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?
#16 Are you still talking about the fireplace?
#13 I don’t get your ‘perfect dick fireplace’ insult and now wonder if you had something in mind for your place?
I saw a knock-off design from your hometown of Alabama but was shocked it was made out of wood.
Since there is a nice space between it and the floor you aren’t going to catch the floor on fire not that tile would have burned but you do need to keep the rug out of the way.
# 11 I started say that a kid or pet will only touch this thing once but this thing is just hanging and I can see some kid or large dog running into the thing and knocking the whole thing down.
Going to the link, under the “vote” tab, this fireplace really does deserve to win. Wonder why no cars, guns, sculptures were entered?
Wrong! Should be a vagina.
It’s indeed quite beautiful, but most beautiful in the world?? The Chrysler Building, El Capitan, 1957 De Soto, Golden Gate Bridge, just to name a few are better.
Looks like a Vermicious knid to me…
Hmmmm…. So there is no consideration for function? The world is full of examples of beautiful objects that are functionally useless or deficient. Hell, look closely at those famous Frank Lloyd Wright houses and imagine actually living in one. They are totally impractical.
As pointed out by others, this fireplace probably sucks if you actually try to use it. Unless it is doubled lined, you will burn yourself on the sides. There is no screen or glass windows to stop sparks and control the heat and oxygen. There is no ash box. Just looking at the photo I can’t help but wonder how well it works for drawing in air, making sure all the smoke only goes up the chimney, and that all the heat goes out the front like a well engineered fireplace does.
It might function as a gas feed fire. Except that you would have to run the gas line down the chimney, which introduces all sorts of fire dangers.
So… this thing is really nothing but a piece of art pretending to be something functional.
This should make the list for next year: ((nice video))
#25 Really? There is a reason we didn’t develop eyes in our pelvis.
#29. agreed.
#28 It seems like the design provides good function. I assume it produces heat like what a fireplace is suppose to do. It can be positioned pretty much anywhere, takes up small floor footprint, looks fantastic.
Fireplaces are well engineered? They are terribly inefficient. There is nothing to suggest in this design that all of your critiques (which are good points) are not already there or could be there.
You know it’s a great design but it just looks different which is understandably shocking to some.
It looks like a clam with a huge erection.
The opening is almost as big as pedro’s mother vagina. Well she can accommodate the Fifth Fleet. But her butt is bigger. And some might argue, warmer too.
There is no way to control the incoming air or the flue. That is terribly inefficient. But my son is uncontrollable when he doesn’t take his medications. He isn’t too efficient either.
The fire box reminds me of pedro’s head. Nothing inside and just a lot of hot air leaving.
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