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           Landscape Doors and Gateways

 Anodized square tubing gate, clad in cut-out copper plate 
There is a special opportunity when developing the transitions between spaces, namely door and gateways.
The Rite of Passage though differing spaces is transitional, and can be marked by a variety of threshold materials with which we build, providing subtle, experiential, multi-layered moments. 
 
Moving between places is a physical act; an intent to move from point A to point B -
no big deal right, we do it hundreds of times a day.  We cross thresholds in each act.  Your sub-conscious tracks these changes and with it your perception and senses accommodate these transitions.  
Consider, for a moment, just how abrupt a typical, daily transition can be, if not designed with the above considerations in mind:
Office cubicle to elevator to parking garage to car to road to garage to kitchen; slam, bam, thank you madam.  Or, walking directly into a living room from a outdoor porch.  
 
Transition and nuance of design can soften these abrupt changes.  A foyer, a window along the way, a seating alcove, any design mechanism you can come up with is better than such abrupt change.  Just because our psyche can keep up doesn't mean that it is fully prepared for the next place we are entering. 
As designers we celebrate this act through structure and ornament.  Tweaking ones perception through nuance of material handling can also heighten the experience of Passage.
 
And, at the end of the day, isn't that what its all about?  Door and Gateways as Threshold are perhaps as significant as are the places and spaces they connect.
 
Salvaged, imported &
Re-Purposed Indian Door System.  
 
Above-door transom window was removed & fitted vertically into masonry wall.  These seriously, heavy hardwood doors were headed to the landfill (or fire-pit), after a bout of 'urban renewal' in northern India.  We retrieved this and other artifacts then shipped to our stateside shop for re-purposing (gotta love those shipping containers - another great topic for Re-Purposed Salvage).
 
We fitted ball-bearing pivots into the top and bottom of the doors, instead of hinges; they glide open & closed with just the touch of your pinkie.
One of the great 'win/win' scenarios for the designer-collector-builder is finding an Artifact that you either have an immediate use for, or can intuit that you will in the future.
Such pieces come around infrequently and so one must act.
This second door-set found a new home secured within this vine draped masonry wall.
Square Steel Tubing courtyard entry:
sun rays in half inch stock,
frame in one inch.
Rusted to desired patina then sealed.
Double sided Perforated Metal Screen on tube steel frame - left to rust.
curved stainless steel fencing pickets
Stainless steel Rigid Tubing of both Straight and Curved Pickets, sandwiched between rectangular steel tubing.
 
Note, perforated stainless gate as well:
Salvaged from used equipment yard of a restaurant supply.  
 
Combining new, found, re-purposed materials provides the designer/fabricator with a multitude of unique opportunities.
It is also easy on the budget.
Moongate with interior pocket rolling door - ' roll on in'
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