The Core Chair, designed by Studio FFang in New York City, has captured the essence of architectural brutalism within the realm of furniture. Inspired by the Rick Owens store’s wall-embedded handrail, the chair embodies simplicity and rawness, evoking a sense of weight and permanence. The use of unfinished materials and minimalist construction highlights industrial aesthetics, merging architecture and furniture design in a functional and sculptural form. Sleek steel tubes and hand-laid concrete enhance the chair’s solidity and raw texture, reflecting brutalism’s core values.
The experimental piece reflects the historic design movement’s ethos of simplicity and rawness, designed to evoke a sense of ‘weight’ and permanency through its geometric form.
A celebration of industrial aesthetics and minimalist construction, the chair is crafted from a solid block of concrete and adorned with steel. The use of unfinished materials and bare textures over decorative elements enhances the chair’s monumental semblance, emphasizing brutalism’s core values.
The ‘Core Chair’ creates a dialogue between architecture and furniture design, merging the two disciplines with its sculptural yet functional form. Industrial designer Zhiyuan Fang, founder of Studio FFang, uses raw, unpolished materials and solid construction, avoiding unnecessary adornments to embrace brutalism’s spirit.
The chair’s main body structure consists of plywood sheets enveloped in hand-laid concrete, reinforcing its rawness and adding solidity and permanence. Paying homage to brutalism’s association with industrial interior design, sleek steel tubes flow through the concrete block to form the chair’s aesthetic contour while providing functional armrests.
