Hello, beautiful Roermond!
Really, this is a beautiful city. When I walk through the town, there are treats for my eye at every turn.
I like the beautiful doors. They don’t appear to be mass-produced, which is what I’m familiar with. They look to me to be solid, often beautifully cared for, and artfully crafted, as well as functional. Even neglected doorways have charm. Where I come from, doors that are elegant and unique are only on very posh homes, set far back from the street & not visible to passers by. So I take pleasure in seeing these, opening directly onto the street where I walk.
And hardware! Hasps & handles, doorknobs & knockers, gates & grills – again, these often look like art to me, and I want to stop and admire them. Which might be awkward, if it’s often the entrance to someones home!
I like the doors on the new buildings, the doors made of metal and glass, too. The door of my apartment is such. It’s solid, strong, tall, heavy. Nothing flimsy about it, and that appears to be the standard for the newer construction I’ve seen.
The feeling I get is of high standards for the quality of every-day objects. Those standards have carried through, unchanged, from older technologies, materials and styles, to modern ones. To me it feels typical of Netherlanders’ notions of how things should be done. Things should be well made, functional, beautiful, so that both the maker and the user can take pride in the object – and in the case of doors, give pleasure to me, passing by!
Recherche Roermond 