I'm in Denver for the AIA conference, and this afternoon I played a rousing game of Code Jeopardy with the Denver Chapter of DHI. If you're at the AIA conference this week, stop at our booth (#530) to play a short version of Code Jeopardy and your name will be entered to win an iPad Mini! You can enter whether you get the questions right or not, and you'll probably learn something about a new code requirement in the process.
Here are some more photos from my weekend in NYC...these are all about taking a closer look.
Over the weekend I spent some time in New York with my friends, and as you can probably imagine I saw A LOT of doors of interest. Here are some of them...
I know it's not Wordless Wednesday, but this photo from Alec Walsh of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies definitely left me wordless!
Last month I wrote about my experience on the day of this year's Boston Marathon. The slogan "Boston Strong" has emerged since then as the ultimate description of this city, which will not let senseless violence beat us down. This weekend my friend and I took our kids downtown, and our first stop was the makeshift memorial that has sprung up next to Trinity Church and across the street from the Boston Public Library. I was surprised at the very long line of people inching through the display of running shoes, flowers, notes, candles, hats, stuffed animals, and other mementos that have been left at the site, and also the multiple news vehicles parked along the street. I'm still wondering what story they're waiting to capture...survivors visiting the memorial? Famous people? I guess I'll have to watch the news and see.
Last week I had a whirlwind trip to Kansas City, Missouri for Code Jeopardy at DHI's MoKan Chapter meeting, and another code class which was held at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. The venue was amazing and the local SSC did a fabulous job of coordinating everything. Thank you to everyone who attended!
Many of you know that I live just outside of Boston and I consider the city my home (and I really appreciate those of you who emailed me to make sure I was ok). I love this city, the architecture, the history, the vibe given off by the people. For me, downtown Boston isn't an area to be avoided because of traffic, crime, or parking difficulties. It's a place I frequent - with my family and friends, for work, or on my own. I have never worried about my safety.
The next time an architect wants to do something crazy like attach a bookcase to a sliding door or face a swinging door with masonry, I know right where to send them! No...not there, HERE:
This morning I went over to the Grand Canal Shoppes before the stores opened, to get photos of the unusual door pulls. I'm pretty sure Security was tracking my every move, but apparently they decided I was harmless.
As always when I travel, I've been on the lookout for interesting doors during my trip to Las Vegas. I saw these last night at dinner. They're beautiful (and huge!) carved wood panels, hung on center pivots which are offset from the edge. When the doors are closed (see below), there is a gap at the hinge edge.
I hope you had a wonderful Saint Patrick's Day, complete with the green beverage of your choice!
My husband has grown accustomed to me yelling, "Stop the car!" when I see a door of interest. We actually had to circle the block and come back to this one in Nashville, Tennessee. Judging from the entrance, I thought there might be some nice doors...I couldn't process what I was seeing in time to get him to pull over. This is not code-compliant, people! The elevator door was purty though.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
I'm back in the snowy north, hunkered down while the snow piles up. This is my last post from my trip to Tampa. For next week I'm working on another post about glass (yes, there's more!), as well as a post about school security - particularly the "creative" and often non-code-compliant methods I've seen a lot of lately. If you've run into any interesting security modifications for schools, send them along! Have a great weekend all!
The Tampa Bay Hotel (although no longer a hotel) is an amazing building, especially once you hear about its history. If you've got 15 minutes, check out this video:
This is a travel week for me - I'm in Tampa, Florida for the winter meeting of the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA - check out their new website!). I have more posts in the works on school security and wired glass, but while I'm on the road, you know that I like to share the cool doors that I see with all of you. I'll get back to the code-related posts next week.
This amazing lock is not related to the Bok Tower, but was created by Samuel Yellin.
On my way back from Bradenton to Orlando, I had to stop and see the gorgeous door at the Bok Tower Gardens. The gardens have to be one of the most beautiful and tranquil places I've visited...luckily I was there early, before the families started arriving or it may have been less tranquil. The 50-acre garden was established in 1929, by Edward W. Bok as a gift to the American people, and was designed by noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead Jr.
Sorry for the interruption in my series on wired glass - I will continue it shortly. But this is a travel week for me, and I couldn't fly to sunny Florida without a quick trip to see my mom. Today I dragged her to an architectural salvage company to see if they had any interesting old doors and hardware. They had A LOT of doors - some really ornate and huge, and a room full of hardware...
I think this is the longest I've gone without posting! I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve! I figured I could get some good relaxation time in during the holiday week, then I promptly injured a ligament in my ankle, which led to a major bout of sciatica that flattened me for days. I'm hoping 2013 gets better!
I'm on a road trip with my family this week to go visiting for Thanksgiving, and yesterday we stopped in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I can sniff out a beautiful or unusual door from a mile away, but I didn't expect to find such a plethora of different beautiful doors on the same building.
This week I've been spending some time with Karina Guadencio, an Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies specwriter from Brazil. In addition to lots of discussion in the office, we've been to a Boston Chapter CSI meeting, had lunch with the master specwriting team at Kalin Associates, conducted a punch list at Harvard Law School, and visited Columbus Door (thanks everyone!). It's been a whirlwind tour! Add the cold and last night's snow, and I think she's ready to head south (especially since she's having dinner with my family tonight! :D).
My trip to CoNEXTions 2012 in Las Vegas last week was a whirlwind! There were so many people that I didn't have a chance to catch up with - I don't know if I can wait until CoNEXTions 2014 in Dallas!
This post was printed in the November 2012 issue of Doors & Hardware
Here's one more beautiful opening from Tucson before I head off to Las Vegas for CoNEXTions 2012! If you'll be there too, leave me a comment and let's try to meet up!
During a break in today's BHMA meetings I took a drive south to see the Mission San Xavier Del Bac. The mission was founded in 1692, and the current church was built between 1783 and 1797. It is located in the center of a Papagon Indian settlement. The mission has been constantly maintained and periodically restored, so it's in beautiful shape. You can read more about the history of this gorgeous building here.
Mary Hinton of Mulhaupt's sent me a link to check out a one-of-a-kind door, and she was right - it's amazing! The door is on a single family home in India called "House with Wall of Light." It was designed by Matharoo Associates, for Dilip Sanghvi, a diamond merchant. The architectural firm won the Architectural Review's Emerging Architecture Award, when they submitted the door design.
In addition to beautiful doors and interesting locks, I love old architecture and the amazing photography that captures the decay of these crumbling structures. I look forward to new photo essays posted on the Kingston Lounge site, and the most recent was especially exciting because it's very close to my town and an important part of Worcester, Massachusetts history.
No, really! They do!
Here are some of the lock shops I visited while shopping for the locks in this post.
I know what you're thinking..."Another day, another kasbah." :-) I sincerely appreciate the chance to enjoy my vacation while still keeping up with my blog, email, etc., so thanks for bearing with me!
I've had a request for photos of Morocco besides just the beautiful doors, so here are some from the Glaoui Kasbah:
I mentioned these gigantic doors in an earlier post, but I went back to see them again since we're in the neighborhood. The mosque wasn't open for tours when we were there (the only way non-Muslims can go into a mosque), but I sent my husband in with a camera and he came back with photos of panic hardware. He's learning! :-)
I hope you're not getting tired of posts about beautiful Moroccan doors because I know I'm not tired of seeing them. There are amazing doors EVERYWHERE in Morocco - adorned bronze, carved wood, hand-painted...absolutely gorgeous. Yesterday I dragged the family to Bahia Palace in the 100-degree heat. They were good sports about it and I think they actually like roaming around old architectural marvels with me. Once we finally find them in the depths of the medina, that is. It's not easy to get around in the old city, or the ville nouvelle for that matter.
Here are some photos of the beautiful sliding bronze doors at the tomb of King Mohammed V. It was built in 1971, adjacent to La Tour (Tower) Hassan. The minaret stands amidst support columns which were once part of a huge mosque destroyed in an earthquake.
As many of you know, I am in Morocco for some vacation time combined with some work, and also working on some family issues with my mother-in-law's estate. We have made the most of each day, and I have seen (and photographed) lots of amazing doors. I hope you don't get sick of seeing them..."Darn! Not another beautiful door!!" I have also had requests for non-door photos so I will show you some of this beautiful country too.
I'll be posting some Moroccan door photos soon, but here are some reader photos to tide you over.
Last week I was a panelist for the BOMA Every Building Conference and Expo in Seattle. It was a pretty busy couple of days but I was able to sneak out each day to see a little of the city, or visit the guy who was LockedInAHouse. I LOVED the Pike Place Market...I was there early in the morning as the vendors were bringing in their flowers, seafood, vegetables, etc. for the day, and it was a sensory feast! I wish I could start each day that way.
Danny Estryk of Entry Systems Ltd. sent me these photos of some very early offset pivots. The wood doors and the other portion of the pivots that were attached to them are long gone, but the stone portion remains. This opening is at the Belvoir Fortress in the Jordan Valley of Israel, built by the crusaders beginning in 1168.
My youngest daughter graduated from kindergarten today, so we played hookey and took her to the Museum of Science. I didn't forget about y'all though. Here are a few photos from the trip.
When I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago for the IAPSC conference, it also happened to be school vacation week so I brought the kids along for a visit to my parents' house. They all survived while I was in Miami Beach, so when I got back from the conference I took them to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando. One of our Florida specwriters, Steve King, had written the hardware spec for the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and I couldn't pass up the chance to check it out.
I recently received an email from Steve Needy, who maintains the beautiful and recently-renovated Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis. During the renovation, many of the original (1932) LCN 206 concealed closers were rebuilt and reinstalled. Steve's problem was that the spring power made some of the doors difficult for some visitors to open, particularly the restroom doors. Steve asked me how to adjust the closers or if that was even possible.
Since this is school vacation week and I had to work in Miami for a couple of days, I flew the kids down to their grandparents' and now I am taking a few days "off" in sunny Florida. As most of you know, I'm never completely off...I'm always taking care of email and keeping my eyes open for doors of interest.
A story arrived in my inbox today, regarding the tradition of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The day before Easter each year, clerics emerge from the small room believed to be the site of Jesus' tomb with a flame which is then spread among the pilgrims crowding the church and out to those gathered on the street.
This pair of doors is the entrance to Fort Independence on Castle Island in Boston, a five-bastioned fort built between 1834 and 1851. These doors look old enough to be original...with a little repair work at some point.
I went out to dinner tonight with some of the specwriters from the class that we're teaching in Delaware. Those of you who are in the hardware business may spot the special guest who joined us for dinner. :D
Last weekend we braved the crowds and took the kids to the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade. The weather was AMAZING!!! And so was this gorgeous antique fire engine:
Some more doors from our winter vacation...Saint Francis Xavier Church, also known as "The Kennedy Church" because it was the summer parish of John F. Kennedy as well as many of the other Kennedys.
It's school vacation week and we took the kids to the Cape for a few days. Here are some of the doors we've seen on our trip.
My friends in Indy have obviously been holding out on me. I visited downtown Indianapolis in the frigid 14-degree weather last week, with the only thing standing between me and a broken hip my extremely inappropriate clogs, but it was worth it to see the gorgeous doors on the Indiana War Memorial.
