Farewell to our 70's vintage Scandi fire, by George Ciancimino

I decided to do a post about our midcentury modern family heirloom, which is now for sale, in order to record it for posterity.


The item in question is the wonderful and aptly named WEDGE fire (above) designed back in the mid 70's by designer George Ciancimino. A polished stainless steel open fire, stylish and with a great heat output.

My dad ordered this fire after seeing it at the Ideal Home Exhibition in 1976, he was very impressed with how it looked and it's energy performance and decided we must have one for the family home, a 1960's bungalow which he built.


I remember back in 1977 how fantastic the fire looked in our lounge against a raw brick wall, all polished steel and space agey. The heat output was so good that we'd often have the windows open.
The fire has been there for 35 years, the classic, angular Scandinavian styling has never dated and people still find it an unusual piece when they set eyes on it. In fact I've struggled to find information on it in my web searches so I think it is quite unique.

So to bring this up to date and full circle, once my parents got into their late 70's they began thinking about replacing it for the convenience of a gas fire and that is what they did just before last winter.


When the fire was removed I was horrified to hear someone had offered them a few quid for the scrap value to take it away. At that point I stepped in to rescue it, this fire is an important design icon of modern times and it needs preserving and a bit of work to give it a new lease of life.
It would look fab in a retro bungalow or an uber modern eco house like the people at Rural Design create.


http://ruraldesign.co.uk/


The fire is for sale and has been featured in the current e-newsletter by the wonderful MidCentury Magazine. I hope to secure a sale and pass on the funds to my parents to soften the blow of their winter gas bill!
Lets hope it finds a new home and someone else can enjoy it as much as our family have.


http://www.midcenturymagazine.co.uk/