JLC Online: While I spend much of my time traveling around the country teaching carpenters and contractors the ins and outs of trim carpentry, I don’t often have the opportunity to work for myself—until recently. I bought a home in the Pacific Northwest and during the remodel, I decided to trim all the windows and doors in a Craftsman style, which I’ve always admired because it’s a perfect blend of classical architecture and gothic ornamentation.
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Architectural detailing is a craft that I think is way undervalued in modern society. They indicate a lot of history and truly add to the complexity and elegance of a space. I am in such awe of the ornate nature of some of these pieces. They also have so many elements that add a lot of value. When I was younger I wondered why some of these shapes were repeated often: such as leaves and cherubs in really high-brow trim designs. This article satisfies a great deal of curiosity for me, but also raises a lot of questions. I do think there it is greatly important to consider how these details can change a space, especially when theatrically designing. Of course, expositional information can be conveyed, such as wealth, period, or taste. Beyond character and scenic development there is a certain mood given from a design standpoint as well, subconscious feelings that a certain element may evoke that should be considered.
Taking a class in high school covering the history of interior design and architecture gave me an interest in this kind of breakdown of exterior design elements. The 18th and 19th century pattern books reminded me of the fashion plates that would be illustrated to depict high-end pieces. The pattern books do seem more geared towards everyday people, although I’m sure there were more elaborate pattern books for very skilled craftspeople (the article uses “craftsmen” unfortunately). I appreciate the author showing examples of traditional versus alternative design elements, like the projection of the head casing on the doorframe. It’s one of those things that I would never notice, but has actually had a lot of thought and precision behind it. It makes me want to look through my house and hyper-analyze all the molding and window casings to see if the architect was feeling controversial. Unfortunately a lot of newer built homes don’t have these details.
I find the intersection of architecture and history and theater design to be absolutely fascinating. History influences the modern day in every conceivable way. Even something so small as a door trim is so intricate and detailed and full of rich history and thought. And the idea that such particular intention could be conveyed through the use of particular door trim. When are the inhabitants of this set living? Is this a particularly old building? Is it well kept? Where in the world is this building planted. What is the economic status of the inhabitants of the building? The economic status of the builders of the building? So much can be communicated to the discerning eye of an audience through the use of such subtle architectural clues. And the amount of detail that are included in the construction of these trims reminds me why there were such niche trades that were able to make a living in older decades.
This is an example of the type of thing that can kinda become a secret language for people not in the know, smae with some smaller fashion choices or distinctions as a trend evolves over the course of its existence. Its very much not something that I am at all familiar with, but something I thought I should at least learn a bit about now with the article and probably later in terms of being a scenic designer, and definitely a way to potentially elevate a set to very specific time periods with the budget and time. It’s not necessarily the most interesting skill to me, exacting replication of specific times or places is simply not a concept I find super engaging because often i would prefer to blend or create something new into pieces, but I can respect the skill and knowledge that it takes and find some uses for it myself.
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