Architectural terracotta refers to a fired mixture of clay and water that can be used in a non-structural, semi-structural, or structural capacity on the exterior or interior of a building. Terracotta is an ancient building material whose name translates from Italian as "baked earth". Some architectural terracotta is stronger than stoneware. It can be unglazed, painted, slip glazed, or glazed.
Usually solid in earlier uses, in most cases from the 19th century onwards each piece of terracotta is composed of a hollow clay web enclosing a void space or cell. The cell can be installed in compression with mortar or hung with metal anchors; such cells are often partially backfilled with mortar.
Terracotta can be used together with brick, for ornamental areas; if the source of the clay is the same they can be made to harmonize, or if different to contrast. It is often a cladding over a different structural material.
History Terracotta was made by the ancient Greeks, Babylonians, ancient Egyptians, Romans, Chinese, and the Indus River Valley and Native American cultures. It was used for roof tiles, medallions, statues, capitals and other small architectural details.
Ancient Eastern terracotta
Indian terracotta manufacturers hand pressed, poured, and double-molded the clay mix. Plaster casts have been found in several ancient sites in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Similarities in motifs and manufacturing processes have caused scholars to note cross cultural pollination between the Hellenic and Indus River Valley sculptural terracotta traditions. Famous early examples include the Bhitargaon temple and the Jain temple in the Mahbubnagar district.
Chinese, Korean, and Japanese terracotta making traditions were focused on non-architectural uses such as statuary or cookware but various forms of terracotta tiles were popular roofing materials.
Western terracotta
Antiquity–1700s Greeks used terracotta for capitals, friezes, and other elements of their temples like at Olympia or Selenius. Domestically they used it for statuary and roof tiles. The Etruscans used terracotta for roof tiles, encased beams, and enclosed brick walls with it. The Roman terracotta innovation was the underfloor or hypocaust heating system that they used for their bath houses. Medieval European architecture did not expand terracotta use beyond the ancients. The manufacture of tile roofs diminished with low cost thatch roofing widely available.
1700s–1880s
Great Britain Richard Holt and Thomas Ripley patented an artificial stone recipe in 1722. The business was fairly successful at making small architectural ornaments. Their company was taken over by George and Eleanor Coade in 1769. [See Coade stone, See Eleanor Coade ] George died a year later, leaving the company to his wife and daughter, both named Eleanor Coade. The Coade ladies popularized the grey mix of terracotta as an alternative to stone with the help of architects like Horace Walpole and Sir John Soane. Georgian architectural style was in vogue and demand for repetitive, classically inspired décor was very fashionable. The Victoria and Albert Museum (1867–1880) and the Natural History Museum of London (1879–1880) buildings ushered in an era of mass-produced architectural terracotta.
North America Early manufacture: 1840s–1860s The earliest manufacturer of architectural terracotta in the United States was started by Henry Tolman Jr. in Worcester, Massachusetts, around 1849. In the 1850s, New York City architects like Richard Upjohn and James Renwick used it on some of their projects, but the material failed to gain widespread popularity and many American architects falsely believed it couldn't endure the North American climate.
1870s–1930s The Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed many of the wood and stone-constructed buildings of Chicago, Illinois, and spurred greater interest in fireproof building materials that could enable the elaborate construction of the era. James Taylor, an English-trained ceramicist, played a key role in establishing effective widespread terracotta production in the United States through his work for various firms such as the Chicago Terra Cotta Company, the Boston Terra Cotta Company, and the New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company.
The American architectural terracotta industry peaked during the late 1800s and helped enable the construction of skyscrapers by allowing for more lightweight construction on top of tall metal-framed structures. The fire-resistance of terracotta protected structural steel on many buildings constructed during this period, such as New York City's Flatiron Building.
There was an increase in popularity of architectural terracotta made with colored, or polychrome, glazed architectural terracotta during the first decade of the 1900s. Architects began to employ combinations of colors to achieve dynamic designs and appearances. This usage diminished as time went on, especially after the success of Cass Gilbert's Woolworth Building increased demand for monochromatic terracotta. Trends in the 1920s favored setbacks in skyscraper towers, leading to increasing demand for sculpted forms in low relief.
1930s–1980s
Usage of terracotta in architecture had diminished through the end of the 1920s and the onset of the Great Depression further harmed the industry: the number of terracotta companies dropped from eighteen in 1929 to eleven in 1933. This was largely attributed to architect's increasing preference for building with cheaper metal, glass, and cement.
The time-intensive process of terracotta manufacture put it at a disadvantage compared to newer products. Changing fashions towards more minimalist, modern styles such as the Bauhaus School and International Style further harmed the industry, despite attempts by manufacturers to create products suited to these styles.
Structural problems of earlier terracotta resulting from incomplete waterproofing, improper installation, poor maintenance, and interior corroding mild steel provided bad publicity for terracotta and further harmed its reputation for architects. For much of the 20th century the American terracotta industry was a fraction of its earlier scale and the few surviving companies largely subsisted on jobs producing less complex products like machine-produced ceramic veneers.
Detailed architectural terracotta remained in use through the 1950s and 1960s, however it was often overlooked or misidentified. Architects during this time period did not embrace terracotta's natural properties and instead tended to use it to imitate other materials.
1980s–present Terracotta experienced a growth in popularity beginning in the 1980s when a resurgence in interest in historic preservation led to demand for architectural terracotta for restoration purposes. Historic manufacturers of terracotta such as Gladding, McBean, Ludowici-Celadon, and newer companies such as Boston Valley Terra Cotta all manufactured pieces used in the restoration of landmarks.
Architects became interested in newer uses for terracotta and companies developed products such as rainscreen and wall cladding to allow for dynamic installations that retained terracotta's unique and distinct qualities while working with modern architectural styles.
Manufacturing process
Terracotta can be made by pouring or pressing the mix into a plaster or sandstone mold, clay can be hand carved, or mix can be extruded into a mold using specialized machines. Clay shrinks as it dries from water loss therefore all molds are made slightly larger than the required dimensions. After the desired green-ware, or air dried, shape is created it is fired in a kiln for several days where it shrinks even further. The hot clay is slowly cooled then hand finished. The ceramics are shipped to the project site where they are installed by local contractors. The hollow pieces are partially backfilled with mortar then placed into the wall, suspended from metal anchors, or hung on metal shelf angles.
Design Academically trained artists were often the designers of the terracotta forms. Their drawings would be interpreted by the manufacturer who would plan out the joint locations and anchoring system. Once finalized, the drawings were turned into a plaster reality by sculptors who would create the mold for the craftsmen.
Clay preparation Clay selection was very important to manufacture of terracotta. Homogenous, finer grain sizes were preferred. The color of the clay body was determined by the types of deposits that were locally available to the manufacture. Sand was added to temper the process. Crushed ceramic scraps called grog were also added to stiffen the product and help reduce shrinkage.
Weathering the clay allowed pyrites to chemically change to hydrated ferric oxide and reduced alkali content. This aging minimizes the potential chemical changes during the rest of the manufacturing process. The weathered raw clay was dried, ground, and screened. Later, it would have been pugged in a mill that would mix the clay with water using rotating blades and force the blend through a sieve.
Hand pressing terracotta An artist makes a negative plaster mold based on a clay positive prototype. 1–1¼" of the clay/water mixture is pressed into the mold. Wire mesh or other stiffeners are added to create the web, or clay body that surrounds the hollow cell. The product is air dried to allow the plaster to suck the moisture out of the green clay product. It is fired then slowly cooled.
Extrusion Mechanized extrusion was used for the mass-production of terracotta blocks, popular in the 1920s. Prepared clay was fed into a machine that would then push the mix through a mold. The technique required the blocks to be made with simple shapes, so this process was often used for flooring, roofing, cladding, and later hollow clay tiles.
Glazing The last step before firing the greenware was glazing. True glazes are made from various salts but prior to the 1890s most blocks were slip glazed or coated with a watered-down version of the clay mix. Liquefying the clay increased the amount of small silica particles that would be deposited on the surface of the block. These would melt during firing and harden. By 1900 almost all colors could be achieved with the addition of salt glazes. Black or brown were made by adding manganese oxide.
Firing
The kiln firing process could take days, up to two weeks. The clay is heated slowly to around 500°C to sweat off the loose or macroscopic water between the molecules. Then the temperature is increased to close to 900°C to release the chemically bonded water in gaseous form and the clay particles will begin to melt together or sinter. If the kiln reaches 1000°C then the clay particles will vitrtify and become glass like. After the maximum temperature was reached then the clay was slowly cooled over a few days. During firing a fireskin is created. A fireskin is the glass-like "bread crust" that covers the biscuit or interior body.
Various kilns were used as technology developed and capital was available for investment. Muffle kilns were the most common kiln. They were used as early as 1870. The kilns burned gas, coal, or oil that heated an interior chamber from an exterior chamber. The walls "muffled" the heat so the greenware was not directly exposed to the flames.
Down-draught kilns were also widely used. The interior chamber radiated heat around the terracotta by pulling in hot air from behind an exterior cavity wall. Like the muffle wall, the cavity wall protected the greenware from burning.
Installation