Terra-Cotta Skyline: New York's Architectural Ornament

About this book

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 integral -- but largely unknown -- part of Americas 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.