A fireplace … that is a box against the wall, connected to a chimney, which gives off smoke and can burn your house down, right? These examples defy that conventional understanding in all kinds of ways – some burn alternative fuels (including water!) while others hang from the ceiling, fit in a car or can be taken with you for fires-on-the-go.

From Sikken, this fireplace is like a high-grade modular Ikea wonder – the metal fireplace-and-firewood two-in-one (with a convent drawer drawer for fireplace accessories in between) can be added to in all kinds of creative ways with additional shelves, drawers and surface spaces to store all kinds of peripherals and fill up the wall you have reserved for a fireplace.

Anne Colombo has taken fireplace styling to new heights, toying with modern materials and postmodern shapes to capture, diffuse, reflect and transform firelight from burning fires in all kinds of creative and novel ways. This is just a sampling of her creative fireplace design work.

Perfect for showing off in the middle of winter, this built-in Hummer fireplace is the ultimate in unnecessary American luxury. The snow-sports-and-Santa-themed Hummer also comes complete with a color-matched snowmobile, storage for your winter ski-and-snowboard gear, but alas not the lovely lady shown in the images above.

It has been said that in contemporary culture the role of the fireplace – as being the central focus in family gatherings – has been slowly replaced by the television. Well, these fireplaces are fighting fire with fire so to speak, competing aesthetically with the modern iconic television-style box.

Not everyone has an interior design configured to accommodate the introduction of a wall hanging, mounted or even wall-adjacent fireplace. Others might simply enjoy the style of a space-ship-like fireplace platform or luminous orb dangling gracefully from their ceiling above.

Something old, something new, something burning and metal too. Taking the iconic form of the primitive fire – two sticks crossed and burning – this reinvented classic fireplace configuration is nonetheless completely cutting edge in the execution of its form and style.

With all of our modern technology, is it any wonder that someone has figured out a way to make fire from water? Yes, you read that right, the Aqueon fireplace by Heat & Glo actually transforms ordinary tap water into burning fire right before your eyes. The system separates hydrogen from oxygen and burns them both – the former for fuel and the latter for color and brightness. Of course, using water to make fire has the fringe benefit of reducing harmful emissions and negating the need for any kind of flue, hood or other fire venting system.

Fireplaces do not have to be the static, central and fixed furnishing they once were. In fact, some fireplaces can hide in plain sight as low-lying dressers/tables or can even be moved around like an old LP player for use indoors and out – such as the ones by Schulte shown here.

For people who prefer to still keep their fireplace as a middle-of-the-house meeting place, these lovely metal fireplace designs make a subtle but remarkable statement against many backdrops – but may also take over the aesthetic of a room. Though this one is their headline-making fireplace design, there are other creative-but-elegant ones from Arkiane as well.

One of many wall-mounted fireplace designs from Saffreti, this particular creation elegantly slots into any space made available on one’s wall. Because it burns clean fuel directly poured into its housing, it does not require any special hookups, venting or other treatments.

For fans of hi-tech gadgets there are also a number of creative fireplace designs to choose from – though some enjoy only limited production runs as they simply cost too much or target too small of a market. Above are just a few examples of fireplaces integrated with everything from televisions with full music systems to outdoor-enabled fireplace designs with iPod ports.