamps, brass and wrought iron, France 1960s–70s (€ 575 voor de set van drie)

Brutalism: heavy wood, raw iron and shapes with weight

Some furniture whispers. Brutalist furniture does not. It stands there, heavy and sure, in solid oak or wrought iron, and shows exactly how it was made.

That sounds harsh, and yet these are often the warmest pieces in a room.

Brutalism is the style of honest weight. No veneer, no thin legs, no smooth finish. Instead: thick boards, visible joints, hammer marks and a shape you understand at a glance.

What is brutalism?

Brutalist interior: oak dining chairs with bouclé and an iron chain candlestick in a dining hall

The name comes from architecture. Béton brut is French for raw concrete: concrete that is left unfinished after pouring, so that you can still see the imprint of the formwork. Architects built with it in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and the word brutalism stuck.

In furniture it means the same, but in wood and metal. Solid oak instead of concrete, wrought iron instead of steel. The material may stay rough and the construction may be seen.

You recognise brutalist furniture by its mass and its rhythm. High backs made of thick spindles, heavy armrests, tops with deep relief. They are built rather than designed.

In this photo: Set of 4 Brutalist oak dining chairs with bouclé seats – 1970s (€ 795) · Raw Brutalist Chain Candlestick, Mid-Century Design (€ 295)

Why is brutalism so loved again?

Because it gives character to a calm interior. One brutalist piece in a light room works like a sculpture: your eye goes straight to it.

Because it is made by hand. This is not furniture from a mould. You see the hand of the smith in the iron and the chisel in the wood. No two chairs are exactly alike.

And because it can take a lifetime of use. Solid oak a few centimetres thick does not wear out, it only gets better. A scratch is part of it.

The strength of solid oak and wrought iron

The best thing about brutalism is that the material itself does the work. Oak with a coarse grain, stained dark or left bare. Iron that has been forged, riveted and welded, with a skin that never becomes entirely smooth.

Sometimes that turns a piece of furniture almost into a sculpture, and sometimes it simply is a sculpture. A bull mask of iron plates and curled horns is made of the same material and by the same hand as a coffee table or a candlestick.

Put such a piece on a plinth in a stairwell and nothing else is needed. A single wooden chair next to it is enough.

In this photo: Brutalist bull mask – wrought iron assemblage on wooden base, 95 cm (€ 425) · Set of 3 Brutalist chairs with arched cut-outs and turned legs (€ 245)

Brutalist interior: iron bull mask and wooden arch chair in a stone stairwell

How do you combine brutalism without it becoming heavy?

Brutalist interior: oak lounge chair with rush seat and brass lamp by Max Bré in a library

Brutalism needs air. In a dark room full of furniture it becomes oppressive; in a light space with empty walls it comes into its own.

So give each piece room. One lounge chair by the window instead of a whole seating group. A small brass lamp on the windowsill. The heavy wood stands out against the white and the room stays calm.

Combine it with soft things: a woollen throw, linen, a rush seat. And with something light next to it, such as glass or ceramics. The contrast makes the wood warmer.

In this photo: Pair of Brutalist oak lounge chairs with rush seats – the Netherlands, circa 1935 (€ 395) · Max Bré – set of three Brutalist table lamps, brass and wrought iron, France 1960s–70s (€ 575 voor de set van drie)

What to look for when buying brutalist pieces

Lift it, or try to. Real brutalist furniture is solid and therefore heavy. If a chair is surprisingly light, the wood is thinner than it looks.

Look at the joints. Mortise and tenon, wooden pegs and through rails belong to the style and must be tight. With chairs you soon see whether they wobble.

With iron: forged work has small irregularities, hammer marks and weld seams. Surface rust is not a problem and adds colour.

With lamps, always: have old wiring checked by an electrician before you connect the lamp.

And think of the weight in your home. You do not move a round coffee table of 110 centimetres with a wrought-iron base with one hand.

In this photo: Set of 3 Brutalist chairs with arched cut-outs and turned legs (€ 245) · Raw Brutalist Chain Candlestick, Mid-Century Design (€ 295)

Brutalist interior: wooden chairs with arched backs and a chain candlestick in a château kitchen

Brutalism in a light, calm interior

At De Huiszwaluw we like to place brutalist pieces in an old, light house. Limewashed walls, a stone floor, tall windows. There the heavy wood does not become gloomy but powerful.

A salon with a round iron table and two oak chairs with rush seats needs almost nothing more. A candlestick made of a stiff chain on the table, an iron mask on the mantelpiece.

Small things belong too. Three brass lamps in the shape of jugs are just as brutalist as a chair of twenty kilos: rough, made by hand and nowhere polished smooth.