This is a very traditional Georgian door that we spotted in Edinburgh last summer. In fact, it could probably be used in a textbook as the perfect example of a Georgian door – except for one tiny detail. Do you see it? The doorknob has been painted over in black rather than remaining in shiny brass! It would really look far better in the original.
Because of all the misbehaving with the candy-store yesterday, today I am posting a door of the Headmaster’s Office at a well-to-do school in Winchester. If THIS doesn’t keep me in line, I don’t what will! I can’t imagine being marched here after misbehaving in class … it’s certainly intimidating, isn’t it?
The door is my favorite color, a nice blue, but it’s not a particularly shiny or happy blue. It’s a bit dull, and could use a glossier finish. I like how the “Headmaster’s Office” plaque is a similar size, shape, and color to the postal slot – it makes the door nicely symmetrical. The really odd thing about this door is that central column – it runs down the middle of the double door, but I bet it’s not part of the door. In fact, it looks like the doors open inward, while that column remains in place. See how it sits over the keyhole, and covers something up right next to the doorknob? This essentially cuts the double door down into two single doors. Now, perhaps they only ever use one side, and the top of the doorway needed a little extra support. That’s my guess anyway. Has anyone been there, can you confirm?
I love the gothic archway above this door, and the stone and window combine nicely, especially with the rosettes in each top corner. It’s intimidating, but also comforting in that religious sort of way. I think the shapes in the window are quite unique – especially the squiggly arrows on either side. I really need to get a door architecture book so I can learn all the technical terms!
Yum … perhaps I should have waited until lunchtime to post this door, since it leads directly to one of Madrid’s tastiest candy shops! Now don’t get distracted by all the sugary treats – think about the door! It’s a sliding door of many panels that rolls out from one side. The panels appear to be glass (of course they are glass, so you can see into the delightful shop, with all the cookies and candies …. argh! Focus!) I wonder how secure this door is, whether it really provides enough security for a shop like this. There must be a separate alarm system as well, to protect all the yummy treats, like chocolate and candy floss and bubble gum. STOP! Focus on the door! The door, dammit!
I give up. Going to make some tea and have a biscuit. This door has defeated me!
I am tempted to save this door for Halloween because it’s pretty spooky. It can be found at the cathedral in Norwich, and serves as a gateway to the spiral staircase. Somehow I doubt that there is a princess at the top! Maybe a torture chamber from the Inquisition, perhaps. 
I think it’s quite interesting how they tried to shape the bars of the gate to match the shape of the gothic arch – and yet they failed to make it match! I think they should have left the bottom of the bars alone – and made the tops bend gently rather than the sudden, jerking dog-leg that’s there.
W
We’re heading back to Stockholm for today’s door – a dour example of a very serious door! This is NOT a door that welcomes Girl Scout cookie sales, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, or maggazine subscriptions. Wait a second, maybe I want a door like this!!
Let’s start with the decorative frame of the door. It appears to be carved out of stone, although I’m not able to tell you what kind of stone. I don’t think it’s marble, and it’s definitely not polished concrete, but that’s where my stone-identifying skills end. There are complicated shapes in the frame, including 3-dimensional rectangles, squares, triangles, and diamonds. If you look in the middle at the top, it looks like the right side is riding up over the left, just slightly – perhaps the whole wall is shifting over time?
The door itself is also a masterpiece. There are two doors here, the larger one, which takes up the entire frame. The carving on the door is based on this larger shape, and is a series of arrow-like points made up of smaller parallelograms. The four corners and centerpoint of each parallelogram have what looks like a stud sticking out.
The smaller door, which has been cut out of the larger door, is of more traditional proportions. Rather than centering it, however, which would involve a new locking system, they’ve simply aligned the smaller door to the right, taking advantage of the existing lock. It looks like they added a peep-hole – it’s a quite complicated iron piece set in the centre of the smaller door, which doesn’t make sense in the shape of the larger door. To have competing doors and competing frames like this gets quite confusing to the eye!
This white, double-door can be found in Farnham, and actually sits below street level. There us a step down from the sidewalk to the bottom of the door; consequently the door must open inward rather than outward. I wonder whether this was always the case, or if the street and sidewalk were, at some point, raised up, while the door was left alone. The placard and doorbell to ring for wheelchair assistance perhaps provides a clue supporting my theory!
This door has undergone quite a few makeovers, which you can see if you look carefully. There is a square in the upper left corner that looks like a replacement piece, or perhaps it’s just become mis-aligned with the rest of the door. There is also a security bar crossing both doors just below the handle and lock, but it’s been painted over. It looks like it was cut through, so that the door can still open. Why was it left on, in that case? Why not remove the piece of metal, instead of cutting through it and painting it over? Curiouser and curiouser!
These doors are made up of three square panels each, which gives a nice regularity and consistency to the doorway. The proportions are nice, and the inset on the square panels are not too much. The door is surrounded by a white frame, made up of two columns on either side and a half-circle arch at the top. For a double door, I usually like my columns to be slightly wider, to really anchor the door, but these do a pretty good job as-is. The archway at the top is particularly lovely, although you can see that the width of the arch is slightly wider than the width of the columns. This should really match exactly. The detailing on the glass is nice, with a fan shape radiating out from the center-point. There are decorative circles between each rib, and the circular shapes give a nice contrast to the square panels below.
It’s always hard to estimated measurements, but it seems like there is a six-inch gap between the white frame of the door and the beginning of the brickwork. This has been whitewashed, and provides an extra layer surrounding the doorframe. If it had been painted any other color, it would look like the door was floating in a sea of nothingness, but the white does a good job of extending the envelope of the doorway.
The brickwork is fairly old, which you can tell because of how tiny the bricks are. Those are not standard size! They also appear to be fairly uneven, suggesting that they were mad-made rather than machine produced. I am not a big fan of the white marble (?) stripe running along the top of the wall, as it interferes with the archway above the door. It also looks pretty dirty and dingy.
My favorite part is the lantern along the right-hand side. It’s a delicate little light, but too many doors don’t have a source of illumination.
Peekaboo! If only doors could talk, I’m sure this one would have an interesting story. It even looks like it’s watching you … maybe even winking, with those two dark widow panes being the open eyeball!
It looks like a hungry door, with a wide open mouth looking to gobble up any passers-by. It’s even got a perfect little nose in that decoration directly above the doorway.
Okay, maybe my imagination is running away with me. This lovely door can be found in Copenhagen, at the Royal Danish Library. It’s part of the old building – not the fancy new one that looks like a black diamond.
If you look at the wooden door itself, it’s obviously seen a lot of use. The wood is discolored with age, and there are clearly marks where it’s been opened and closed. The bolts in the door are done quite nicely – in an X pattern. It’s nice to see a functional item like a nail or bolt used in a way that combines form and function. (Louis Sullivan, please don’t kill me!)
