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Glazed architectural terra-cotta, also known in the U.K. as faience or faïence, is a masonry building material popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s and still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments. Glazed terra-cotta, a sturdy and relatively inexpensive material which could be molded into richly ornamented detail, played a significant role in architectural styles such as the Chicago School and Beaux-Arts architecture.
The material, sometimes referred to as architectural ceramics, was closely associated with the work of Cass Gilbert, Louis Sullivan, and Daniel H. Burnham, among other architects. Buildings incorporating glazed terra-cotta include the Woolworth Building in New York City and the Wrigley Building in Chicago. It is also used in the open-air Bridgemarket under the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge.
Variations in the color and pattern of the glaze made it possible for buildings contructed with the material to look like they were finished with granite or limestone; this flexibility was part of the reason the material was so attractive to architects at the time.
Use in Canada
Although glazed terra-cotta was much more common in the U.S., it was used in central Canada starting around 1900, on many of the area's first skyscrapers. The glazed terra-cotta used in central Canada was usually imported from the U.S. or England.
Use in Great Britain
From around 1890 the use of unglazed terra-cotta lost ground to the glazed version - faience, and glazed brick - which were comparatively easy to clean and were not blackened by city smoke.
See also
Sources
Brick - A World History, James W P Campbell & Will Pryce, 2003, ISBN 0-500-34195-8
External links and sources
- The Preservation of Historic Glazed Architectural Terra-Cotta, from a National Park Service website
- Ottawa's Former Bowles Lunch, a January 2002 article from the Heritage Ottawa website
- Renovation of Bridgemarket under the Queensboro Bridge, from the website of the architects involved in the project
- Boston Valley Terra Cotta, an Orchard Park, NY-based company founded in 1899 and still manufacturing glazed terra-cotta
"Glazed architectural terra-cotta"