What Is BRUTALISM

BRUTALISM is the fourth form of STRUGA: architecture in silver. A right angle, an open edge, mass instead of decoration.

BRUTALISM brings Soviet brutalist aesthetics together with Suprematist motifs. In September 2026 the family contains seven pieces: two rings and five ear cuffs. The BRUTALISM V.1 ring weighs 9.6 to 24 grams depending on size. Every piece is sterling silver 925 without rhodium plating; light silver darkens over time, while selected versions are blackened in advance.

• Where the form came from
• Who named it
• Anatomy
• Mass as a statement
• Its place in CODEX
• Frequently asked

Where the form came from

BRUTALISM translates architectural form into silver. Flat bars rise above a ring’s band, their ends make steps, and shadows settle between them. The relief is built from the volume of the metal. On the BRUTALISM V.3 ring, the surface is darkened in advance to bring out the changes in height.

The family draws on Soviet brutalist aesthetics: forms, lines and visual composition. STRUGA explores that language alongside Suprematist motifs. The work brings two ways of arranging form together: the volume of architecture and the plane that directs the eye.

Suprematism offers a point of comparison for this geometry. MoMA’s account of a Suprematist composition by Malevich describes stretched, rotated and overlapping planes as basic elements of its visual vocabulary. That is an artistic source; in BRUTALISM, the relationship appears in the arrangement of edges and bars.

Brutalist jewelry extends beyond one STRUGA family. The guide to brutalist jewelry covers the style’s definition, origins and identifying features. This Atlas entry looks inside BRUTALISM: how the form is constructed and which pieces carry it. The BRUTALISM ring and ear cuff collection shows the full family.

Who named brutalism

The critic Reyner Banham discussed New Brutalism in the December 1955 issue of Architectural Review. The name was already in use: Banham refers to Alison Smithson’s publication of a Soho house project in November 1953. The movement’s name therefore has a history before his essay.

Marseille’s Unité d’Habitation also began before that publication. The Fondation Le Corbusier archive records the commission in 1945, the start of construction in 1947 and the inauguration in October 1952. The building connects the movement’s history with béton brut: concrete left exposed.

Banham’s essay identifies three concerns: a memorable image, visible structure and the qualities of the material itself. They offer a way to examine a BRUTALISM ring: its silhouette, the arrangement of its bars and the surface of the silver. This comparison describes the BRUTALISM form; it does not turn an architectural essay into a rule for all jewelry.

The architectural source and the silver object have different tasks. A building organizes space; a ring arranges volumes on the hand. BRUTALISM keeps the meeting of planes and the weight of material readable at that smaller scale. The Cultural Layer collects other sources from which STRUGA develops its language.

Anatomy

A right angle, a flat plane and an open edge shape BRUTALISM. On the rings, flat bars extend beyond the upper plate. On the BRUTALISM V.1 ear cuff (L), eight plates stand in a row on a smooth curved base. The straight lines of the relief and the curve of the base do different work: one sets the pattern, the other holds the form on the ear.

The family uses sterling silver 925 without rhodium plating. Living Silver describes its ability to darken over time. The V.1 ring has a light matte surface. The V.3 ring and V.3 Dark Treatment ear cuff (M) are blackened in advance: their initial dark tone comes from a finish applied to the metal.

BRUTALISM versions are parallel variations of the form. V.3 does not replace V.1. The arrangement of the plates, the scale and the finish change the object within one family; these differences are where choosing a piece begins.

The fourth form of the brand. BRUTALISM — architecture in silver.

It is an exploration of Soviet brutalist aesthetics: its forms, its lines, its visual composition. The family develops under the influence of Suprematism — Suprematist motifs are present in it.

The BRUTALISM rings are the heaviest and most massive in the brand. Today the family is rings and ear cuffs; it is young, and the range will grow.

Mass as a statement

A BRUTALISM ring’s weight depends on its size. The catalogue lists the same weights for V.1 and V.3: 9.6 grams in size 15, 14 grams in size 18 and 24 grams in size 22. The range covers different sizes; it is not a weight tolerance for one ring. Weight comparisons between forms need comparable sizes.

The ear cuffs carry the same language at a smaller scale. The BRUTALISM V.1 (L) and BRUTALISM V.2 (L) ear cuffs each weigh 3.8 grams. V.1 sets its plates in a vertical row; V.2 lays them horizontally. Equal weight still leaves distinct silhouettes: the direction of the plates changes the side view and the spaces between them.

Numbers establish scale, while the piece explains its form. BRUTALISM uses a wide base, projecting ends and intervals between planes. A ring carries that relief above the finger; an ear cuff places it along the ear’s edge. Mass is one property of the object. Fit depends on the size and construction of the particular piece.

In September 2026 the family contains two rings and five ear cuffs. Each product page holds its size information and specifications; this Atlas entry connects the individual objects to the shared BRUTALISM form.

Its place in CODEX

BRUTALISM lives in the CODEX world — the everyday architectural language of STRUGA, its DNA. Beside it, in the same world, stand other forms: SIGNATURE ASYMMETRIC, BLADE, THORN and SIGNATURE HEART. They are all about a clean line and a silhouette you recognize; BRUTALISM is about mass and the right angle.

The family's anchor objects today are the Brutalism V.1 and V.3 rings and the Brutalism ear cuffs in several versions. The form is young. The angle and the mass can do more than they have shown.