One of the many amazing portals that both connect and separate parts of the villages in Southern France: Belves, Dordogne

The Immortal Portal: A Photographic Essay

Abbreviated Definition from Oxford Languages:

noun: portal; plural noun: portals

A doorway, gate, or other entrance, especially a large and imposing one.

Origin: late Middle English: from Old French, from medieval Latin portale, neuter (used as a noun) of portalis ‘like a gate’, from Latin porta ‘door, gate’.

The word ‘door’ just doesn’t cut it for the many ways that we can navigate in and out of spaces. A broader term is ‘portal’, although ‘door’ will suffice to describe those hinged or sliding things.

One of my earliest memories of the mysteries and delights of portals were the winding steps that lead down the steep Wellington hill to our little flat. You had to earn your passage, and your destination was in view the whole way below you. The path wound its way down the hill offering different views across Evans Bay as you went. Just as you arrived at the main house, there were revealed to be more steps down to the flat; but the reward was to see Balaena & Evans Bay spread out below. There was no easy way to get there.

Another early memory was the pedestrian bridge leading to my aunt’s flat, also in Roseneath Wellington. There was something magical about traversing a narrow pedestrian bridge to visit my aunt. She would open the door and there before you was a picture window of Evans Bay.

The word ‘portal’ infers a journey of sorts, a transition, maybe even a transcendence. The first portals we see are the openings: the ‘eyes’ and the ‘mouth’ and other orifices that make up the façade, or ‘face’ of the building and make it permeable to the outside world. A building without such features can be a little disturbing, and a building with a misaligned ‘face’ with ‘eyes’ and ‘mouth’ equally so. As such, the windows are the ‘eyes’, a portal to the soul of the building.

An ‘A Frame’ house I walked past in Saint Coulomb, Brittany: Note the sinister lack of windows, despite being a two storey house

On the approach, we always find ourselves casting around for an entrance. Many tricks are played to influence our journey from ‘outside’ to ‘inside’. The worst kind are those with no transition zone, where there is simply a door beckoning bleakly to be either inside or suddenly outside. There is no passage in such a violent transition, no time for adjustment! Conversely, the best kind of entrance takes us on a journey, enabling the weary traveller to adjust to both the concept and reality of being ‘outside’ to being ‘inside’. The architect may lead you on a short trip that has you approaching the building, glimpsing the entrance, and then perambulating away again in some other direction. One such example is Brake House by the architect Ron Sang, which takes a meandering approach from the street, along a treed covered boardwalk, and away again with, views of the final destination along the way: a beautiful, full height ‘Sang’ door, with a tranquil, open waiting area alongside that would do justice to a Buddhist meditation retreat. Thus, the visitor arrives prepared, faculties smoothed, savage breast calmed by a happy blend of nature and architectural massage.

Brake House by Ron Sang in Auckland: A tranquil and meandering suspended walkway to the main entrance

Another type of portal is the linkway, a short, light-filled bridge that joins two parts of a building.

It enables the two wings to have more exterior wall exposed for windows, as well as separating the quiet sleeping areas from the living areas. The one pictured below was designed to be an unconditioned space, meaning that it’s not as well insulated as the rest of the building. Again, you have a sensory ‘right of passage’ when passing through, in the experience of light, temperature and sound.

Linkway in Tasmania by ArchInk: A portal between living and sleeping areas

So when does a simple entrance, door, gate or window become a portal? Here’s a photographic essay through southern France & Switzerland to help you decide!

The Immortal Portal

The Architecture of Anchoring