No, this blog is not about what happens when a group of ants and houseflies gather on your doorknob, and start talking about whether it is better to have a million eyes, or to be able to lift a hundred times your own weight. (We all know it is better to be able to lift a hundred times your own weight!!) Door knobs have been dragged into the public arena in the UK, where the government is planning to establish an ID card system for all private citizens, using their biometric details. Sounds scarily like something out of Terminator 2, doesn’t it?! Anti-ID card campaigners are putting up posters...

It really is amazing what people think of … while the world has given us some extremely useful inventions: like the wheel, the toaster and the electric nose hair puller, it has also given us some not-so-useful ones. These retractable doorknobs are possibly one of them! Another one of the many things that makes me wish that someone had thought of all the starving, homeless people in the world before deciding that what the world really needed was … These doorknobs by Yanko Design, which are supposed to provide extra security by retracting after you leave the house. Burglars cannot enter (ahem!!!),...

You can almost hear the creaks and groans as you heave this huge old wooden door open, can’t you! Such an expressive photo. You could be forgiven for thinking that the photographer actually went back in time to get this shot, with the traditionally-robed man walking along in the background. We assume he is part of some sort of religious organization, and we love the fact that a beam of light seems to be emanating from his outstretched hand onto the stone wall alongside him – like a divine glow! We have a great range of malleable iron door furniture that would be perfect for this door – it...

For arbitrary reasons that the metal itself would probably find most amusing (were it able to giggle!), gold is one of the most valuable metals worldwide. Most societies have a fascination with it, it is used as a universal measure of worth, and many a person has lost their life over this soft, heavy, shiny old metal. You may have some gorgeously decadent door furniture made of the infamous material – and if you do, here is the story of its history and family! Amazingly, a single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet as large as a square meter – if you wanted to floor your house with gold,...

The United Kingdom’s House and Garden Magazine recently celebrated their 60th anniversary – that is a great many years to be telling people how to decorate their homes! To commemorate the occasion, they have chosen some highlights from the six decades they have been around to wallow in nostalgia over … adverts, food dishes, fabrics, designs, household objects and famous designers from each decade are listedon their website. While at least half the decades are rather more recent than our door hardware would match, 50s and 60s homes often do well with a bit of period-style! Their list is...

One that Internet regulars among us will appreciate Although perhaps, from the photo, it should say ‘Door Handle not Found’?! Funnily, this would no doubt be a lovely metaphorical interpretation of what actually happens when a web page is not found – there simply is no way to get into the site And finally, we definitely know where you can get a door handle! Photo credits: Door 404 by ‘darkenedcorridor’

God bless academics, that can make the simplest and most beautiful of things into an adventure into the dictionary. Did you know that door knobs are also ‘cognitive affordances’? I’m going to have to use some direct quotes here, as the language is impossible to paraphrase: “Physical and cognitive affordances help users perform physical and cognitive actions, respectively.” The visual design of both kinds [of door handles – knob and lever] conveys a cognitive affordance helping users think or know about usage through the implied message their appearance gives to users:...

  As you’ve no doubt realised, (although only since discovering the Architectural Classics blog!), the Internet is occasionally useful for something other than sales and advertising! Our gem of a site for this month is buildingsofireland.ie, an effectively and simply designed register of architectural heritage in Ireland – home of our headquarters. In the future we’ll be looking at similar sites in other countries … but for now there are enough gorgeously composed, traditional buildings to satisfy any one of you! Part of being a great website is not only having a great idea, but...