What is a door today? On a symbolic level, it remains the border between the outside (that generally belongs to a multitude of people or, if you prefer, no one in particular) and our “inside”. On a more practical level, it is the gateway through which we can enter a private space (our own or someone else’s); but, at the same time, it could be the barrier that prevents us from doing that. This is, essentially, a door: a device that we can use in order to decide whether or not to allow other people to access our space (intended as our house, but also our office, studio, bedroom or any other internal environment we want to protect from unauthorized entries). But, is it all? In other words: is the role of the door, in a modern building, that of the guardian of our private areas? Or is there something else?
Today the manufacturing technologies typically used to build a door are among the most sophisticated in the whole construction sector. A door is kind of a work in its own right, being forced to have certain precise features, and not the totality of them falls within the field of competence of engineers and designers. If we take a look at the Cocif’s catalogue (you can find it at www.cocif.com/modern-doors), we can realize how accurate and strict a top brand’s work can be in this specific business sector: and this is just one of many examples that anyone can find on the Internet or roaming across the interior design stores and exhibitions.
So, to sum up, today a “simple” door is actually anything but simple, since it has to play several roles, offering top notch performances in each of them. Here’s below the main ones a door is in charge to fulfill.
- It has to be an anti-intruders barrier. In other words, a door maintains its primary role of main “defender” of our privacy and safety. Especially if we deal with front doors. It’s no accident that the number of requests of anti-burglary devices related to the door (starting with the lock and the keyhole) are dramatically increasing in the last days.
- It has to be a piece of design. Even the aesthetics claims a primary role. As a result of that, a modern house door doesn’t need only to be strong and safe; it has to be beautiful. More specifically, it has to be harmonized with the surrounding environment: the color of the walls, the furniture’s style and the overall appearance of the building, both on its exteriors and interiors.
- It has to ensure a perfect insulation from outer noises, pollution and temperature. The main principle of a door is: once closed, everything’s out stays out, unless you don’t want to let it in. Air pollution and annoying noises are the worst enemies of our privacy: a door has to prevent them from entering our private spaces. Moreover, it has to ensure a perfect thermal insulation: cold (in winter) or hot (in summer) air have to stay out of the building.
- It has to regulate the inner space’s humidity ratio. Maybe not everybody knows that that a front door is one of the main humidity regulators of our house. Keeping the air’s moisture constant (not to moist, not too dry) is another one of a door’s main tasks.
