Semplicita Elivia Horizontal Wood Grain La Luce - Wenge - Swing

As the name of the category suggests (sem-plee-CHEE-ta, with that inimitable and utterly musical Italian inflection), this interior door model of the Elivia interior door family is a representative of the elegant basics collection. A great deal can be said in favor of complexity. Whether the purely aesthetic value of simplicity is any less than that of complexity is a question still warmly debated among designers, engineers, and architects – after all these years. Simplicity isn’t necessarily lest costly (although in case of this particular interior door, it is), and can be far more elegant, striking, and memorable.

Which isn’t to say that the designers of this interior door model did not take advantage of the latest breakthroughs in modern interior door technology. Because they most certainly did. Thus, for instance, the method used in applying the finish utilizes processes that work on molecular level, the result being that the door and the finish are one, rather than aggregate components. This lifts scratch resistance, warp resistance, and the fade-proof qualities to a whole new level, unheard-of in the past.

Oh, and the hardware for this interior door is the same quality, i.e. superb, as it is with all Almese Doors products. The Italian-made 3D-adjustable, self-lubricating concealed hinges that make the installation a walk in the park and keep the door from screeching and squeaking forever – not to mention the aesthetic aspect (you’ll see neither the pin nor the knuckles whenthe door is closed) – it’s all there, as well as the magnetic lock and automatic sweep.

La Luce (“light”) refers to the glass panel down the middle, with a number of glass types available – frosted, clear, tempered, you name it.

Interior doors with glass is a time-proven idea dating back to at least the Roman Empire. It became especially popular during the Renaissance, when architects filling orders for Florentine and Neapolitan aristocracy were asked to take advantage of the wonderful climate and let in as much light into the villa as possible. Visiting French builders pounced on the idea and brought it back to France, where it resulted in the proliferation of what later on became known as the French door. Back in those days, large glass panes were difficult to produce and install, and therefore impractical. With technological advances of later epochs, the need to use rows of lites decreased, and the popularity of large glass panels suddenly caught up with that of the French door approach.

Horizontal in this case means the direction of the wood grain – or its latitudinal orientation, if you will. It helps create additional visual space, making the room appear wider. This is also a time-proven technique dating back to ancient Greece, where masterbuilders called it “optical correction” – a playful term, but very precise nonetheless. If you look closely at classical Greek architecture, you will notice that pretty much nothing is the way it seems: columns are tilted inward, their bases are thicker than their tops; seemingly straight lines on the facade are, in fact, curved; and so forth.

This is one amazing interior door model. You might want to look at the finishes next.

Would it look good on your interior door? You decide.

This finish breathes equatorial passion. Modeled on Millettia laurentii, a legume tree commonly known as African rosewood, it will impart to your doors an air of cozy warmth, a feature that so many ultra-modern, deliberately matter-of-fact modern interiors so often lack. As a tropical timber, wenge is dark in color with a distinctive figure and a strong partridge wood pattern. It is known for its quaint (and curious, yes) striations of wavy grain. The wood is dense and quite heavy. When kiln-dried, the surface becomes perfectly smooth, with tight pores and very few variations in the grain.

Suitable for many types of interior door, a good wenge finish can serve as the final touch – the master stroke, if you will – in any type of decor, bringing out or emphasizing, depending on the arrangement, the most striking qualities of each nuance. It invariably conjures up images of the whispering tropical rainforest interrupted here and there by red rock ridges and cliffs rising haughtily out of the jungle; or alpine meadows and swirling mists of the wild slopes leading up to Margherita Peak. The mighty Congo River dissects the landscape, calm and confident, having exerted so much influence on the human imagination over the centuries, mysterious and alluring: so many travelers, adventurers, and explorers from various countries and cultures treated it as the destination of choice.

In certain European traditions, wenge (both the wood and the color) has long been associated with high-end products and has been vastly popular in luxury homes, as well as offices. Small wonder: it is amazingly easy on the eyes. It has that soothing quality one finds oneself coveting after a long day’s work, and it can also work wonders creating a cozy atmosphere when one is hosting a banquet, a conference, or simply has guests over. It should be able to serve as a perfect (and utterly tactful) background for one’s antiques collection; it brings out the best features of, and focuses a viewer’s attention on, paintings and photographs; it accentuates the modern interior door’s convenience and adds to the classic style interior door quiet dignity. One of wenge’s most intriguing qualities as a color is it is almost impossible to compare with anything. Is it anything like Van Dyck brown? Not really. Italian espresso? Hardly. And so forth. Singularly enough, it goes equally well with flat surfaces and raised moldings; unapologetic “functional” simplicity and intricate ornamentation.