Жабынмен қапталған күйдірілген саз балшықтан жасалған ғимараттардың әшекейі

Coated fired clay used to decorate buildings

Glazed architectural terra cotta is a ceramic masonry building material used as a decorative skin. It featured widely in the 'terracotta revival' from the 1880s until the 1930s. It was used in the UK, United States, Canada and Australia and is still one of the most common building materials found in U. S. urban environments. It is the glazed version of architectural terracotta; the material in both its glazed and unglazed versions is sturdy and relatively inexpensive, and can be molded into richly ornamented detail. Glazed terra cotta played a significant role in architectural styles such as the Chicago School and Beaux Arts architecture.

The material, also known in Great Britain as faience and sometimes referred to as "architectural ceramics", in the USA 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. Glazed architectural terra cotta offered a modular, varied and relatively inexpensive approach to wall and floor construction. It was particularly adaptable to vigorous and rich ornamental detailing. It was created by Luca della Robbia (1400–1482), and was used in most of his works. Terra cotta is an enriched molded clay brick or block. It was usually hollow cast in blocks which were open in the back, with internal stiffeners called webbing, substantially strengthening the hollow blocks with minimal weight increase. The blocks were finished with a glaze, with a clay wash or an aqueous solution of metal salts, before firing. Late 19th century advertising for the material promoted the durable, impervious and adaptable nature of glazed architectural terra cotta. It could accommodate subtle nuances of modeling, texture and color. Compared with stone, it was easier to handle, quickly set and lower cost. The cost of producing the blocks, when compared to carving stone, was a considerable saving, especially when casts were used in a modular fashion—that is, used repeatedly. It never needed paint, and periodic washings restored its appearance.

Although glazed terra cotta was much more common in the US, 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 US or England.

From around 1880 unglazed terra cotta was supplanted by the glazed version faience, and glazed brick which were easily cleaned, and not blackened by city smoke. A prominent producer was Burmantofts Pottery in Leeds, which also exported to Paris and Montreal.

Faience was popularised in Melbourne in the 1920s by architects such as Harry Norris. One of the leading commercial architects of the time in the city, Norris was strongly influenced by trends in American architecture and used faience on projects such as the Nicholas Building and the Kellow Falkiner Showrooms (a 1928 car showroom) in South Yarra. In Sydney, it featured on notable buildings such as BMA House, designed by Joseph Charles Fowell. Australian made tiles were available from Wunderlich Tiles, a company founded by London born Frederick Wunderlich.

National Park Service. gov: The Preservation of Historic Glazed Architectural Terra Cotta
Heritage Ottawa. org: "Ottawa's Former Bowles Lunch" (January 2002 article)
Graciano. com: Renovation of Bridgemarket under the Queensboro Bridge — project architect's website. Harvard Graduate School of Design. edu: Ceramics Research
Randalls Urban Sculptures — photos of architectural terra cotta and gargoyles from demolished buildings.