Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the House & Home myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.For most, the radiator is a clunky chunk of metal with a singular purpose: to blast maximum heat with minimum visual impact. While we go to great lengths to conceal them behind furniture, decorative covers and layers of paint, a number of companies have spent decades doing the opposite – elevating the mundane, homogenous appliance into statement pieces that add to a room’s decor. “We are on a mission to rid the world of ugly radiators,” says Louisa Jenkins, sales and marketing director at Eskimo, which offers unusual finishes like walnut or resin made using the ancient lacquerware technique tsugaru nuri. Jenkins argues that performance need not compromise aesthetics and allows ample scope for creativity.Texture is one way of marrying form and function. The indentations in the vertical Waffle radiator by Antrax IT are pleasingly tactile, but they also increase the radiant surface area. “Maintaining a small footprint while achieving the highest thermal performance with a low water content is fundamental,” says Alberico Crosetta, who set up the company with his brothers Andrea and Luigi in 1996.Experimenting with shapes adds character and challenges preconceptions. Ribbon by manufacturer Terma features intricate coiled plates wrapped around steel columns to create an industrial look, while French firm Cinier’s ruby-red Triangle resembles a piece of modern art when suspended on the wall. One of the most popular models by Italian company Tubes is the sinuous Milano, crafted from steel and finished in glossy shades. It was designed by Antonia Astori and Nicola De Ponti in 2006 as part of the innovative Elements collection, for which the company invited internationally renowned designers to “reinterpret the radiator as an architectural structure”, says CEO Cristiano Crosetta. Many of Cinier’s radiators double up as paintings. Estampe is decorated with expressive strokes of thick blue and black paint, while Velvet and Cotton have been handpainted with branches dipped in black pigment. The works are created by the founder’s daughter Johanne Cinier, who studied at the École des Beaux Arts de Sète and joined the family business in 2006.Cinier’s ruby-red Triangle resembles a piece of modern art when suspended on the wallRadiators can be multifunctional in other ways too. Eskimo’s Outline Supermirror has a reflective, polished stainless-steel finish that is less prone to misting in bathrooms. Tubes created a line of portable radiators called Plug & Play that includes the Square Bench – a seat and heat source all in one. Tubes’ radiators are made “to provide maximum freedom of expression to both the designer and customers”, says Crosetta, whose company offers extensive customisation including 140 colourways and more than 20 finishes. The Add_On model, which is on permanent display at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, is a modular radiator consisting of intersected aluminium modules that can be assembled into any shape. In a similar vein, last year Antrax IT released the award-winning Lana, made up of pleated, convex tiles that allow for different configurations.A more recent challenge for manufacturers has been finding ways to make design-led products with heat-pump technology. “Heat pumps run at lower water flow temperatures, which means you typically have to increase the size of your radiators,” explains Cat Goldsmith, marketing manager and climate designer at Jaga. “Our radiators hold 90 per cent less water than traditional models so they’re lighter, faster, more efficient and lower your energy bills. We’ve gone beyond aesthetics by producing radiators that are engineered for renewable technologies.” Jaga produces what it claims is the world’s slimmest heat-pump radiator. A bonus? The discreet, minimal Briza Net Zero can also cool.
