Decorative details - Venetian Doorway

A doorway from Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. A nice door if I ever saw one...

Snapshots - Greeves St, Fitzroy

Signs of spring and other things...

Snapshot, East Melbourne

Some houses and their entrances on Grey St in East Melbourne. The elegant yet simple shape of the porch doorway caught my eye at No. 39. The second just seemed so simple and yet so perfect, it stood out amongst the mainly terrace fronted houses. Just a lovely combination of the old raw red brick wall, the flat and naturalistic paving stones and the stark bare tree against a white wall.

Decorative Details - Doorway

I like collecting decorative details on buildings with my camera. I get especially excited when I notice one that had previously passed me by as it was with this magnificent doorway on Flinders Lane in Melbourne. The National Trust tells us that the building was built in 1901 for Robert Reid and Co as a warehouse and showroom. It was designed by Bates Peebles and Smart. The doorway has a sort of 'pared back till it is almost invisible' classicism. The long vertical grooves set with geometric rosettes suggest pilasters. The central 'keystone' has been transformed into a sort scroll tablet. I think you can see elements of mannerism in the way that classical forms are being played around with (as I suggested in a recent post about a doorway in Fitzroy) as well as the elegant elongation and simplification of classical forms which looks forward to the architecture of the Art Deco period.