Ceramic Architectures

arquitecturasceramicas is a collection of texts published by the Cátedra Cerámica Valencia with the purpose of expanding knowledge about ceramic materials. This initiative perpetuates the idea that ceramics is a material in constant evolution. It is a living and current material that is committed to the continuous research of new uses and applications, offering enormous creative and functional possibilities.

This volume includes an article by Francesco Pagliari on the multifaceted Italian architect Gio Ponti, a translation of Luiggi Moretti’s text “Structure as Form” – an interesting theoretical reflection originally published in the magazine Spatzio in 1957 – and finally, the vision and personal experience of the architect Javier Bernalte on ceramic materials. A second section reflects the different proposals elaborated by the architecture students during the project workshop “La mirada del otro”. Finally, a series of images illustrating the critical sessions, conferences and trips developed throughout the academic year are included.

A selection of reflections on ceramic material are once again published in book form in this fifth volume of the collection of essays coordinated by the Madrid Ceramics Chair. Different architects approach ceramics from multiple points of view, encouraging architecture students and their teachers to gain a deeper knowledge of this secular material.

Toni Gironès, author of the essay “Exchange processes: material from its condition”, takes a historical look at the creation and use of ceramics in architecture to finally address the relationship of this material in his own projects. Junya Ishigami, for his part, talks in his interview about his concerns about the role of ceramics, considering that it could be used as a main element in architecture. A third essay by Pablo Castro reveals the use of coloured ceramics as a didactic tool in his project Three Rivers Primary School, located east of the city of Beijing.

Finally, Paulo R. Liñan Figueiredo contributes the essay “Dialogue in Time. Scarpa and the luminescent heritage”. The author deals with the specific look of the ceramic solutions perpetrated by the Venetian architect, which allows us to understand the weight of a tradition, as a process of decantation of the future within the richness of the past.

Reflections on ceramics as a material have once again been published in book form in this fourth volume of the collection of essays coordinated by the Cátedra Cerámica Madrid. On this occasion, the architects have written texts about ceramics based on its use in their own architecture, a different use that reflects the distinct way each one thinks about architectural space.

Beatriz Matos Castaño and Alberto Martínez Castillo, authors of the essay «Ceramics and the Modern Masters, 5+1», in which they discuss the use of ceramics in modern and contemporary times. Sou Fujimoto, for his part, talks in his interview about the evolution of the design process in his studio as well as about ceramics in his work, a material he considers excellent in terms of durability, color and insulation. He also highlights the material’s ability to structure spaces and confesses his fascination with the Alhambra in Granada, a building in which the limits of space are blurred through ceramics.

Finally, Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas contributes the essay, «Never say never again». In it, he develops her thoughts about his relationship with ceramics throughout his career as an architect.

arquitecturasceramicas is a collection of texts published by the Cátedra Cerámica Valencia with the aim of enriching knowledge about the application of ceramic in architecture. This initiative perpetuates the idea that ceramics is material in constant evolution. It is a living and current material that is committed to the continuous research of new uses and applications, offering enormous creative and functional possibilities.

The third volume includes a first chapter of a theoretical nature containing an interview given by the Brazilian artist Athos Bulcao to the newspaper Jornal de Brasilia, the article Illusion as Structure, written by the North American sculptor Richard Lippold, and the testimony of the architect José Ignacio Linazasoro on his relationship with the ceramist Toni Cumella, analyzing the integration between the plastic arts and architecture.

Reflections on ceramics as a material have once again been published in book form in this third volume of the collection of essays coordinated by the Cátedra Cerámica Madrid. On this occasion, the architects have written texts about ceramics based on its use in their own architecture, a different use that reflects the distinct way each one thinks about architectural space.

Pedro Pablo Arroyo, author of the essay «Tattoos, Masks, and Veils in Paradise», in which he discusses the use of ceramics in Chinese gardens and architecture. Jorge Otero Pailos, for his part, spoke in his lecture «The Ambivalence of Smoke» of the architecture of US cities in the 20th century and the use of ceramics thanks to its hygienic-sanitary condition. This very condition, he explained, is what transforms the ceramics into a place where the deposits of pollution accumulate and can tell the story of the building’s history.

The use of burned clayware in the form of brick, tile, or pottery has been uninterrupted and universal from the dawn of civilization to the present day. Although, the use of ceramic in the form architectural terra cotta has been more sporadic and local. Today it is a matter of common knowledge among architects that modern terra cotta possesses many superior qualities; that it may be economically made in an endless variety of forms and colors; that, if well made and properly set, it is permanently enduring and resists successfully the ravages of water and fire; it combined lightness with strength and beauty with usefulness.

Architectural Terra Cotta: Standard Construction is a brief synopsis of the manufacture of terracotta published by National Terra Cotta Society in 1914. The book, prepared through the cooperation of nearly all the manufacturers of architectural terra cotta in the United States, is in no sense intended to be a book of artistic aspirations. It does not presume to even suggest architectural design. This work compiles 70 drawings made under the direction of Peter C. Olsen. Each page leaf is a single draw that demonstrates the possibilities of this material in draft form to facilitate the use and its proper interpretation.

From the collection of Alan O’Bright. Digitized by Association for Preservation Technology International and Internet Archive.

arquitecturasceramicas is a collection of texts published by the Cátedra Cerámica Valencia with the aim of enriching knowledge about the application of ceramic in architecture. This initiative perpetuates the idea that ceramics is material in constant evolution. It is a living and current material that is committed to the continuous research of new uses and applications, offering enormous creative and functional possibilities.

This second volume of arquitecturasceramicas includes a theoretical section with an article by Alberto Sartoris on the figure of the ceramist Antoni Cumella. Cumella was the winner of the National Award for Plastic Arts in 1980. Another of the texts reflects on the importance of light and shadow as configuring elements of space, by Ingeborg Flagges. Lastly, a third by Enrique Fernández-Vivancos analyses the repercussions of change in the evolution of ceramic material.

Illuminating Through Ceramics is a research-led teaching project taking place within the MArch Programme of the Liverpool School of Architecture. This project forms part of the Ceramic Tile Studies Departments, led by Rosa Urbano, sponsored by ASCER, and coordinated through ICEX (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade).

This publication shows new concepts of sustainable ceramic facades that improve the distribution of daylight in buildings by transforming the standard ceramic lattice wall into a dynamic lighting interface. By means of light-control techniques, geometrical analysis, and contemporary digital design tools, they aim to shape the ceramic surface to generate a system that captures, transports, and/or deflects daylight through the building skin.

The book shows displays visuals of the thirteen students’ proposals of the 2011-12 class, ranging over a variety of strategies: one natural chandelier, one performative shading facade, one light-deflecting rod screen, two systems of light-shelves, two systems of light-deflecting louvers, two rotating and mobile curtains, one light-transporting ceiling, two screens of vertical shading fins, and a dynamic shading ceiling. In short, all these projects reflect on materiality and tectonics as an instrument to promote ideas and develop new sustainable design methods.

Essays on Architectures and Ceramics by Cátedra Cerámica Madrid is a collection of texts whose aim is to bring together thinking about ceramic from a contemporary architectural perspective. The aforementioned objective of developing thinking about the spatial value of ceramic materials led the editors to ask a series of prestigious architects, professors to write a few architectural reflections that would constitute the essays contained in this small book of architectures and ceramics.

On this occasion, the architects have written texts about ceramics based on its use in their own architecture, a different use that reflects the different way each one thinks about architectural space.

Carlos Ferrater, under the title, “Ceramics, Variations,” develops the theme of the contemporary use of ceramics in architectural design by means of two projects: the Casa AA and Benidorm West Beach Promenade. Wang Shu, under the title, “From Earth to Ceramics. A Living Construction,” reflects on the relationship between architecture and nature in traditional Chinese architecture. A recurrent theme that runs through his constructed work, that leads him to the conclusion that tradition should be recovered in contemporary architecture by means of craftsmanship. Paredes-Pedrosa contributed the essay, “Ceramics in the Palau de Peñiscola”. In it, they review the process of that project.

arquitecturasceramicas is a collection of texts published by the Cátedra Cerámica Valencia with the aim of enriching knowledge about the application of ceramic in architecture. This initiative, which was born after two years of work at the Valencia school, perpetuates the idea that ceramics is material in constant evolution. It is a living and current material that is committed to the continuous research of new uses and applications, offering enormous creative and functional possibilities.

This first volume of arquitecturasceramicas includes one article on the figure of the ceramist Llorens Artigas and another on project theory written by Paul Rand. A Third text analyses the strategies for using ceramic coverings today and lastly, the projects developed by the students during the Envolventes workshop are compiled. This reflects all the effort and enthusiasm of the participants in the various activities of the Network of Ceramic Tile Studies Departments promoted by ASCER. As an epilogue, it includes the photographs and comments made about La Ricarda, the work of Antonio Bonet, by those who had the opportunity to visit it.

Essays on Architectures and Ceramics by Cátedra Cerámica Madrid is a collection of texts whose aim is to bring together thinking about ceramic from a contemporary architectural perspective. The aforementioned objective of developing thinking about the spatial value of ceramic materials led the editors to ask a series of prestigious architects, professors to write a few architectural reflections that would constitute the essays contained in this small book.

In this first volume, the four invited architects have written texts about ceramics based on its use in their own architecture and their interest in thinking about it.

Arturo Franco offers an essay in which he looks at the future of ceramics by reviewing its history. The second text, signed by Javier Bernalte and José Luis León, speaking of their design for Business Incubator in Toledo, reflect on a constant element of architecture: the lattice. Finally, Francisco Cifuentes looks at the ceramic material from the construction of objects and tools that contribute to protecting man.

Gladding, McBean, in Lincoln, is one of the oldest companies in California and a pioneer in ceramics technology which has contributed immeasurably to the state’s industrialization. During the heyday of architectural terra cotta, the company dominated the industry in the Far West.

The book Architectural Terra Cotta of Gladding, McBean, by Gary F. Kurutz and Mary Swisher, is a remarkable photographic collection of this pre-eminent producer of decorative terra cotta from 1890 to 1930. It showcases over 100 photographs, including neo-classic motifs of the earliest San Francisco skyscrapers to ornaments of Art Deco Hollywood palaces. Some of these photographs can be seen in detail on our slideshow.

The photographer Mary Swisher selected, printed and cared for a collection of over 10,000 negatives, while the historian Gary F. Kurutz put together an informative and entertaining text about the history of the company. The result is an unmissable publication for lovers of architecture, photography and industrial archaeology.