Focus - 2022

Retranché au pied des Cévennes, dans un village médiéval à 25 km au Nord de Montpellier, une ardeur

nouvelle l’anime : le voici qui soude, qui forge et qui sculpte, martelant le fer, soufflant sur le feu. Quelle

quête poursuit-il à défier ainsi les éléments fondamentaux ?

« Ce qui m’intéresse, c’est de découvrir une vie intérieure, une âme cachée dans la matière. C’est dans celle-ci

qu’on trouve vraiment autre chose que cette espèce d’algèbre froide et conventionnelle qui fait notre

environnement. J’ai un immense plaisir à faire cracher un sens aux formes, un sens clandestin, une poésie. »

L’homme est un initié et sa rencontre alchimique avec le feu va métamorphoser sa vie, mais aussi celle de

Tucked away in the foothills of the Cévennes, in a medieval village in the garrigue north of Montpellier, he

took up his new calling with ardour: forging, welding and sculpting, heating and shaping metal. What drove

him to defy the fundamental elements in this way?

“What interests me is discovering the inner life, the soul, in a material. It is about revealing a dimension

beyond the cold, calculating and conventional context of our surroundings. I get immense pleasure in

prising a meaning from shapes – a hidden meaning, a sense of poetry.”

The artist’s alchemical encounter with fire and steel would transform not only his life, but also the history of

LA GENÈSE D’UN MYTHE

En 1967, il fait froid dans cette ruine du

Sud des Cévennes, à Viols-le-Fort, que

dominique imbert restaure pierre après

pierre. Avec des bouts de métal récupérés

à droite et à gauche, l’ancien professeur

de Lettres se forge sa première cheminée :

l’Antéfocus est né.

Une année passe et cette première

cheminée en enfante une seconde

- révolutionnaire, à tous les sens du

terme. L’âtre, toujours suspendu, pivote

totalement sur lui-même. Quelques amis

s’enthousiasment. Eux aussi veulent leur

« foyer tournant » :

Gyrofocus en latin.

L’histoire de Focus et de la légendaire

cheminée Gyrofocus commence ainsi, très

simplement. Bientôt, le premier prototype

deviendra archétype.

THE ORIGIN OF

In 1967, it was cold in the ruined farmhouse

that dominique imbert was restoring stone

by stone in the village of Viols-le-Fort.

With scraps of metal salvaged from here

and there, the former humanities professor

addressed this problem by forging his first

fireplace: the Antefocus was born.

A year later, this first fireplace would give

rise to a second, which was revolutionary in

every sense of the word. As with its predecessor, the fireplace was suspended, but this time the hearth could pivot 360° to face any

direction. Several enthusiastic friends wanted their own ‘rotating hearth’ – gyrofocus in Latin.

And thus began, in all simplicity, the history of Focus and its iconic Gyrofocus fireplace.

Soon, this prototype would become an archetype.