DOUBLETAKE: WHEN IS A DOOR NOT A DOOR?

摘要

When it's ajar, of course - thankfully, not an issue with the old revolving door. And I stress the word 'old' - they've been around since H Bockhacker of Berlin took out a patent on one in 1881. And it may come as a statement of the patently bleedin' obvious to be informed that the direction in which they revolve is dictated by whether you drive on the right or the left. So that'll be left in the UK, India and Japan, but right in the US, Europe, Turkey and Africa. But not if it's Foster's GLA Building (far left), where the double revolving entrance doors run counter to one another - perhaps a small nod to London's status as one of the most multicultural cities in the world? So what more can revolving doors possibly do for advancing the cause of humanity? Their draught excluding qualities have been acknowledged since Bockhacker's patent (his 'Tuer ohne Luftzug' meant 'door without draught'), but it turns out that Dutch manufacturer Boon Edam is producing dynamo doors that generate electricity with every user (left).