If you're looking for a retro firepit design that would look equally at home outside an Airstream or an architectural masterpiece by Alvar Aalto, the Sunfire Modern Steel Firebowl is a fabulous choice.

Equal parts Space Age, sunburst, and primal element of fire, the Sunfire Modern Steel Firebowl evokes sundials as strongly as satellites. The Sunfire was inspired in part by the 1947 Ball Clock created for Herman Miller when George Nelson, Noguchi and Bucky Fuller spent a festive evening drinking and doodling clock designs together. The Sunfire is an homage to clean, modern design: funky but functional, retro yet classical.

But the Sunfire owes just as much to bebop jazz, the soundtrack of the Modern age. Each Sunfire is a one-of-a-kind, unique work of art created by hand without resorting to a set pattern. The improvised, rhythmized pattern of the spokes is different on every firebowl—just as the dynamic interplay and overlap of virtuoso jazz soloists insures that every time a song is played, it is recognizable and yet an entirely new creation. The Sunfire is visual music, the sun solidified, fire in a Sputnik bowl.

The spokes of the Sunfire are of different lengths and thickness, just as the disks at the end vary in size. Some disks have holes pierced in them. I arrange them improvisationally to create rhythm and melody in striking array. And yes, they all sound a little bit different when you hit them like a marimba.

The Sunfire Modern Steel Firebowl has a pleasing rust patina as the standard finish. If you prefer black, you can paint the firebowl with a high-temperature grill or automotive spray paint. The heavy 1/4 inch thick steel plate can be left outdoors year round, requiring no maintenance to last generations. A hole is cut in the center of the bowl to allow water to drain and adaptation to gas burners.