Years ago, we rented a shack in the Catskills that had a stream running by it. We spent a happy week hauling big rocks out of the stream to make a crude outdoor fireplace, around which we could hang out with friends in the cool evenings, and over which we could grill food. Since then, we’ve been obsessed with outdoor fireplaces, always looking for interesting iterations. Here’s one we love: a big slab of rusting steel (Corten perhaps) as a fireproof backstop, with a cast cement fireplace, with ledges on either side that could hold a grill rack over hot coals. We could imaging building it if we had an outdoor space with a wall.

The one modification we’d make: some low cast concrete rectangles (bricks really) we could stack to raise the grill to the height we want over the coals.

The other appealing idea in this image: creating an outdoor room. Constantino Nivola fashioned one out of ordinary brick…

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Check out more outdoor fireplaces at Design Milk