Door knobs and handles
Posted by Cornelius Holtorf
I came across an interesting article on a major German news site about the trend in the US to use door handles (common in Europe) instead of door knobs (until now common in the US).
Der knubbelige Türöffner, so ur-amerikanisch wie Apfelkuchen und das Recht, Waffen zu tragen, steht vor dem Aussterben. In US-Eigenheimen finden sich immer öfter Türgriffe, die lange Zeit als Inbegriff europäischer Dekadenz und Extravaganz galten.
Full article available here: http://www.tagesschau.de/schlusslicht/tuerknauf2.html
If anybody has seen the same report elsewhere (presumably this is based on somebody's press release), send a comment please! If you have any personal reminiscences or observations on this topic, please send a comment too!
Comments
I think it's just sort of wishful thinking of whomever issued this press release (some German hardware manufacturer, I guess?). The door knobs are still most popular in The States, United Kingdom (the country where they originate) and Ireland. Not that much has changed in the last 50 years. We can see more and more people use lever handles here over the years, but there's no particulary noticable trend in the recent years. I would say we still sell 3 pairs of door knobs for one pair of lever handles here. So the trend is out there, but it's evolution rather than revolution.
Posted by: Architectural Classics | April 29, 2008 2:45 AM