Doors of the World

From a sandstone portal in Morocco to a bamboo-lined aperture in China, an exploration of door forms in vivid color.

Savor a rich and colorful array of doors and doorways around the world, from a sandstone portal in Morocco to a classically austere double-paneled entryway with sculpted lintel on Ile-de-France in Paris to a bamboo-lined aperture in China. Here are Dutch, double-, sliding, and rotating doors, cornices, pediments, door knockers, lintels, and sculpted panels. Charged with a certain mystery at once enclosing and exposing an interior space the door is a primal and essential architectural element. Drawing on their extensive travels and years of research conducting site analyses of the chromatic palettes of villages and cities worldwide, Jean-Philippe and Dominique Lenclos show how the diverse proportions, designs, materials, and colors of entryways reflect the geography, traditions, and culture of local habitats.