Classical Ellipse Sculptural Fire Pit

The Classical Ellipse Sculptural Fire Pit Story

The Classical Ellipse is perhaps my most versatile fire pit design, equally at home in a wide variety of settings from rural to urban, rustic to high modern. Cradled in this shallow form, flames burn close, in an intimate display.

The Classical Ellipse embodies grace and simplicity, inspired by ideals of design so central to human experience they recur throughout history. In the only surviving book on architecture from the classical era, Vitruvius insisted a structure embody three qualities— it must be solid, useful, beautiful. Almost 2000 years later, Alvar Aalto said “We should work for simple, good, undecorated things… but things which are in harmony with the human being.”

The Buddhist concept of wabi-sabi teaches that attention to the simplest objects, natural or man-made, helps connect us to our real world and avoid stress, distraction and unnecessary thoughts. Wabi translates as rustic simplicity, freshness, or understated elegance and refers to quirks of construction which make each object unique. Sabi is the beauty or serenity seen in the patina and wear of daily use. This focus on natural, changing, unique objects allows us to find the most simple objects interesting, fascinating and beautiful.

Frederic Chopin once said, “Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.” It is this simplicity that is the Classical Ellipse’s greatest strength.

You can experience the Classical Ellipse at:

• Glenn Hotel, Atlanta GA
• Rancho Las Palmas Resort, Rancho Mirage CA
• Hotel Indigo Athens, Athens GA
• Oshima Sushi, Sacramento, CA