Looking back on the posts from the last year, I’ve realized that doors have received something of a short shrift from your faithful 3ringers. With the notable exceptions of Neoporte, Wippro Space-Savers, and Crestview Doors, we’ve all but neglected this most elemental of architectural features—an oversight we aim to rectify in short order. For what other component carries greater metaphorical significance? The door is the passageway, the conduit, the first signifier of the meaning of the enclosed space we call a home.

Mirrored single external sliding door from the Tekno Collection. Manufactured by Foa Porte.

As such, it speaks large as to the character of said space. So what can we glean from Italian manufacturer Foa Porte’s Tekno line of sliding-glass doors? First off, that they nicely tread the divide between blocking out and inviting in. Each model in Foa Porte’s Tekno line features laminated, tinted, or frosted glass—features that deftly manipulate the passage of light, thus affording the semi-barrier requisite to delineating space, while simultaneously encouraging the literal and metaphorical transference that is a door’s primary function. While Foa Porte says it’s all about the glass (“the glass department is the heart of the company”), let’s not overlook the structural steel elements that facilitate function. Tekno doors are distinctive for their single shaft mounting: a simple steel rod suspends the door via rubber runners, permitting noise-less and effort-less operation (say goodbye to squeaky hinges!).

Single external sliding door in laminated frosted glass from the Tekno Collection. Manufactured by Foa Porte.

Double external sliding door in laminated frosted glass with “Strombolo” application from the Tekno Collection. Manufactured by Foa Porte.

Single external sliding door in laminated transparent glass with “Righe 7010” sandblasted decoration from the Tekno Collection. Manufactured by Foa Porte.

Double external sliding door in “POP – bronzo terra” glass with grid sandblasted decoration from the Tekno Collection. Manufactured by Foa Porte.

The easy operation complements the spare aesthetic: one notable advantage of a sliding door is the way its wall-hugging functionality saves space, which, as everybody knows is at a premium these days (see Clei Space Savers). And as the name might suggest, the Tekno line has a space-age aesthetic. The fine glass and no-nonsense steel puts me in mind of the ultra-modernism of Daniel Libeskind’s recent addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, or Zaha Hadid’s concept for the Regium Waterfront. Even so, Tekno’s elegant adornments and alterations to their glass-pane doors give some models a classical touch – the “POP – bronzo terra with grid” for example, tempts with an ochre sandblasted decoration that’s vaguely Moorish but still unquestionably contemporary.

With the Tekno line of no less than 15 sized-to-order models, you’re sure to find a salutary solution to the problem of partition.

via Trendir