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ri.Ai'. 1. PliOriLKS Ol" DOOUS.
91;^
X will l)e ioiiiid tluit tlie solid jjuits of tliis are exactly on their \
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'ace two thirds of this area
;
for iij) to the toj) of the opening each
irchitrave heing equal to 12, the sum will be 24
;
and tlie entabla-
ture being 8 wide and 3 (one fourth of twelve) high, 8 x 3 =
24;
ivhich added to 24 for the architraves gives 48 for the solids, and
|5
=
,
as above stated. The same analogy does not seem to hold
in respect of doors and windows, of making the voids equal to the
iup])jrts and weights, as in intercolumniations
;
nor indeed ought
ive
to expect to find it, for the conditions arc totally different,
inasmuch as no door can exist except in a wall, whereas the office
jf columns is connected with the weight above onlj'. \Vc trust,
therefore, we have shown enough to keep the reader's mind alive
to some such law as above developed, without insisting very strongly
an a minute attention to it in detail.
2731 . We shall now, before submitting any examples of doorways
F's-
955.
to the reader, touch upon some important points that must be attended to; the first of which
is, that all gates and doors, independent of all other considerations, must be of sufficient siz
For convenient passage through them. Hence internal doors must never be reduced undci
2 feet 9 or 10 inches, and their height must not be under 6 feet 10 inches or 7 feet, so as lo
admit the tallest person to pass with his hat. These are minimum dimensions for ordinary
houses in the principal floors; but for houses of a superior class, which are provided with wh.-it
may be called state apartments, widths of 4, 5,
and 6 feet, foldmg doors and the like, will not
be too great for the openings, and the heights will of course be in proportion. The entrance
doors of private houses ought not to be under 3 feet 6 inches, nor ordinarily more than
6 feet in width
;
but in public buildings, where crowds of people assemble, the minimum
width should be 6 feet, and thence upwards to 1 or 12 feet. No gate should be less than
9 feet wide; and when loaded waggons or carts are to pass through it, 11 or 12 feet
will not be too much. As a general observation we may mention that all doors should open
inwards, for otherwise the person entering pulls the door in his face, which is an inconvenient
mode of entering a room. Also when the width of a door is greater than 3 feet 8 inches
it should be formed in two flaps, by which three advantages accrue : first, that the door
will not occupy so much space for opening; second, that each door will be lighter; and,
third, that the flaps will more nearly fold into the thickness of the wall. Chambers pro-
perly says,
"
That in settling the dimensions of apertures of doors regard must be had to
the architecture with which the door is surrounded. If it be placed in the intercolumniation
of an order, the height of the aperture should never exceed three quarters of the space
[)etween the pavement and the architrave of the order; otherwise there cannot be room for
the ornaments of the door. Nor should it ever be much less than two thirds of that
space, for then there will be room sufficient to introduce both an entablature and a
pediment without crowding
;
whereas if it be less it will appear trifling, and the inter-
columniation will not be sufficiently filled. The apertures of doors placed in arches are
egulated by the imposts, the top of the cornice being generally made level with the top
)f the iinpost; and when doors are placed in the same line with windows, the top of the
iperture should be level witii the tops of the apertures of the windows
;
or if that be
lot practicable without inaking the door much larger than is necessary, the aperture
nay be lower than those of the windows, and the tops of all tlie cornices made on the same
evel."
27.^2. To say that the principal door of a building should if possible be in the centre of
the front would seem almost unnecessary
;
but it is not so, perhaps, to inculcate the necessity
of its being so situated in connection with the internal arrangement of the building as to
lead with facility to every part of it, being, as Scamozzi observes (Parte Secunda, lib. vi.
c.
4.),
like the mouth of an animal placed in the middle of the face, and of easy communi-
cation with the inside. In the internal distribution the doors should as much as possible
be opposite one another on many accounts, not the least whereof is the facility thus given
to ventilation
;
but such a disposition also gives the opportunity of a far better display of
a series of rooms, which on occasions of fetes imparts great magnificence to the apartments.
In this climate it is well to avoid too great a number of doors, and they should never, if
it can be avoided, be placed near chimneys, because of subjecting to draughts of air those
who sit near the tire. Generally the doors in a room should be reduced to the smallest
number that will suit the distribution, and the practice of making feigned or blank door.s,
though sometimes necessary, should if possible be excluded.
2733. The ornaments with which doors are decorated must of course depend on the
building in which they are used
;
and as this is a matter in which common sense must
direct the architect, it is hardly necessary to say that the ornaments applied to them in a
theatre would ill suit a church.
2734. The composition and designing of gates and their piers must of necessity suit the
occasion, as well as the folding gates attached to them, for the enclosure of the parks.
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