Wrought Iron for Windows and Balconies

For those who are looking for wrought iron solutions for their windows or balconies, here are some samples from Italy, and one from Spain:

Beautiful iron grids for windows in Chioggia (VE)


wrought iron grids for round windows in Venice


Canal railing in Venice


wrought iron grating for windows, including the window above the entrance door, Venice


stunning facade in Venice


pretty eyes for a wooden door in Venice


unusual red, window protection in Venice, flick find via Donna Corless


entrance in Venice


entrance to a shop at Piazza San Marco, Venice


lattice above the Zegna shop in Venice


Roman iron by dmmaus via flickr


Beautiful wrought iron work for a window in Pizzo (Calabria)


in the neighbourhood in Pizzo


white balcony balustrades in Tropea (Calabria)


Tropea, same style, different palazzo

old palazzo with beautiful iron balcony in Lipari (Eolie islands)


window dressing with blue iron and iron flowers on the vulcano island Stomboli (Eolie islands)


blue balcony balustrade in Stromboli (click on picture to enlarge)


Balcony in Stromboli


Last but not least: Spain - beautiful flickr find via lyngy


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When you are in particular interested in one of the wrought iron work design in the picture, click on the picture to enlarge for details.
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zoccolatura - or the wrong skirt

In Italy, a zoccolatura, a baseboard or SKIRTing board (I like the 'skirt' in the word) is often used at the base of facades. Some baseboards are simply made of grey plaster, some are made of stones of other shape or tonality than the rest of the facade.

Below you see an older picture of our street. In front (right) is part of our palazzo, with the former zoccolatura of grey plaster. The neighbouring palazzo even has no zoccolatura.


The church, next by, Chiesa Carmine, has simply used brown paint to indicate a high baseboard (here behind the statue of Padre Pio, I need to find a better picture):


Another example of a beautiful zoccolatura can be offered by the main church of Lipari of Isole Eolie (see above first picture).

Well, well, and now we have our own new skirting board.
Made of my 'favorite' material, my grandfathers grave stone.
We inherited a few plates for the finishing of the balustrade from the previous owner. And it went on and on, for consistency, with window sills and door sills (remember my post about now I have to live with this) and now it is the zoccolatura:



These granite stones are not shiny. They have been treated with flames and the material on the top of the surface, due to thermal expansion, come out leaving an uneven surface. This is how the windows sills should have been treated.

I have to see it on site.
And if I still don't like it, my solution for the 'wrong skirt':


Put back the church's benches in place and the stones become invisible.

Again: A house that is older than 200 years should be restored in a way that preserves the old charm, the patina, the age ! - Sometimes less is more ! - Otherwise I can go on a green grassland and build a new house that suits my needs. - Of course it is also the dilemma of being not on the construction site myself.
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Some more zoccolatura can be found around in my flickr set Italian doors.

Before and After: Facade

before (2006) main facade

after (2008)

 

before (2006) from the side

after (2008)

Didn't our architetto deliver a nice job ? Complimenti !
I am very happy with the result. It looks great. Not overdone, in my opinion. Just appropriate and very well matching the main facade.

But, ssh, can you believe that we have a neighbour who wants us to move the rain drain ?! (It is facing his ground.) Maybe there is an old South Italian superstition behind his wish?

Mmm ... it should not disturb us to enjoy the overall result.
We are almost done ! ... from the outside.

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More Facade Before & After posts:

 

before and after facade from above

before and after facade from seaside

 

See all renovation posts BEFORE and AFTER.

And the winner is...

... PP, il architetto !

While we all were still voting and thinking and discussing about version B or C and about the white column in the middle yes or no - our young architect and his team were working.

When we made the decision to do version C - the simple one - the column in the middle (version B) was already plastered on the wall.

I just reviewed the pictures, send by PP (grazie!), and was asked to made the final decision by Angelo and CC :

To remove the column tomorrow morning or not ?

Well, well, the argument of the architect sounded reasonable:
'Secondo mè è necessaria per interrompere la monotonia dell'orizzontalità, e di avere tutta la parete rustica.', the column would interrupt the monotone horizontal.

And also some Pizzitani which have seen the work today, recommended to leave it.

So GREEN light to go ahead (luce verde).

For your (and my) understanding: the version that will be implemented, is a mix of version B and C. The column in the middle (as I understood) will not go down all the way. The lowest part remains (more or less, I assume) untouched, while the stone part will have a white column that finishes under the roof.

(PP, perfavore, is this the final version?)

Thank you all for your votes, comments and emails! Very much appreciated!

It was fun. - I leave the poll open for some more days, in case you still like to vote.

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update: poll is closed, here is the result:

version B 46 % (mix of modern and old)
version C 33 % (simple version)
version A 20 % (shoe box version)

The (side) Facade Election

Our beautiful main facade...



... and the side facade of the house you see first when you approach the house:



We can't leave it like this.
Everybody agrees.

But everybody has a different opinion about HOW to renovate this part.

The discussion is very lively. This I understand from the Italian emails copied to me...

We have 2 problems:

1) it should not look like a shoe box
2) it should not be too expensive


Here are 3 approaches for the (side) facade:

A)
'The expensive shoe box version'
(repeating the design of the main facade for each floor)



B)
'Mixing old and new elements'
(renovating nicely the stone wall and adding white columns from the main facade)



C)
'The simple version'
(coloured plaster only on the top floor that is the newest part of the house; renovating part of the stone wall to water & wind proof; the lower part remains as it is as it borders to the neighbour's property)



How about voting ?
Are you still in voting mood?
We have 3 candidates: A), B) or C)
Please vote on the top of the blog roll (on the right)

(I am not sure which one is actually preferred by whom).

To support the decision making process for everyone, I post some more pictures around the house:

House from the garden

Nicely detailed renovated garden wall

The other side facade - it was plastered before

House from seaside (1)

House from seaside (2) - including side facade in question


And here some samples from facades in Pizzo:

Facade sample for the use of mixed medium - stone and plaster (click on photo to enlarge)

Stone facade partly plastered (click on photo to enlarge)

Most famous stone wall (from the castello of Pizzo)

Please vote for your favorite solution on the (right) blog roll
A) most detailed (expensive shoe box)
B) mix of old and new elements
c) most simple version

I am curious about the result and about how to use the poll gadget!
Thank you for your support!