# What is it about this design...



## derekleffew (Mar 12, 2021)

...that signals "courtroom"?


Some catalogs called it "Grecian", but it doesn't look very Greek to me. It's one of about six classic perforated punched metal grating most often used as radiator covers older homes. First offered by Kliegl Bros. in the 1960s as gobos. The practice continues today.

But _Judge Judy_, _The People's Court_, various _Law & Orders_ all have the pattern as some part of the courtroom. Why?


----------



## Catherder (Mar 12, 2021)

Maybe because so many courthouses were built in the neoclassical style, which was heavily influenced by classic Greek architecture. For example the Multnomah County Courthouse in Portland. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multnomah_County_Courthouse. 

Although I agree, it doesn’t strike me as very Grecian, and does remind me of the radiator cover panels at my kids school.


----------



## TheaterEd (Mar 12, 2021)

Because it's so easy to rent a set with this design?


----------



## Mac Hosehead (Mar 12, 2021)

Probably my upbringing but I look at the top image and Confessional comes into my mind. Any relationship with courtrooms?


----------



## derekleffew (Mar 17, 2021)

Not just for courtrooms; also makes a good background for vaccines.


----------



## JohnD (Mar 17, 2021)

Perhaps a wine rack for the person cave!


----------



## derekleffew (Apr 16, 2021)

Found on the twitter:


----------



## StradivariusBone (Apr 17, 2021)

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Steelworks-24-in-x-36-in-Aluminum-Decorative/3057471



I've seen them used around here on the lower panels of pool screens for privacy or to prevent the dog from trashing the screens.


----------



## mrtrudeau23 (Apr 21, 2021)

There is a radiator cover sitting in the back stairwell of my building with this design on it. We have sheets of the "courtroom" pattern in our light shop at school. And don't forget the big hole/tiny hole design! Classic.


----------



## derekleffew (May 6, 2021)

mrtrudeau23 said:


> There is a radiator cover sitting in the back stairwell of my building with this design on it.


Ah, yes, quatrefoil/cloverleaf, one of my favorites, as a gobo.


----------



## derekleffew (May 7, 2021)

Aha! I knew it wasn't grecian, it's Roman:


----------



## derekleffew (May 29, 2021)

Was channel surfing and discovered the motif is older than I thought.


----------



## MarshallPope (May 31, 2021)

I found this article:
https://www.classicist.org/articles...nwork,somewhat resembles Britain's union jack.

Quote:

> Roman lattice abounds in many different forms in American architecture, particularly on classical-style buildings of the first half of the 20th century. Cass Gilbert’s United States Supreme Court (completed 1935) has marble lattice Roman railings framing its forecourt, a composition evoking the splendor of ancient Rome (_figure 5_). Roman lattice in bronze and other metals was commonly employed to embellish openings in monumental buildings of the American Renaissance. A conspicuous example is the great Diocletian window in the façade of the 1911 the National Museum of Natural History on the Washington Mall. (_figure 6_). Similar Diocletian windows filled with Roman lattice dominate the façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even a small-town bank such as the 1903 National Valley Bank in Staunton, Virginia could be instilled with an air of dignity and permanence with its triumphal arch facade incorporating Roman lattice in its central arched window and smaller flanking windows (_figure 7_). Such classical facades were _de rigueur_ for early 20th-century banks throughout America.


----------



## StradivariusBone (Apr 2, 2022)

Rewatching Die Hard 3 (my personal favorite of the franchise) and lo and behold, the police station scene prominently features our favorite design element.


----------



## SteveB (Apr 2, 2022)

StradivariusBone said:


> Rewatching Die Hard 3 (my personal favorite of the franchise) and lo and behold, the police station scene prominently features our favorite design element.
> View attachment 22917



Hey, thats Larry Bryggman, he's a personal friend, used to do soaps in NYC when I was friends with him and his (now ex) wife Barbara. 


*Larry Bryggman, he's a personal friend*


----------



## StradivariusBone (Apr 3, 2022)

That is really cool! Like I said, it's my favorite Die Hard movie, and in no small part to the expanded police station office cast. Nothing against Reginald Vel Johnson (who is my favorite TV cop), but tell Larry he had a great performance! It takes a special kind of talent to keep Bruce Willis in check I would guess


----------



## JohnD (Apr 3, 2022)

I loved Reginald Vel Johnson showing up in *CHUCK *(S2E11).


----------

