Art Deco Door Handles - How high?
DM
I am aware that the style at the time was to fit the handles high up the
door. But how high? Two thirds? Is there any recommeded height in relation
to the overall height of the door itself?
Many thanks.
D.
Colonel Blink The Short Sighted Gink
<anti-spam...@eircom.net-anti.invalid> writes
>I am aware that the style at the time was to fit the handles high up the
>door. But how high? Two thirds? Is there any recommeded height in relation
>to the overall height of the door itself?
To be honest I think it depends on the handles, the doors and how tall
the people who are using them are. Which is a roundabout way of saying
there is no iron clad, hard and fast rule.
Neo-Classicism by its very nature had hard and fast rules for dealing
with such problems but the more fluid Art Deco movement did not; it was
as much a feeling as a movement. It certainly did not have any
manifestos that were slavishly adhered to like bauhaus or even the
English Arts and Crafts movement. (If art deco had/has a theme tune it
should probably be Cole Porter's 'Anything Goes' preferably played by
the Paul Whiteman orchestra)*
Your instinct to see the positioning of the handles in terms of thirds
(whether it is one third or two thirds up the door) is probably correct
because it is a well known fact that human beings find things divided
into thirds attractive. (It is something to do with us having two eyes)
Hence the so-called "rule of thirds" when considering photographic or
picture composition.
My suggestion is that you go to your local library or to your local
bookshop (without buying!) and look at a lot of pictures and make it up.
PS Their local housing authority offered to rehouse Snow White and her
vertically challenged companions in a nice flat at the top of a high
rise block. Sadly they had to turn it down and remain in their damp
woodland hovel without mains water or electricity because seven out of
the eight of them could not reach the top buttons on the lift (elevator)
PPS. "The Elements Of Style. An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Architectural
Detail - Edited S Calloway. pub. Mitchell Beazley (London) 1997 " says
(mostly of external doors)
"There is no standard Art Deco door, but some decorative elements recur,
particularly in the late 20s and the 1930s. The combination of metal and
glass is important - often with a stepped surround, which may include a
window or sculpted panel. The door itself might be heavy glass,
reinforced with iron or bronze worked into stylized natural forms or
abstract natural forms or abstract patterns. In British suburban houses,
instead of metal, wood might be used , radiating in a sunburst pattern.
The influence of Modernism encouraged flush doors with no moulding and
with a minimal door fittings. Metallic finishes are sometimes used
inside the house or metal sheet cladding on exterior doors. In Britain,
a backward-looking type was the panelled wooden door with stained glass.
Some wooden doors had small windows in "arty" shapes, such as diamonds
or hearts. Heavy panelling in dark wood with carving and decorative
metalwork typify the American West Coast Revival style.
In the 1930s porches become a feature of many houses. In
Modernist-influenced houses they may be formed by a cantilevered upper
story. Elsewhere they vary from simple gabled constructions to elaborate
affairs with columns sometimes incorporating seats. The more traditional
doors were still dressed with fingerplates/push plates, lock escutcheons
and handles, which by the 1930s were available in Bakelite as well as
various metal finishes."
I hope that if you do not find this posting helpful you at least find it
entertaining.
* Anything Goes performed by Paul Whiteman & Orchestra with Ramona Davis
singing can be download from here (its a long url so you may have to cut
and paste.
http://www.archive.org/audio/audio-details-db.php?collection=78rpm&collec
tionid=PaulWhitemanwithRamonaDavies
--
Colonel Blink The Short Sighted Gink
(Not just any Pop, Dick or Harry.)
This poster bites
Colonel Blink The Short Sighted Gink
Short Sighted Gink <anon@[127.0.1.1]> writes
>* Anything Goes performed by Paul Whiteman & Orchestra with Ramona
>Davis singing can be download from here (its a long url so you may have
>to cut and paste.
>
>http://www.archive.org/audio/audio-details-db.php?collection=78rpm&colle
>c
>tionid=PaulWhitemanwithRamonaDavies
A better link is for a zip file containing the mp3 is
http://www.archive.org/compress/PaulWhitemanwithRamonaDavies
DM
> Your instinct to see the positioning of the handles in terms of thirds
> (whether it is one third or two thirds up the door) is probably correct
> because it is a well known fact that human beings find things divided into
> thirds attractive. (It is something to do with us having two eyes) Hence
> the so-called "rule of thirds" when considering photographic or picture
> composition.
I had a look at positioning the handles one third of the way from the top
(66cm on these 198cm - 6'6" - doors) and it just didn't ring true.
Then, driving this afternoon, I had a brainwave! I suddenly remembered the
Golden Section, which I had studied in History of Art, and when I got home I
worked out that using this theory, the handles would have to be positoned
approximately 76cm from the top of the door.
I hung a tape measure from the top of the door and extended it to 76cm. The
66cm mark 'feels' wrong. The 76cm point feels perfect! I am very pleased
that this ancient law of aesthetics has come to my rescue.
Try it. You'll see what I mean.
DM
Kris Baker
"DM" <anti-spam...@eircom.net-anti spam> wrote in message
news:H3z2f.16970$R5....@news.indigo.ie...
Positioning a handle from the *top* of the door seems wrong, since
all users will always approach from the floor-level (ie, few are suspended
in air, reaching down).
What percentage from the top/bottom does that 76cm represent,
and how would that work on the doors of a local bank built in
Deco style, with ten-foot tall doors?
Kris
DM
> Positioning a handle from the *top* of the door seems wrong, since
> all users will always approach from the floor-level (ie, few are suspended
> in air, reaching down).
>
> What percentage from the top/bottom does that 76cm represent,
> and how would that work on the doors of a local bank built in
> Deco style, with ten-foot tall doors?
>
> Kris
Kris,
The Golden Section can only be expressed as an approximation. It works out
at 8:13 or about 62%.
Therefore, with a standard 198cm (6'6") door, you want the handle to be 8/13
from the bottom or 5/13 from the top.
Thus: 198/13 = 15.23cm x 5 = 76.15cm which is the distance from the top of
the door that the mid-point of the handle should be.
With a 300cm (10') door, the calculation runs: 300/13 = 23.08cm x 5 =
115.38cm, again being the distance from the top of the door.
In the case of my door, the handle is 121.85cm from the floor (198 - 75.16 =
121.85cm).
In the case of your door, the handle would be 184.62cm from the floor.
Obviously, that won't work. It would feel totally unnatural. (bloody hard to
reach, in fact!) But, then again, a ten foot door doesn't feel right either.
;-)
I should also add that we are using Shaker patterned doors. Not having any
panelling, they don't suggest any obvious point for the positioning of the
handle. Indeed, the free lines of the door permit one to have a very open
mind on this.
D.
ps..........a thought just occurred to me.............try positioning the
handle 115.38cm from the bottom of the 300cm door; a kind of inverted Golden
Section. Hhhhhhhmmmmmmm...........that could work very well, now that I
think about it! ;-) That might 'feel' and look quite natural.