As we reported earlier, the planeta.ru portal is collecting funds for the preservation and restoration of the "Rotunda" by Alexander Brodsky. The art object, which has long become a symbol of the Archstoyanie festival, was one of the first to appear in Nikola-Lenivets, in 2009. Located on a hill in the middle of a clean field, the Rotunda is almost entirely assembled from recycled material - old boards and doors. Wooden doors with peeling paint, left over from abandoned and destroyed houses, form the entire first tier of the building. Each serves for its intended purpose, letting in and out of visitors.
The ingenious idea of using old doors as a building material is popular with architects and artists around the world. They are used to assemble complex sculptures, installations, art objects, pieces of furniture and interiors, and are used for the construction and decoration of temporary pavilions, exhibition halls and even housing. We have compiled our selection of door projects, covering a wide variety of typologies, functions and forms.
Capsule hotel "Your closet"
Authors: Architectural Bureau "ArchNakh"
Year of completion: 2011
Three years later, within the framework of the same Archstoyanie festival, a second object from the door appeared in Nikola-Lenivets - a capsule hotel. The authors of the project, Kirill Bair and Daria Lisitsyna, were clearly inspired by the success of the Rotunda. In the hotel for thirteen individual and six family "rooms" the main character is again the old wooden door. The compartments, each closed by a creaky door on iron hinges, are arranged in two tiers. One compartment - one sleeping cell. The horizontally and vertically arranged mismatched doors form the main facade of the building, but nevertheless, as in the case of the Rotunda, they retain their original function.
Temporary pavilion in Paris Circular pavilion
Credits: Studio Encore Heureux Architects
Year of completion: 2015
One of the most recent examples is the Paris pavilion, installed on the square in front of the city hall. The rather compact building accommodated exhibition halls, spaces for lectures, seminars and public speaking, as well as a small cafe. Recycled raw materials make up more than 60% of all building materials required for the construction of this pavilion. The frame, insulation, roofing and even furniture with pendant lamps are all recyclable materials. Mainly used was construction waste left over from the demolition or reconstruction of buildings. The main facing material was doors - only 180 pieces. Here, in contrast to the objects of "Archstoyanie", the doors are matched exactly the same. All of them became unnecessary after a large-scale reconstruction of one of the residential areas of Paris. However, on the initiative of the mayor's office, it was decided to give them a second life.
House of a Thousand Doors
By Choi Jong Hwa
Year of completion: 2009
Surprisingly enough, not only art objects and temporary pavilions, but also housing are being erected from the doors that have already served. The most striking example is a ten-story apartment building built in Seoul. While remaining an example of street art, it nevertheless provides shelter to the city's residents. For its construction, the architect and artist from South Korea Choi Jong Hwa needed exactly a thousand doors. Their doors cover the high tower from top to bottom, in some places leaving glazed gaps of improvised windows and vents. Smartly selected in color, doors of all stripes and textures form a bright abstract pattern of the walls, turning the building into a local landmark.
Homeless housing Bow-House
Author: Stefan Malka
Year of completion: 2014
Another example of a door-to-door residential building is the Bow-House, which is docked to the wall of an existing brick building. It was erected in one of the disadvantaged areas of Heerlen in the Netherlands by the design of the French architect and graffiti artist Stephen Malk. Scaffolding serves as the foundation for this strange parasite house, and the living box is assembled from old windows and doors - completely deaf and with glass inserts. Such a volume of recyclable materials is cheap and can be charged quickly and easily. It can just as easily be moved to another location. The doors in this project perfectly correspond to its ideology, inviting everyone to spend the night. Of course, inside the narrow premises of the temporary shelter do not look very comfortable, but staying here is absolutely free.
Club and street out of doors in Utrecht
Authors: Stortplaats van dromen
Year of completion: 2012
The creative team of Stortplaats van dromen does everything out of doors. Young artists and designers from Holland use recycled materials to decorate the walls of houses, build partitions and verandas, erect temporary outdoor cafes and shops. So, in 2012 in Utrecht, they built a whole series of kiosks and pavilions, using only waste containers and their contents. And, I must say, this initiative was very popular among local residents, despite the fact that the buildings did not look too aesthetically pleasing against the background of the modern city. In the same year, the artists developed planning and interior solutions for the Vechtclub XL club, created on the basis of an old warehouse. In it, doors play an important role and this time they become the main aesthetic component of the project. The space of multi-colored doors with glass inserts today houses offices, rehearsal studios, creative workshops, a restaurant and exhibition halls.
Installing Another Door
By Calen Barca-Hall and Paul Hempstead
Year of completion: 2011
Of course, doors serve as an excellent material for the construction of all kinds of sculptural compositions and installations. Thus, from doors and bicycle wheels, two young American artists created an interactive sculpture called Another Door, invented specifically for the annual Burning Man art festival in the Nevada desert.
The doors placed vertically form small modular rooms and spaces. All doors are connected with each other using a special mechanism, when when one door is closed, another will immediately open. This allows viewers to wander endlessly in a visually small space like in a labyrinth, each time discovering it in a new way. The effect is enhanced by the author's drawings applied to the door surfaces.
Garbage installation The Big Crunch
Authors: Berlin Bureau Raumlabor
Year of completion: 2011
To assemble this installation in Darmstadt, in addition to doors, a whole mountain of various rubbish came in handy - old chairs, partitions, window frames and the remains of furniture. Fragments of wood and plywood are attached in layers to a metal frame. Outside, the house resembles a large and almost shapeless garbage dump, which has been warped by the wind. Inside, a small room is organized, similar to a funnel or the center of a whirlpool. In it, according to the authors, it is possible to arrange exhibitions. Obviously, this project is a provocation, but the idea embedded in it is quite relevant: there are too many discarded and unnecessary items, which can turn the entire planet into a garbage dump.
Street art in Belgium
Author: Stefaan De Croock
Years of implementation: 2014, 2015
Doors are also used in street art. Instead of the usual graffiti and posters, Belgian artist Stefaan De Croock creates paintings on the walls of buildings from unnecessary doors. True, here the doors serve only as a source material. The artist, creating his works, saws and cuts the door leaves, giving them the desired shape - more often geometric. The resulting large pieces of wood, plastic and other materials retain their color and texture. From them, the author collects giant portraits and collages that occupy the entire space of an empty wall of abandoned factories and factories or firewalls of residential buildings.
Residential building "Red House" in London
Year of completion: 2007
Residential apartment building in Liverpool, located along Great George Street, in 2007 received a very distinctive design. It was decided to decorate its facades with the help of the entrance doors left after the reconstruction of the housing stock in London. Each door, which retained its relief and texture, was painted in the traditional red color for the British capital, thanks to which the volume turned out to be solid. True, the building did not last long in this form and soon returned to the usual brickwork.
