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being especially tall, narrow doors of the kind encountered in
official buildings, which give visitors feelings of importance
and elevation, while we are otherwise accustomed to the door
height being in proportion with that of its user.- Alongside structural features, spatial functions are im-
portant, and modes of operation in particular, since the use
of a door (which besides windows, is one of the few movable
elements in primarily static architecture) requires our special
bodily involvement. Every door form shapes the procedures
involved in opening or closing it and the situation of enter-
ing or leaving a room in its own special way. The sliding
door is characterized by an inconspicuous sliding movement;
the double winged door, in contrast, gives rise to a striking
gesture, as one either pulls the two wings towards oneself,
spreading the arms out in the process, allowing the now open
room to approach, or else pushes them outward, opening up
the space of the room with outspread arms. In contrast to the
expansiveness of this gesture, a revolving door involves us in
a situation of compulsion, with the independent character of
the drum’s rotation compelling us to treat others with special
consideration.
As the most commonly encountered type, the swing door
- deployed for rooms, apartments and buildings, all the way
to the main entrances of official buildings, as well as for gates
and gateways – merits special attention. The swing door is
actually a dividing wall that swings on the axis of the hinges
by which it is mounted on one side to a door frame, which
by framing the wall opening effects a transition between door
and wall. The act of opening the door, as an interlocking of
building and user, may be characterized as a minor > figure
of movement with a decelerating impact and a choreographic
expression. If the door opens towards us, we pull the edge of
the door leaf towards us with the handle, gradually widening
the crack between door leaf and doorway, through which we
then enter. In an almost dancelike movement, we rotate our
bodies around the leaf of the door, which now extends into