this is going to be a bit of a hot take but those who follow me on instragram has seen me make this point before. i’m going to argue today that brutalism is actually cosy and it merely has a reputation problem. controversial or what? it is in fact bare, raw and… well, concrete, duh. perceived to be cold, harsh and as a style that overwhelms rather than invites. but spend enough time in these buildings and you might notice something else: a surprising sense of warmth.
it won’t be that the concrete has grown a softer texture all of a sudden, it’ll be precisely because of the materiality.
material honesty
rough surfaces, textured finishes, exposed joints, unpolished edges: brutalism has always been about revealing materials as they are. nothing dressed up, nothing concealed. and that honesty creates a kind of liberation, and with it you find comfort.
block printing works on a similar principle. every impression carries the grain of the fabric, the edge of the block, the rhythm of the hand. the result is never pristine, but it is always real. the imperfections aren’t flaws, they’re the thing that makes the pattern tactile and alive.
structure meets softness
what often goes underappreciated as well is how calming order is. the stark geometry of stacked, modular units leave no room for chaos. being enclosed by forms like that brings a sense of peace.
pairing block-printed textiles with brutalist or modernist interiors makes sense for this reason. the patterns mirror the structural logic of façades (repeated, modular, rational) while the fabrics introduce tactility and warmth. the concrete provides weight and permanence; the textiles provide softness and touch. together, they balance each other out.
warmth through materiality
so perhaps brutalism isn’t as uncosy as it seems. it’s not about decoration or ornament, but about surfaces that tell the truth, forms that cut through chaos and create order. if you add the softness of textiles that share the same philosophy — honest, textured, imperfect — you will get interiors that feel grounded and, yes, cosy.
cosiness doesn’t always come from softness, or softness alone. sometimes it comes from order, calmness, a sense of peace and from the way materials meet and interact. and brutalism, surprisingly, has plenty of that.