continued

The terracotta industry is almost extinct in the United States as an artisanal practice.
That's right, and that's a good description. We didn't want to make a facade that was too slick and precisely fabricated, as a modular unitized system with which to clad the structure. It wasn't about that.

It had to be something people worked on by hand. It needed to be a tactile material that wasn't too perfect. So we researched different terracotta manufacturers all over the world, comparing the way they made their products and the differences between the materials.

These tubes or brises-soleil became known in the office as baguettes, which is something that happens a lot in Renzo's office — calling materials and components by food names.

Elite Kedan, AIA, RA, is a practicing architect and an adjunct professor at Florida International University. She studied at Cornell University (B.Arch) and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University (M.Arch, MAUD). Kedan worked for two years as a designer at Moshe Safdie and Associates in Jerusalem, then worked in architecture firms in Boston and New York before opening her own office in Miami in 2005.

Craig Mutter, AIA, is an associate at Machado and Silvetti Associates in Boston. He studied at the University of Virginia (B.S.Arch) and Harvard Graduate School of Design (M.Arch). Mutter worked for four years with Kennedy & Violich Architecture before receiving the Rotch Traveling Scholarship in 1996, and later worked as an associate at Polshek Partnership Architects, Architecture Research Office, and Ann Beha Architects.

This article is excerpted from Provisional: Emerging Modes of Architectural Practice USA, edited by Elite Kedan, Jon Dreyfous, and Craig Mutter, copyright © 2010, with permission of the publisher, Princeton Architectural Press.

Discuss this article in the Architecture Forum...

SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE The Seattle Public Library was designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in a joint venture with LMN Architects. Photo: Philippe Ruault SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE OMA's unfolded elevation drawing of the Seattle Public Library. Image: Office for Metropolitan Architecture The "living room" of the Seattle Public Library serves as the building's main reading room. Photo: David Owen/ Artifice Images SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE East-west section drawing of the Seattle Public Library. Image: Office for Metropolitan Architecture Extra Large Image Seattle Public Library third-floor plan drawing. Image: Office for Metropolitan Architecture Extra Large Image Neil M. Denari Architects designed HL23 for a site adjacent to the High Line in Manhattan. Front served as facade design consultants. Image: Neil M. Denari Architects Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE The 14-story HL23 building, still under construction, is targeting LEED Gold certification. Photo: David Owen/ Artifice Images Extra Large Image Part of the south facade of HL23 folds inward to accommodate a stub from the elevated High Line rail structure that projects beyond the site's property line. Photo: David Owen/ Artifice Images Extra Large Image Construction on the second phase of the High Line park project is also underway. Photo: David Owen/ Artifice Images Extra Large Image HL23 is visible from the northern end of the completed first phase of the High Line park. Photo: David Owen/ Artifice Images Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.