At Architectural Classics, we love doors, and see them as an art of their own. Just like the human body, we reckon they look pretty good without all the bits, bobs, accessories and makeup (apart from essential usability items, like handles and knockers … also non-negotiable on the human body ). However, this door art was so stunning, we had to pass it on. From Rachael Hamm, the door was a piece of architectural salvage of sorts. Although rather than being taken from an old, or about to be demolished house, it was beside a dumpster. Can’t beat that price! The photos in the door were taken...

Okay, so this post is not strictly about doors, or even strictly about design … it is strictly about a photographer. But holy crackers, does he make doors look good! As well as chairs, walls, glasses of cordial on persimmon trays, crazy shrunken heads on sticks (okay, they might be made of wood and paint or some such, rather than flesh and bone… boring!). Guido Barbagelata is a 37 year old photographer from Milan, and specializes in products and home interiors, by the look of his portfolio. He can make your home come alive with its own particular palette - every room has its own individual...

Did Nancy Reagan ever tell you that drugs are bad, mmmkay? Or di Mr Mackey from South Park ever tell you to ‘Just Say No!’  ? If you have never been exhorted to stay away from mind-altering (and might we add, illegal!) substances like the demon weed, or every hippy’s favourite brain-expander (then rapid collapser…) acid, you will certainly wish that before you have escaped from this room, red-faced, wild-eyed and panting! It should be obvious why we at Architectural Classics have fallen in love with it though… No, not for its pseudo-psychotropic effects! Simply because it...

This gorgeous door handle is a truly interactive experience! It comes from Naomi Thellier de Poncheville’s portfolio, and while it is definitely clever, we think one of its best aspects is the way it turns cleverness into a very visceral experience of feeling welcomed! Beautiful. We often see the hand motif in older knockers, where a fist grasps the ring for you to knock with, and we also have seen various fist shaped door knockers … which we imagine would feel a little like countering a punch in a martial arts class … or even a pub brawl. This hand-le has a lovely welcoming feel though....

It often seems that time and technology are moving faster than we can keep up with … and this phenomenon seems to accelerate more every year, to eventually be constantly bemoaned by our grandparents and other elderly people who stop to talk to you while you are waiting for a bus! But it seems that some architects were just a bit too keenly aware of this phenomenon, and planned quite a bit further ahead than they needed to. When London’s Barbican Arts Centre was built, the architects left out a front door. Why? Because they believed that in the not-too-distant future, nobody would be walking...

How many door and drawer handles or knobs would you guess you touch in the average day? Well, the internet is a wide and wonderful world unto itself, and one research oriented soul decided to actually find out! This seemingly simple, but actually very deep (and fun!) research project had only the criteria that every door or drawer handle or knob that the person used in a day, had to be photographed and recorded. Aside from the obvious quandaries of whether to count both sides of a door handle, and whether to count both getting in and out of a car, if you can not get caught up in the mathematics...

My favourite tale of door knocking is The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe. It was written in 1845, when door knockers had definitely become commonplace – but they just don’t convey the same mystery, and wouldn’t allow the narrator the excuse that his visitor “so gently … came tapping”! What a beautiful study in suspense and uncertainty, and the rhythm of the poem supports the racing of his mind and his feelings of terror. So, grab a door knocker so that should you hear a faint tapping, you know it is no innocent visitor … here are the first four verses of The Raven. Once upon a...

Antoine Bourdelle created the beautiful Medusa head knocker from the May 18 blog post, and we found a promising quote from him in there, that he believed that sculpture was most beautiful when it was integrated into architecture. But unfortunately, he must not have had a chance to do much architectural sculpting in his lifetime, because most of his art is well executed and touching… but pretty much stand-alone art. He created masks of Beethoven from around 1888 until his death in 1929 – if you are going to do something, you may as well do it properly! He studied under Rodin, whose most famous...

You will all be starting to think that we have misspelt our company name on the site, and that it is really Artchitectural Classics – or perhaps that we are on the payroll of the UK Centre for the Arts – with yet another post on architecture-related art. Luminox in Oxford a couple of months ago is the subject. Like the Salt Mines in Poland, or the Ice hotel in Sweden complete with chandeliers, this post makes you wish you had been there… It was the creation of a French artist, Carabosse, and basically involved turning off all electric light to Oxford Square from around 7pm, and lighting...