Porticos and porches, Gothic and Baroque. The door to a building provides more than just a functioning entrance, it also reveals the purpose, hierarchy and time period of the property itself. This post breaks down the numerous door styles, including terminology and architectural purposes.
In Greek and Roman buildings, the doors are often inconspicuous due to their placement behind a large portico. Columns stood out in front of the doorway area, however, usually spaced in a symmetrical way to provide straight-forward passage to the main door. In Greek and Roman buildings the doors generally came in one of the two following styles:
Double doors
Usually wooden, the double doors would be carved with strong, symmetrical oblong formations stretching the length of the door itself. Though simple in appearance the door would then be framed by a surround of simple-but-decorative designs such as a band of rosettes, often topped by triangular pediment supported by elaborate cornices.
Arched doorway
Echoing the Roman triumphal arches that sprung up across Europe to celebrate the Roman Empire’s numerous victories, the arched doorway would most frequently be the facade to an inset porch where the actual door would be set within with moulded surrounds and cornices.
Inspired by the features of Roman architecture, the Romanesque style drew from the arched doorways of the Roman Empire and created a host of round arched entrances, such as:
Recessed doorways
Romanesque buildings have thick walls, in terms of doorway designs this allows for door surrounds to be angled inwards and then decorated with embellishments. Oftentimes these recessed doorways would be topped with a tympanum – a semi-circular space above the door decorated with ornamental imagery, usually a biblical or historic scene.
Doors reveal the purpose, hierarchy and time period of the property
Projecting doorways
Adapting the roman portico, the projecting doorway uses designs to create a small porch surrounding the door. Often topped by a gabled roof the porch projects outwards, away from the building, with columns and maybe a decorative frieze adding ornamental style.
Orders
A style most frequently seen at the entrance to churches, an order is a series of mouldings topping a series of columns to create a set of arches framing the door.
Using these early architectural influences, doorway designs continued to develop over the centuries, from triple portals mostly seen in cathedrals, to Renaissance rusticated doorways, often at the entrance to buildings of commerce. Other decorative approaches include:
Broken pediments
Early 17th century architecture favoured the use of pediments to add flair to buildings. The broken pediment became particularly popular, allowing a simpler door surround, then topped by a broken-apex central decorated with a sculpted bust or urn. This style continued to be popular for a number of decades, thanks to its simplicity but effective result.
Fanlights
Most commonly seen in apartment buildings in Central Europe, fanlights provide an arched window above the doorframe usually moulded and decorated out of elaborate ironwork. Sidelights could also be added to either side of the door to create a wider area of design and provide extra daylight into the hall beyond the door.
Find out more about architecture and its terminology by using the ‘Architecture‘ tag where you will find a previous post detailing the various columns and their designs.
Photos: Joao Ferrao, Stephen Walker, Gabriele Rampazzo, Bundo Kim, Mateus Campos Felipe, Alexander Tsang and Deinna Granato.