14 Nov

For blog 5 we were asked to discuss what lies in-between the mountains and the sea.  My response focused on the fertility of the edge between the two elements, which seems an equally appropriate response to a blog entry concerning details.

A detail as described by Frascari in The Tell-The-Tale Detail, is a joint.  It is, like the coast, an edge, an in-between that hinges between two elements, be them materials or regions.  Within this edge lies great potential and creates something other than the two elements that it joins.  In the case of a detail, this can enrich a project and create a moments of discovery where the user of architecture is asked to participate and respond.

In Rome, edge fertility has sprung up in the doorway to Grand Hotel De La Minerva.  As the space between the inside and outside, the door becomes a threshold – a place not out nor in, but in-between.  At Hotel Minerva, the designer took the opportunity of the doorway to define a specific way in which guests enter the hotel.  Rather than a large, ominous wooden door that most of Rome’s large street-side arches are filled with, the doorway at the hotel is given depth.  The rotating door, housed under colored glass panels and surrounded by ornate woodwork, is set back from the stone arch into the vaulted space behind.  Greater depth is created by an elaborate metal and glass overhang protruding in front of the entry.  Even the handle that greets the visitor is designed to leave the glass in the center untouched while providing both a horizontal band and a handle to use.  The playful and ornate entry gives the visitor a sense of welcoming and luxury, creating the sense that the visitor is stepping into a beautiful space exclusive for them.