Fireplace Design by Focus
24 November 2009
“Wedding Bells”
One of the things I most like about design is… design! I like to see things that are different, and I especially like seeing things that I couldn’t come up with in a million years, but things that, nevertheless, actually work. Form follows function. It’s an ancient axiom, but I do think that is what it is, not an opinion, but an axiom, a “basic proposition of a system,” the type of thing I used to memorize in basic geometry, an axiom. Because no matter how innovative the design may be, if the product thus designed does not work, well, what earthly good is it, really? And I say that because the things I write about, items for the home, mostly kitchens and bathrooms, but I do venture to other rooms, as I am doing today, but still, I say, these items, all of them simply must be practical items.
That said, though, I really do have to tell you about this French blacksmith I just came across. No, he’s an artist who works in sheet metal. No, not even that. I honestly believe this man is a genius who works in sheet metal. He has created some of the most glorious fireplace designs I believe I have ever seen, and that’s saying a lot because fireplace designs are a decided interest of mine, and I often go in search of them on the Internet.
Dominique Imbert, the founder of Focus, really just fell into his profession, having earlier worked at such diverse occupations as ethnologist and assistant chef. In 1967 he traded it all for an anvil in a French village and began making and selling steel sculptures. When the fireplace he made for his own use met with favor, he began making them for others and making them and making them and making them. Focus has gone from a one-man shop selling two units in 1972 to a firm that employs some 150 and ships over 3500 units a year all over the globe.
What I find particularly appealing about these designs is how well they work. Looking at them, the thought has to be, how in the world is one going to get the wood in and take out the ashes in the morning? Not to worry. Those two metal plates are actually doors! And behind them is a fireplace screen, to keep the embers where they belong, in the fireplace! Open the doors, slide up the screen, you’re good to go.
And here’s something else that is cool. The first two fireplaces I have shown here are custom projects, and who the heck can afford something like that, right? But the second two are actually mass-produced items that can be shipped anywhere. And although there is a difference between the two, there is still an innovation in all of these that makes them pearls of great price. Innovation and functionality. How’s that for a marriage?
Joseph
Leave a Reply
One Response to “Fireplace Design by Focus”
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:53 AM
Great fireplace designs. I hope it will also be safe.