I'm rewatching House of Cards and I've noticed from this show, others like it and photos of the Oval Office that there are doors that look like a character is pulling away part of the wall. Is there any reason for this?
I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it's just an aesthetic choice.
The oval office used to have regular doors there, by the way. They changed it sometime in the 1930s. Here's what it used to look like:
http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/oval-office/oval-office-c1909.jpg
And here's the same view after the renovation, with the "hidden" doors:
http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/oval-office/oval-office-1950-n.jpg
Given that during the renovation they added two windows next to the east door, and two inset shelves next to the west door, I suspect the wall space was just getting too crowded looking, and rather than give up the big imposing looks of the east and west sides of the room, they decided to take attention away from the north side of the room.
