Hobbit doors are all the rage right now...you can find hobbit door jewelry, cookies, outlet covers, ice cream sandwiches...I would like a real one. Not a tiny real one - a 5-footish, round hobbit door with a knob in the middle. Now I just have to figure out where to put it. If I made a hobbit hole in the back yard I could hide from the kids in it.
A couple of weeks ago someone commented on one of my posts that he really liked the article but didn't know who the author was. Many of you have been part of the site's evolution, and some of you know me personally. When I write these posts I feel like I'm talking to you...either explaining a difficult code-related topic, or chuckling with you over a creative solution. So unless I state otherwise, the author is me! Same with the photos. I try to be very careful about giving proper photo credit, so if you don't see a mention of who sent me the photo, the photographer is usually me.
I know what you're thinking..."When is she going to stop talking about Nashville and get on to something interesting like gasketing or clear opening width?" :D
A hodge-podge of the doors I saw while I was in Nashville for CONSTRUCT last week...
A few years ago I posted some reader photos and information about the replica of the Parthenon, in Nashville. Since I'm here this week for CONSTRUCT, I went over early this morning to see it for myself. I have one more day at CONSTRUCT, starting with the Bloggers' Panel in room 205C of the Music City Center. Come on over if you have any questions for the panel of bloggers - Dave Stutzman (SpecWords), Elizabeth O'Sullivan (Comments from a Specwriter), Charles Hendricks (Design Matters), Eric Lussier (Eric D. Lussier), and me!
I'm in Nashville this week for the CONSTRUCT show, and I've been scoping out some of the beautiful doors in town. My 1 vs. 100 Fire/Life-Safety class went well today...nobody fell asleep or faked an injury so they could leave early. Tomorrow I have 1 vs. 100 Electrified Hardware at 2:45, so if you're here at CONSTRUCT, head over to the Learning Pavilion. I decided today that the only thing worse than speaking to a large crowd is speaking to nobody, but luckily I had a pretty full class. Tomorrow will be the same "game show" format but with a different topic, so come back if you attended today! On Friday morning at 9:30 (room 205C), I'm participating in the CONSTRUCT Bloggers Panel, so if you've ever thought about starting a blog, have any questions about blogging, or just want to meet some bloggers, come on down!
Thank you to everyone who has sent me photos of doors they've seen in their travels (or while laying on the couch). Kelly Chimilar from Allmar Inc. noticed these doors with an obvious egress problem while watching Thursday Night Football. If you don't know what the problem is, I will hold a special online study session for you after work tonight. ;)
Twelve years ago I was new to the town where I currently live, and I knew almost nobody. It was hard to meet people back then - I had no kids and my husband and I both worked in other towns. My family and a bunch of my friends were still back in Vermont, where I started my career with a door and hardware distributor. My coworkers at Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies (yes, I have worked at IR for almost 19 years!!) were wonderful, but they were busy with their families (I used to babysit their kids and take care of their pets). I remember signing up for classes just to try to find some friends - cooking, roller blading, line dancing...you name it. Are you getting the picture? I was desperate to connect with someone I had something in common with.
The most ornate pair of doors that I saw in San Miguel was the entrance to la Casa del Mayorazgo de Canal. The historic home was once owned by the de la Canal family, one of the richest families in New Spain. This building is now occupied by a bank, as well as la Casa de Cultura de Banamex (Banamex Cultural Center) which houses a collection of historic paintings and hosts special art exhibitions.
For some of you, this story will confirm my nerdiness. I'm ok with that. My trip to San Miguel de Allende is almost over - we're flying home on Saturday. I have hundreds of door photos to sort through, and I will post some in the coming weeks. But there was one pair of doors that I had not been able to photograph properly - the doors of La Parroquia, the beautiful church on the south side of el Jardin, which is the garden at the heart of San Miguel. I have visited the church MANY times during my stay, at all times of the day and night, hoping to find the doors closed. I've asked several people what time the doors open in the morning, but so far, no luck. I couldn't go home without photographing the doors of the unofficial symbol of SMA, right?
When I began planning a trip to San Miguel de Allende, I had no idea that the city was known for its beautiful doors...there's even a book about them! I have a lot more door photos to post (and even an egress problem!), but for now, here's a sneak peek...
I've had dozens of architects ask me to specify hardware for doors with something "unusual" applied to them...sheetrock, wood, stone...one of our hardware consultants even had an architect propose full-sized brick covering the entire face of the door. I always try to talk them out of it, but I have to admit it's pretty cool when I see doors where the architect didn't take "no" for an answer.
It's been a busy couple of weeks that didn't leave me a lot of time for blogging - last week I went to LCN to have dinner with some of my favorite customers from Israel, witnessed a fire test at UL, then spent the rest of the week at the AIA conference in Denver where I played Code Jeopardy with the Denver chapter of DHI, played a mini version with LOTS of AIA attendees, and taught a class at the conference with Bill Lawliss. We're spending this week with our new group of specwriter apprentices, as well as the previous group - they have already learned enough to help us with the instructing! I have been amazed at how quickly they picked up the product information, code requirements, and specification techniques. Here's a group photo from our field trip to Harvard yesterday:
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.
