Terra-Cotta Skyline: New York's Architectural Ornament - Hardcover

Tunick, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1568981058 ISBN 13: 9781568981055

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press, 1997

Synopsis

Any city walker knows the delight that a flash of colorful ornament can bestow on an otherwise gray promenade. More often than not, these glazed splashes of color are made of terra cotta, which, for more than 100 years, has been an integralÑbut largely unknownÑpart of America's architectural legacy. Beginning in the nineteenth century, peaking in the Art Deco period, and enjoying a renaissance today, terra cotta has been used to ornament facades, rooflines, doors, and windows and create many of the most famous and fanciful architectural reliefs.?

?Terra-Cotta Skyline presents the history, manufacture, and art of architectural terra cotta through documents, drawings, archival photographs, and brilliant new color images commissioned exclusively for this book. Also included is a catalog of 200 extant terra-cotta buildings in New York, as well as directories of terra-cotta manufacturers and preservation organizations.

About this title

Review:

As any urbanite can attest, it is often those inspired instances of architectural ornamentation--on facades, rooflines, doors, windows, and relief work--that can bring a dull gray cityscape to life. Many of the ornaments gracing historic New York buildings are made of glazed terra cotta, which has been an integral (though largely overlooked) part of America's architectural legacy for more than a century, particularly in the art deco period. This volume, which is firmly on the side of preservation rather than demolition, reveals and celebrates the splendor of those architectural treasures. Offering a fascinating history, the book chronicles the development of terra-cotta ornamentation from the artisans of the late 19th century, to the revival the medium is enjoying today both in restoration projects and in new construction, to the efforts of preservationists to save this threatened aspect of architectural history. Also included is a detailed listing of 200 significant terra-cotta buildings in New York City.

About the Author:

Susan Tunick is the president of the organization Friends of Terra Cotta. Her articles on terra cotta have been widely published.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1568981058
• ISBN 13: 9781568981055
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176