The Gyrofocus, designed by the award-winning contemporary fireplace maker Focus, has been named as the World’s Most Beautiful Object for the 2008-2009 Pulchra design competition. The suspended fireplace achieved the highest number of votes in the inaugural year of the ten-year design competition. Over a year, 74,425 participants voted by Internet for the 10 most beautiful objects among 100 selected by a jury of experts in design and architecture, including Alessandro Mendini, Italo Lupi and Matteo Vercelloni. The fireplace created by Dominique Imbert in 1968 came out as the voters’ top choice, over objects ranging from a television designed by Philips, a Sony Ericsson mobile phone, creations by Philippe Starck, and a Leo Cut diamond; their key point in common being the beauty of their design.
Anybody else got anything more beautiful?
Great design. A hole in the roof and something really cool to burn yourself on.
Looks like part of a great obstacle course for your next party. Just hope your insurance is payed up, because much like burning flesh I smell a lawsuit after your first party.
Brilliant!
Obama can install one of these in the White House, and he can sit there with his Peace Prize, and his beautiful wife, and children, and ponder their greatness more than anyone ever has in history.
I’ve seen something nearly identical to it called the “Fireorb”. And it reminds me of what might have been drawn for the Jetsons animated series, of the early 1960s. As you can see here, I’m not the only one to think so.
http://www.brianhayes.com/goodwood/2004/10/suspended-fireplace.html
Oops! keep forgetting no proxy.
brianhayes.com/goodwood/2004/10/suspended-fireplace.html
Both this fireplace and the Fireorb mentioned by Glenn E. are pretty to look at, but are terrible for actually heating a room. Especially that room in the picture with the high vaulted ceiling! Almost all the actual heat goes up the chimney; only a little is radiated out the opening, and a little of the air is warmed by contact with the metal and quickly rises ten feet in the air, where it doesn’t do anyone any good.
Now if there were a ceiling fan, that would help, as well as heat transfer fins all over the metal to more efficiently warm the room air. I think a good designer could even make such a setup look good.
let me be clear. oh wrong story