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Building a new home suddenly makes you see everything in a new way or as if for the first time. You start wondering about the windows on your new house and that makes you look at the windows on other houses. This "looking around" phenomenon recalls a statement by the late great landscape San Francisco landscape architect Thomas Church, who said "Look to your trees for they may have unrevealed beauty in their branches." He meant that with a little pruning you can bring out a tree's structure and perhaps its beauty. Our new Looking Around feature does something similar by helping you look more closely at key architectural details like windows, doors, porches, rooflines, lighting, ornamental patterns, and more. Think of it as an ever expanding collection of design ideas.
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Idea Collecting: Windows
Windows capture daylight and fresh air, frame views, and establish character. And they come in an almost infinite variety of shapes and sizes. As you explore these examples, think about what you want your windows to do.
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This image of an imaginative modern house in Denmark shows how a window can morph into a door (see the sliding barn door tracks over the big front glass), a wall, and a window bay (toward the rear). It's Stens Hus (photo by seier+seier+seier through Creative Commons.
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Or here's one window divided into four individual windows, for variety, by Bruno Taut, at Onkel Toms Hutte, Berlin (photo also by seier+seier+seier through Creative Commons).
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Or in a hot or cold climate, why not have functioning shutters that also show colorful character (photo by joseph.stuefer through Creative Commons.)
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See how a simple, horizontally expressive frame -- in contrast to surrounding shingles -- can turn a small window into something special (photo by ercwttmn through Creative Commons), as happens at the Gamble House in Pasadena by Greene & Greene.
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Double-hung for light and proportion.
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Grouped for effect.
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Maximize the corner.
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Tall windows for spaciousness.
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Stacked bay windows to capture a view.
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Single bay window for surprise.
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Elegant window wall.
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One of the most famous 20th century windows is this example in the house of Mexican modernist Luis Barragan. Barragan used big scale, elegantly proportioned mullions, and great depth of the frame to create a marvelous contradiction: it feels like part of the room is both outside and inside at the same time. (Photo from http://www.casaluisbarragan.org/.)
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A window on the guest room at Casa Barragan shows how the architect adapts simple elements like shutters -- by dividing the usual two into four -- to greatly vary the amount and character of daylight and adjust the sense of privacy. (Photo from http://www.casaluisbarragan.org/.)
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IDEA COLLECTING: FRONT DOORS
A good front door does two things: it protects the person and projects the personality. A simple barrier can do this. A door can also project an aura of solidity, security, and sophistication. Or it can make an artful, even theatrical, entrance in its own right. The following doors play with ideas of openness, closure, and identity.
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The Charnley-Persky House of 1892 in Chicago, designed by Louis Sullivan, the teacher of Frank Lloyd Wright. The organic metalwork adds character. Headquarters for the Society of Architectural Historians: www.charnleyhouse.org (website photo).
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Lightness and transparency taken to another extreme in the front entrance to the Farnsworth house of 1951, by Mies Van Der Rohe, in Plano, Illinois. It's hard to tell there's a door there at all. See the double doors in the middle of the glass wall: www.farnsworthhouse.org (website photo).
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Warm wood and an ornamental grille create a welcoming entrance.
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Generous sidelights brighten the front hall while the door itself remains solid and strong.
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Two shutters in the upper half of the door make it a flexible door: these three recycled wood doors from www.lapuertaoriginals.com.
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French doors are part of a large arched window, creating a graceful transition to the terrace.
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Sidelights and an arching transom add classical style to these well-proportioned screen doors.
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STAIRWAYS
A stair should do more than get you up and down. It can double as a lightwell, storage and display wall, extra seating, even a sculptural accent. Here are some examples to help your imagination take "flights".
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Architectural bubbles give this contemporary stair a little extra fizz.
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Patterns
Patterns are everywhere in the buildings and structures around us. They make our world memorable by creating a sense of identity. Patterns can be ornamental or structural, ordinary or extraordinary -- think of paving patterns, wall textures, shadow lines, sidewalk gids, window panes, roof tiles, etc. They stimulate visual thinking -- and help us imagine what we want a home to be. Start looking here: the world is your pattern book.
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One of the most influential 19th century books on architectural patterns is The Grammar of Ornament, by Owen Jones, published in England in 1853. It fanned interest in decorative schemes for molding, tile, and wallpaper from a wide variety of sources. The page above describes Greek motives from friezes and pottery.
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And here's a Persian page. Ceramic tile patterns abound.
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This page explores Egyptian schemes.
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This page explores Chinese patterns.
Compare Owen Jones' dictionary of ornamental devices to the less abstract, more fluid , nature-oriented patterns of someone like Robert Morris, who helped establish the Arts & Crafts Movement in England in the late 19th century.
Arts & Crafts designs are revived by wallpaper maker Bradbury & Bradbury.
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