ARCHITECT has gathered a selection of entrances—captured by Esto photographers over the years—that range from whimsical doorways on houses to large-scale entries in monumental structures.
TWA Terminal at JFK (formerly Idlewild) Airport, New York, by Ee…
TWA Terminal at JFK (formerly Idlewild) Airport, New York, by Eero Saarinen, ca. 1962.
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Visitor Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., by Weis…
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Visitor Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., by Weiss/Manfredi Architects.
Pratt School of Architecture, Brooklyn, N.Y., by Rogers Marvel A…
Pratt School of Architecture, Brooklyn, N.Y., by Rogers Marvel Architects / Steven Holl Architects.
Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, Calif., by Frank Lloyd Wr…
Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, Calif., by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Noted architectural critic Paul Goldberger said in his acceptance speech for the Vincent Scully Prize that he will never review a building he hasn’t personally visited and explored, calling architecture “the way most people connect to the built environment.” If that’s the case, then doorways are both the literal and metaphorical portals through which people travel to experience those connections, and serve as visitors’ first taste of the space within. ARCHITECT has gathered a selection of these entrances—captured by Esto photographers over the years—that range from whimsical doorways on houses to large-scale entries in monumental structures, and from kinetic drawbridges to stationary portals, all of them memorable architectural first impressions.
To see more of Esto’s collection online, please visit Esto.com, or visit ARCHITECT’s collection of Esto Galleries.
Deane Madsen, Assoc. AIA, LEED Green Associate, is the former associate design editor for ARCHITECT, and still covers architecture and design in Washington, D.C. He earned his M.Arch. at UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design. Follow Deane on Twitter at @deane_madsen.
