Palladio Prima Solid - White - Swing

The Palladio interior door collection includes this three-panel interior door with raised moldings especially for those who, like certain ancient Greek architects, are fond of symmetry. It is in keeping with Andrea Palladio’s principles of taking inspiration from classical antiquity themes.

The usual wonderful Almes features are all present, including the Italian-made 3D-adjustable self-lubricating concealed hinges that make the installation easy, efficient, and quick as well as ensure comfortable operation (this interior door never creaks). There is also the soundless magnetic lock whose mechanism never gives out due to the absence of moving parts; and the automatic sweep activated whenever the door is closed which gives the owner privacy as well as take the sound-proofing and thermal insulation qualities of this interior door to the next level.

An assortment of excellent finishes is available for this interior door: please study those carefully before picking the one that best suits your decor.

So, what does it take for an interior door designer to come up with something like this model, to reach this level of visual simplicity without sacrificing any of the classic elegance?

Well, to begin with, any follower of Palladio’s principles has to turn to the source first, which would necessitate a trip to northern Italy and, specifically, the Veneto region. All those villas (with all those interior doors!) are just waiting to be explored, and discover first-hand how the brilliant builder deviated from the Renaissance themes that were all the rage back then. His urban period followed these early efforts, when he began to get commissions for luxurious palaces from affluent city dwellers. Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza is especially informative in that sense. Its principal facade is composed of three bays, the central bay projecting slightly, with two superposed orders of columns, Doric on the lower level and Ionic above.

The designer would then need to move on to the “rustic suburban” and just suburban villas, and spend some time at the Villa Cornaro, a type of country house the builder practically invented – designed for both country living and entertaining noble guests.

He or she would then have to move on to the most famous suburban villa constructed by Palladio called La Rotonda, sitting on a gentle wooded hilltop, with views of the countryside in all directions. It is perfectly symmetrical, with four identical facades and porticos around the domed center. It became especially influential in the United States, where it inspired so-called "Neo-Palladianist" buildings, including the third President’s own creation in Monticello (interesting interior doors, by the way).

With all of the above in mind, the designer would then have to return to the workshop and start working on this interior door. From a series of sketches to miniature models to blueprints, the process would have to involve a lot of hard work, making sure that the final product not only looked and felt like an interior door Palladio himself would install – in any of his villas – but was also in keeping with contemporary technical and aesthetic requirements.

This is a bit tricky. Isn’t White the default finish that would look great on any interior door? Well, not quite.

W. is the color most often associated with perfection, honesty, cleanliness, newness, neutrality, and exactitude. The pigment has been known and used by humans since prehistoric times. In ancient Egypt, W. symbolized purity. Roman patricians paraded around in W. togas to distinguish themselves from the common folk. It was the color of choice of French monarchs. Architects of all epochs used W., with considerable enthusiasm, in various projects and for various reasons. In the United States, architects favored it when designing churches, capitols, and municipal buildings – which is, in fact, a tradition they inherited from classical and Renaissance architecture. According to some experts, most of the buildings in the celebrated Forum were either made of, or clad in, W. marble. In Taoism, it represents the yang or masculine energy, one of the two complementary natures of the universe. Many authors, both classical and contemporary, have referred to W. as a sign of purity, either physical (like William Shakespeare, whose treacherous usurper monarch wishes a heavenly rain would cleanse his blood-stained hand, washing it “white as snow”) or spiritual (like Tennessee Williams, who named his lead character Blanche (derived, incidentally, from the Germanic word blanc)) as a symbol of her innocent child-like spirit, perceptible from the moment she makes her first entrance (through the interior door stage-left).

Back in the Seventeenth Century, Sir Isaac Newton discovered that sunlight is composed of light with wavelengths across the visible spectrum which the human eye perceives as W. It is the lightest of the spectrum, and achromatic (hue-less) to boot, because it fully reflects and scatters all visible wavelengths of light, absorbing none. W. objects stand out in the dark. Depending on the surroundings, an interior door with W. finish might come off as emphatic or tactful, dominant or complementary. It blends seamlessly into most types of decor and, once the owner’s needs and disposition are taken into account, can symbolize - oh, so many different things, while bringing back a myriad memories: from those glorious snowy Alpine slopes and peaks to the fluffy tops of the wayward herd of cumulus cloud heap over the horizon on a balmy afternoon in the Caribbean. Tropical sand beaches are W. due to the high quantity of calcium carbonate they get from tiny bits of seashells ground to powder by the waves. In a number of cultures W. can also symbolize festivity, and be used lavishly to brighten up weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. It is beautiful. Make sure it goes well with your interior door model, though.