SALON: How did it happen that you became a fireplace designer?

- I created the first fireplace for myself, because I was cold in the ruins of the fortress, which I bought when I was 25 years old. And one of my friends asked me: "Can I do that?" And then someone else and more ... That was 35 years ago. Now the former ruins of an old fortress in Viol-le-Fort in the south of France contain the office of the firm FOCUSand my private lodging.

S: What interiors do you like to design fireplaces?

- work either in modern interiors or, on the contrary, in classical interiors - but in any case they should be strict and restrained.

S: Does the fireplace affect the overall perception of the interior and can it affect the space?

- Quite often it happens that customers or architects create an interior of a house in accordance with one of our models, that is, starting from a specific fireplace - Gyrofocus, Filiofocus ... human, "and this, too, to some extent concerns the fireplaces.

S: How fast is the design of fireplaces changing these days?

- Bathrooms, kitchens, lamps, upholstered furniture ... everything has changed a lot over the past centuries. A curious fact, but the design of fireplaces is changing much slower. Obviously, due to the fact that the fireplace has always played a utilitarian role in family life. On the hearth they cooked food, and during the cold weather the whole family could only be warmed by the fireplace. By the way, the word focus is very close to the French foyer (hearth). We use it when we talk about the fireplace and the fireplace room.

S: What materials do you use and what, in your opinion, is the most valuable in fireplaces?

- The fireplace is always central to any interior, and I use a variety of materials, sometimes even unexpected ones: gun steel, bronze, leather, stone, pyroceramic glass — you can list them for quite a while.

S: Why do you like to design high-tech fireplaces? After all, a fireplace is first of all warmth and comfort.

- Our fireplaces are also warm and cozy! They are not in hi-tech style, these are poems ...

S: Which celebrity you designed fireplaces?

- Sir Norman Foster - for his fantastic office building, which he built near London, as well as for his house. Famous Japanese architect Fukuo Tanivaki, for whom we have installed 301 fireplaces in 301 apartments of a luxurious apartment building in the Japanese city of Atami.

S: How do you celebrate Christmas? By the fireplace?

- Yes of course. Christmas without a fire in the fireplace is not Christmas ...

S: Tell us about one of the most pleasant times in your life associated with the fireplace.

- The first word that my son spoke, standing in front of my first fireplace, was "hot." It really is.