A door is a swinging or sliding barrier by which an entry is closed and opened. A theatre opens its doors when a new show is ready to be viewed. A door could be a gate to secure people inside a dwelling or a closure for some kind of cabinetry. The word “doors” can also mean an opportunity that presents itself unexpectedly. We give many meanings to the word doors, the fact is that before the Neolithic time human beings didn’t know what a door was, they lived well protected inside caves, the fire kept the humans warm and the wild animals away. I saw the first attempt at a Neolithic door in the museum Ridola in Matera, Italy. It was made with straw, mud, dirt, and pieces of wood.
(Click on each picture to view it larger).
Neolithic House, Ridola Museum, Matera, South Italy
Doors evolved in something more decorative as security became a necessity, even when that security served to hold people up in dungeons.
Door In Gioia, South Italy
Painters and artists at times have used doors to immortalize effigies of powerful people who gained high places in society. That’s the case of Swabian Emperor Frederick the II, ruler of South Italy, surnamed “Stupor Mundi” for his love of the arts and cultural innovations as a means to unify all races.
Painted Door, Gioia, South Italy
As times progressed, riches and nobles decorated their entry door with the family crests, faces of divinities or any symbol showing wealth, prosperity, and personal beliefs.
Door in Matera, South Italy
Castle Antique Door in Gioia, South Italy
Door Palazzo Fizzarotti, Bari, Italy
Even door hinges have had a place of importance throughout history. Inside La Salle d’Or recreated at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco we can admire the splendor of the French Court through a disjointed hinge that allows people to get a preview of who is in the room without being seen.
Salle d’Or-Legion Of Honor, San Francisco
Some doors provide a good blackboard for the fantasy of a Flâneur to unravel. Here on this door in Polignano a Mare, Italy, this passionate wonderer wrote a Shakespearian sonnet:
“Love runs to meet love with the same joy young pupils run away from their books, but love which must separate from love has the face of young pupils returning to school.”
Writing of a Flâneur – Polignano a Mare, South Italy
In Barcelona, the city where even the sidewalks are overly decorated, I saw many beautiful Art Deco doors in just as many beautiful buildings lining the streets.
Building in Barcelona, Spain
Prague, an austere and romantic city, displays very elegant doors with caryatids supporting pilasters, arches, balconies, and many classic architectural details.
Jewelry Store
Some doors are just elegant gilded barriers to keep the elite in and the plebeians out.
Royal Door at Prague Palace, Czech Republic
While other doors look like a fortress just because they conceal the secrets of a nation.
Romanian Embassy, Prague, Czech Republic
But then some playful people like to stick birds and flowers on their entrance door and others like to paint puppet’s faces.
Nature Decorated Door
Marionettes Shop, Prague, Czech Republic
As a world trotter, I take pictures of the details of a country. Doors attract me just as people’s expressions, customs, food, and languages. I conceived this roundup of doors only to say “Be Yourself.” The entrance door is your business card, it makes the first impression of who are the people living behind the door in a split of a second.
One of my clients is turning her house located in a nice downtown area, into air B&B. The entry door will be painted red as an indication that the interior rooms will be modern, upbeat, and very colorful. Don’t be afraid to paint your entrance door, to stick charms on it, to add faces and decorative elements, or to use a type of wood nobody else uses. Ciao,
Valentina
Valentina Cirasola is a storyteller by nature. Stories are very important to her design career to convey ideas because making someone’s home or personal images is not only about building around shapes, lines, forms, and colors. It is about the story one can create around their spaces and how they want to appear to others. It’s about life experiences and how Valentina can incorporate them in her clients’ homes. She is the author of five books, all available on
Amazon – Barnes&Nobles
Valentina Expressions 