inspiration 1 mile and 63 years apart

On a recent trip to Racine, Wisconsin, I had the pleasure of experiencing the entrances and the environments of two very different buildings. A mile away from each other, they dramatically demonstrated 63 years of design evolution.

We had just installed a classic, four-panel custom fiberglass door to protect Wind Point Lighthouse, built in 1880 and designed by Orlando Poe. Wind Point had won a new door and windows as part of the JELD-WEN Reliable Lighthouse Restoration Initiative. Opening this strong, protective door was like opening a cover to a Victorian novel: it felt like traveling centuries back in time. The door guarded the lighthouse tower, just as the beacon at the top protected mariners from the shallow peninsula.

About a mile away as the seagulls fly is Wingspread, the 14,000 square foot home that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Herbert Fisk Johnson in 1938-39. Rows of one-panel glass and cypress doors and windows were barely noticeable, an almost transparent transition from the streamlined interiors through the building to the patio, pool and park-like grounds beyond. The door design blended perfectly with the windows, the interior and exterior living spaces, the lawn and the woods.

Little more than 60 years separated these doors, yet light years in design terms. Another 60 years has elapsed since Wright designed Wingspread, yet his door designs are almost identical to today's swinging patio doors.

Little more than 60 days remain at this writing to enter the JELD-WEN Student Door Design Contest. Please visit other sections of this site for guidelines and to upload your entries by February 29!

Lynne Butterworth
Communications Manager, JELD-WEN

judging is a door-opening experience

Judging the JELD-WEN Student Door Design Contest for the past two years has shown me that a door isn’t just a door. The student competitors in this event have re-envisioned what a door can look like, what materials it can be made of, and how it can function both aesthetically and practically. You might say it’s been an eye-opening and door-opening event. From my perspective, the entries that rise to the top exhibit not only the principles of good design—pleasing proportions, good use of materials, and appropriate utility, but they also show that the designer was able to think beyond our usual conception of what a door is and does. They are able to expand what we think a door should be while still giving the door all the functionality and beauty we expect of it.

Leslie Ensor, Editor
Custom Home and Custom Home Outdoors
Hanley Wood Business Media

thoughts from a 3-time judge

It’s an honor to be asked again to serve as a judge for Jeld-Wen’s Student Door Design Contest. As Products Editor for Architectural Record magazine for over 8 years, I’ve seen a lot of door designs come and go, but it has been refreshing to be able to see what inspires today’s design students and how they manifest those concepts into a product that is as functional and, at times, mundane, as the front door. This year, I’m hoping to see students deal with concepts such as sustainability, security, and universal design in a range of styles. Of particular interest would be someone willing to take on the challenge of helping design a door that is both attractive and storm-resistant!

Rita Catinella Orrell
Architectural Record