On one busy corner of Kansas City's St. John Avenue, a community is coming together to create a piece of art that reflects the whole world.

Home to culturally and ethnically diverse businesses and many artists, the city's Historic Northeast neighborhood is already a colorful place.

Rebecca Koop's pottery studio, however, was a gray building with smooth Art Deco curves (back in 1929, it had been an auto repair shop). Over the last couple of years, a picture of the earth began to take shape on the facade as Koop and her neighbors spent long summer days on scaffolding placing section after section of tile.

I just wanted an earth and I want it to be interactive and I wanted to meet my neighbors to have this be a community project, says Koop, and offer it as a teaching opportunity and really just kind of a neighborly kind of thing.

Fifteen years ago, she had the idea for a large-scale mosaic that would cover the front of the building. So she started collecting cheap, surplus tile.

At that time there was a lot of colored tile, and so I tried to just grab up as much blue and green tile as I could find," she says. "Its easy to find tan and taupe and white. And I thought I had enough. Well, no I didnt.

The building might not look big, but Koop has more than 600 square feet of surface to cover. Every tiny piece must be cut, shaped and organized into a pattern.

Where the earth meets space, I have the phases of the moon, says Koop. And of course between those phases we have space and points of light, so Im putting the constellations up there.

Koop is a full-time potter and ceramics teacher. Shes also the events director for the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and she runs the community garden next to her studio. But she spends most of her spare time cutting tile, grouting, and dreaming up the next section of the mosaic.

Koop's also a bit of an art activist. On Wednesday evenings, she invites her neighbors to make their own mark on her wall.

You just cant imagine that a tiny little inch tile is then going to develop into a square foot, which will then develop into an entire mosaic, says Beth Keith, who lives just around the corner.

Its a slow, plodding-type project," says Keith. "Those are the best kind, often. I can just come and be a little part of that and watch it slowly develop and then now we can stand back and look at it and say, 'Wow.' She should be proud.

Another helper is Koops intern, Adrian Feiber, a senior at The Kansas City Art Institute.

I had to do little sections here and there," Feiber says. "But I really couldnt tell you exactly, like, a spot that I did for sure. Missouri I remember, the Colorados and areas like that; Canada and the lakes. I know Ive got a tile in there somewhere, but I couldnt point to it exactly.

The work isnt easy.

Me and all of the others who have helped have cut, you know, many, many, many pieces of tile and thats pretty labor intensive, says Keith. And, you know, I am not a young thing so I would have aches and pains after cutting tiles.

Koop and her neighbors worked outside until late October. Now, the grout has been sealed and prepared for the winter. After two years of work, the mosaic now stretches more than halfway across the building.

Its been an experience," Koop says with a laugh. "Its an exciting experience, actually, because I can see the progress.

Theyll spend the next few months inside, cutting more tile into tiny pieces. When the weather warms up, they will be out here again. If all goes well, Koop expects itll be done this time next year.

Julie Denesha is a freelance photographer and reporter for KCUR. Follow her on Twitter@juliedenesha.

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Neighbors In Kansas City's Northeast Have Spent Years Piecing Together This Mosaic Of The World - KCUR

Sustainability experts for decades have been exhorting managers to focus more on the function their products deliver and less on the product itself. Biosphere Rule #5, Function Over Form, is focused on fulfilling customers functional needs in ways that sustain the value cycle.

This is the sixth in a seven-part series on what author Gregory Unruh calls theBiosphere Rules. Readpartsone,two,three,fourandfive.

Biosphere Rule #5, Function Over Form, is focused on fulfilling customersfunctional needs in ways that sustain the value cycle. As we will see, this ruleis an inevitable consequence of building out a Sustainable Product Platform,as discussed in the previousinstallment.

As always, the biosphere serves as our guide. Nature has been experimenting witha variety of species playing different ecosystem roles for billions of years.The diversity of the biospheres innovation is impressive. For example, thereover 200,000 species doing some form of pollination including moths,butterflies and bees; as well as bats, birds and bears. Nature is not fixated onthe specific organism doing the work, but more on the function pollination being fulfilled. It's the functions that provide the ecosystem services neededto sustain the biosphere.

Sustainability experts for decades have been exhorting managers to focus more onthe function their products deliver and less on the product itself. They call oncompanies to servicize their business and one of the first executives toheed this siren song was Ray Anderson, the legendary founder ofInterface carpet. In the1990s, Anderson read Paul Hawkens classic, The Ecology of Commerce whichcalled, among other things, for companies to stop selling products and startdelivering the functional service provided by the product. Pioneering theapproach, Interface launched the EvergreenLease in 1995 under theslogan, Selling carpet without selling carpet.

There were a lot of good arguments for leasing instead of selling carpet. Forexample, carpet wear follows the 80/20 rule, where 80 percent of the wear occurson the 20 percent high-traffic surface area. The carpet underneath desks andfiling cabinets gets almost no wear at all. In providing carpeting service,Interface could inspect the carpet on a monthly basis, and just replace thehandful of worn-out carpet tiles. Because less product is being replaced, itresults in an environmental and business win-win.

While the arguments were compelling, the Evergreen Lease ran into problems thebiggest of which was the tax rules around leasing. Leasing is tax advantagedbecause you are allowed to deduct lease payments as a business expense. Butthere is a legal expectation that the leased product will have economic value atthe end of the lease. If you are leasing a BMW, for example, the car isstill valuable when the lease expires. The problem with the carpet tiles is theydidn't really have any economic value at the end of their lease; there wasnothing that Interface could really do with them in fact, they imposed adisposal cost on the company. If at the end of the lease the product was usedup, from a tax perspective you weren't leasing anything; you were merelyfinancing the sale. For this and other reasons, the Evergreen Lease foundered.

Interface, however, was not staking its whole sustainability strategy onEvergreen and was, at the same time, actively pursuing a value-cyclingstrategyfor its carpet tiles developing series of technologies that would became oneof the first fully operational product value cycles. The Reentry2.0 technology allowedthe company to separate the soft-face fiber you walk on, from the heavy backingmaterial. The face fiber was then deep-loop value-cycled back into new fiber.For the backing material, Interface created CoolBlue,a system that would grind up old backing material and cycle it into fresh tilebacking. These technologies comprised a sustainable product platform and changedthe situation for Interface. Leasing became a possibility because the platformgave the tiles value at the end of the lease they were valuable, andnecessary, inputs for Interfaces production process.

But it was more than that: If your value cycle depends on a constant flow ofinput materials, and those input materials are old carpet that is installed atyour customers office building, do you really want to sell that carpet at all?The tiles are an integral part of your value cycle, so who really owns thatcarpet?

This question is an inevitable outcome for any company building a value cycle.The materials in your product, like the carpet tiles installed in yourcustomer's office, are actually part of your production system. A clientsoffice is serving as your warehouse, storing your input materials until they areneeded for a new production run. Your customer is fully integrated into yourproduction system. They are a customer, in that they are purchasing yourproduct, but they also then become a supplier of production materials. You entera new world where your suppliers and customers merge into custopliers andsurplustomers.

This is an inevitable outcome of pursuing a sustainable product platform. Youmove away from the sell it and forget it model into an entirely new businesssystem. Your company naturally moves to a servicized model, where the deliveryof functional service, not the transfer of ownership, becomes primary: productfunction over product form.

Dr. Gregory C. Unruh is the Sustainability Editor for the MIT Sloan ManagementReview and author of the new book, The Biosphere Rules: Natures FiveCircularity Secrets for Sustainable Profits*. For a limited time, SustainableBrands subscribers can download a complimentary digital copy of the book*here.

Published Nov 25, 2019 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET

Dr. Gregory C. Unruh is the Arison Professor of Values Leadership at George Mason University in the Washington DC Metro area, and the Sustainability Editor for the MIT Sloan Management Review.

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The Biosphere's Guide to Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 6: Function Over Form - Sustainable Brands

While becoming a parent may be easy for many people, doing a stellar job in the role often is not. Here's what the parents of the most successful kids do differently, according to a handful of recent studies.

They limit screen time

You probably understand that letting your child sit in front of a screen for hours at a time isn't good for his or her development and health. But in reality, policing this aspect of life is difficult considering the ubiquity of digital entertainment and the reality of how young people use social media to relate with one another. But it's definitely a battle worth fighting if you consider a study which found that kids whose screen time exceeded limits set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) actually have less functional brains. Researchers tested the language and literacy skills of 47 preschoolers between ages three and five and conducted imaging on their brains. The kids who had higher levels of screen-based media use had lower microstructural integrity of white matter tracts.

They don't spank

The AAP recently issued its most strongly worded policy statement on this topic. According to a bunch of studies conducted in recent years, corporal punishment has multiple detrimental effects on kids. It can lead to aggressive and defiant behavior, increases the risk of mental health disorders and cognition problems and can negatively affect the parent-child relationship. And why one might wonder why the AAP would even have to mention this, spanking tots younger than 18 months increases the likelihood they get physically injured.

They're warm and accepting

This is especially true for mothers. Researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York studied more than 140 teenagers and found that those who had warm and accepting mothers were less likely to be in an abusive relationship later in life. The teens filled out a series of surveys in eighth grade and later in high school regarding their exposure to conflict between their parents, what their relationship was like with their mothers, and any dating violence which they had experienced.

"Children form internal working models about themselves and others based on the quality of their relationship with their parents," lead investigator Jennifer Livingston said in a statement. "If the primary caretaker is abusive or inconsistent, children learn to view themselves as unlovable and others as hostile and untrustworthy. But positive parenting behaviors characterized by acceptance and warmth help children form positive internal working models of themselves as lovable and worthy of respect."

They make sure kids get enough sleep

Researchers analyzed survey responses from parents and caregivers of 49,050 children aged 6 to 17 regarding how many hours of sleep on average a child in their household gets. According to the AAP, sufficient sleep means getting at least 9 hours on an average weeknight for children aged 6 to 12 years and at least 8 hours on an average weeknight for teens 13 to 17. It turns out that about a third of schoolchildren don't get enough sleep on weeknights. While it might not strike you as the worst thing in the world, it's another thing which the best parents take seriously. Kids who don't sleep enough are less likely to show interest in learning new things, care about doing well in school, work to finish the things they start, do all their homework and stay calm when faced with a challenge.

They play with their kids

Oxytocin is a critical hormone when it comes to mental health because it's involved in social interaction, bonding and relating to others. It's activated when people experience eye contact, empathy or pleasant touch. But how parents -- again, especially mothers -- interact with their babies actually affects the development of their children's oxytocin systems. Researchers studied a session of free play between mothers and their five-month-olds and collected saliva samples from the parent and child during the visit and also a year later. They found that the children whose mothers were highly engaged in the play session had experienced "epigenetic changes" in their DNA. Essentially, they had increased expression of the oxytocin receptor gene, meaning they were better able to experience the positive effects of the hormone.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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Science Says the Most Successful Kids Have Parents Who Do These 5 Things - Inc.

Feb 3, 2012 By Matthew Stock.

YOU NEED DRAIN TILE! This is a common sentiment that homeowners hear when they have water in their basement. Sometimes you are told by a friend who had a Drain Tile System installed in their home. Maybe you heard your handyman mention Drain Tile being a common solution to basement seepage problems. It could have been that guy on your block who seems to have his nose in everyone elses business. You know the self proclaimed Mayor of theneighborhood!

But just exactly what is Drain Tile? What does the Drain Tile do? How does it work? Read on as we try to answer your questions and give you a clear understanding of what Drain Tilesare.

Drainage Tile Systems have many uses in both agricultural and constructionapplications:

Although Drain Tile is a common term used interchangeably, it is often referred toas:

Although material, size and shape of the piping varies, there are commonqualities:

Although this overview of Drain Tile has plenty to offer, stay tuned for more in-depth blogs about Drain Tile, its specific uses and applications.

As for your home, tell the Mayor he can keep out of your business you are calling the experts! Set up a free evaluation and we will send one of our experienced Advisors to evaluate whether you need Drain Tile or another time tested solution to your basement seepageproblems.

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Tiles are an inexpensive but beautiful way to create a backsplash. Mosaic tile backsplashes can be created by using a range of tiles in various materials, colors and sizes. You can also use broken pieces of glass and marble tiles and arrange a fun, budget-friendly mosaic pattern.

You can create a mosaic pattern using ceramic, glass, marble and/or metal tiles. Depending on the material(s) you choose, there may be a range of colors and shapes available. Select a color theme that matches the overall theme of your kitchen and find tiles that will work well in that space. For example, if you are seeking a classic, simple kitchen area, then you may want to choose beige, cream, white and other neutral tones to create a backsplash. A contemporary kitchen may call for black and white tiles paired with a bold color, like orange or red.

On the other hand, if you choose to use repurposed pieces of broken tiles, then all you will need a silicon caulk to arrange the backsplash into a mosaic pattern. Make sure to grout and seal the final product as you would with regular tiles.

The best part of a mosaic tile backsplash is that it allows room for the creative homeowner to add a unique, artistic flair to a kitchen area.

Continued here:
Mosaic Tile Backsplash | HGTV

In this video, This Old House tile contractor Joe Ferrante explains how to work with glass tile.

Steps:

1 Mix thinset mortar, then trowel a thin skim coat onto the backsplash wall.2 Smooth thinset with straight-edge trowel and wet sponge; let dry.3 Lay out the 12 x 12-inch tile sheets on countertop.4 Measure length and height of backsplash wall to determine tile layout.5 Spread thinset onto wall with straight-edge trowel.6 Press full tile sheet into the thinset.7 Cut individual tiles from sheet to fit around electrical outlets.8 Continue setting tile sheets across the backsplash wall.9 Use undercut saw to trim window stool so tile fits behind the trim.10 Use score-and-snap tile cutter to trim individual tiles to fit tightly around electrical outlet.11 Spread thinset onto the back of individual tiles, and press to wall; use spacers to maintain consistent grout joints.12 Use wet saw to trim tiles along the top of backsplash wall.13 Once all of the tiles are installed, allow the thinset to cure.14 Finish by using a rubber float to force grout into the spaces between the tiles; wipe off excess grout with a clean, wet sponge.

More here:
How to Work with Glass Tile | This Old House

Marble

RMSer BelleInteriors designs a serene bathroom with a palette of spring green and yellow. Black marble contrasts well with the color scheme and bright white trim. One of the best qualities of marble is that it has a beautiful, unique look, but like most stone tiles, it requires sealing and regular cleaning.

Designer Andreas Charalambous creates a spa-inspired shower with ceramic mosaic tiles. Ceramic is perfect for the bathroom since it's easy to clean, durable and inexpensive.

RMSer InspiredGuys creates a backsplash with a mixture of slate and glass tiles, which is the perfect backdrop for the elegant waterfall faucet. Slate is known for its beauty and longevity, but is soft so it has a tendency to split.

RMSer ruggled converts a 1970s bathroom into an Asian-inspired getaway, featuring a soaking tub, steam shower and a beautiful new floor made of 16x16 porcelain tiles. Porcelain tile, a type of ceramic tile, is durable and comes in a variety of colors and textures, but make sure to ask the manufacturer about the correct setting material, since it requires a different one than normal ceramics.

Designer Shelly Riehl David uses multicolored glass tiles to create interest on the walls. Glass tile is a beautiful option for adding color and style to a bathroom, but is one of the more expensive options.

RMSer Leanne Michael Interiors adds a Spanish influence to a bathroom with Saltillo tile and a hand-painted Talavera sink. Terra-cotta tile is one of the oldest tile materials and lasts a long time when well-made.

Read more here:
Bathroom Tile: What Works | HGTV

Manufactured piece of hard-wearing material

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass, generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops. Alternatively, tile can sometimes refer to similar units made from lightweight materials such as perlite, wood, and mineral wool, typically used for wall and ceiling applications. In another sense, a tile is a construction tile or similar object, such as rectangular counters used in playing games (see tile-based game). The word is derived from the French word tuile, which is, in turn, from the Latin word tegula, meaning a roof tile composed of fired clay.

Tiles are often used to form wall and floor coverings, and can range from simple square tiles to complex or mosaics. Tiles are most often made of ceramic, typically glazed for internal uses and unglazed for roofing, but other materials are also commonly used, such as glass, cork, concrete and other composite materials, and stone. Tiling stone is typically marble, onyx, granite or slate. Thinner tiles can be used on walls than on floors, which require more durable surfaces that will resist impacts.

Decorative tilework or tile art should be distinguished from mosaic, where forms are made of great numbers of tiny irregularly positioned tesserae, each of a single color, usually of glass or sometimes ceramic or stone.

The earliest evidence of glazed brick is the discovery of glazed bricks in the Elamite Temple at Chogha Zanbil, dated to the 13th century BC. Glazed and colored bricks were used to make low reliefs in Ancient Mesopotamia, most famously the Ishtar Gate of Babylon (ca. 575 BC), now partly reconstructed in Berlin, with sections elsewhere. Mesopotamian craftsmen were imported for the palaces of the Persian Empire such as Persepolis.

The use of sun-dried bricks or adobe was the main method of building in Mesopotamia where river mud was found in abundanve along the Tigris and Euphrates. Here the scarcity of stone may have been an incentive to develop the technology of making kiln-fired bricks to use as an alternative. To strengthen walls made from sun-dried bricks, fired bricks began to be used as an outer protective skin for more important buildings like temples, palaces, city walls and gates. Making fired bricks is an advanced pottery technique. Fired bricks are solid masses of clay heated in kilns to temperatures of between 950 and 1,150C, and a well-made fired brick is an extremly durable object. Like sun-dried bricks they were made in wooden moulds but for bricks with relief decorations special moulds had to be made.

Tiling was used in the second century by the Sinhalese kings of ancient Sri Lanka, using smoothed and polished stone laid on floors and in swimming pools. Historians consider the techniques and tools for tiling as well advanced, evidenced by the fine workmanship and close fit of the tiles.[citation needed] Tiling from this period[dubious discuss] can be seen in Ruwanwelisaya and Kuttam Pokuna in the city of Anuradhapura.

The Achaemenid Empire decorated buildings with glazed brick tiles, including Darius the Great's palace at Susa, and buildings at Persepolis.[1]

The succeeding Sassanid Empire used tiles patterned with geometric designs, flowers, plants, birds and human beings, glazed up to a centimeter thick.[1]

Early Islamic mosaics in Iran consist mainly of geometric decorations in mosques and mausoleums, made of glazed brick. Typical turquoise tiling becomes popular in 10th-11th century and is used mostly for Kufic inscriptions on mosque walls. Seyyed Mosque in Isfahan (AD 1122), Dome of Maraqeh (AD 1147) and the Jame Mosque of Gonabad (1212 AD) are among the finest examples.[1] The dome of Jame' Atiq Mosque of Qazvin is also dated to this period.

The golden age of Persian tilework began during the reign the Timurid Empire. In the moraq technique, single-color tiles were cut into small geometric pieces and assembled by pouring liquid plaster between them. After hardening, these panels were assembled on the walls of buildings. But the mosaic was not limited to flat areas. Tiles were used to cover both the interior and exterior surfaces of domes. Prominent Timurid examples of this technique include the Jame Mosque of Yazd (AD 13241365), Goharshad Mosque (AD 1418), the Madrassa of Khan in Shiraz (AD 1615), and the Molana Mosque (AD 1444).[1]

Other important tile techniques of this time include girih tiles, with their characteristic white girih, or straps.

Mihrabs, being the focal points of mosques, were usually the places where most sophisticated tilework was placed. The 14th-century mihrab at Madrasa Imami in Isfahan is an outstanding example of aesthetic union between the Islamic calligrapher's art and abstract ornament. The pointed arch, framing the mihrab's niche, bears an inscription in Kufic script used in 9th-century Qur'an.[2]

One of the best known architectural masterpieces of Iran is the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, from the 17th century. Its dome is a prime example of tile mosaic and its winter praying hall houses one of the finest ensembles of cuerda seca tiles in the world. A wide variety of tiles had to be manufactured in order to cover complex forms of the hall with consistent mosaic patterns. The result was a technological triumph as well as a dazzling display of abstract ornament.[2]

During the Safavid period, mosaic ornaments were often replaced by a haft rang (seven colors) technique. Pictures were painted on plain rectangle tiles, glazed and fired afterwards. Besides economic reasons, the seven colors method gave more freedom to artists and was less time-consuming. It was popular until the Qajar period, when the palette of colors was extended by yellow and orange.[1] The seven colors of Haft Rang tiles were usually black, white, ultramarine, turquoise, red, yellow and fawn.

The Persianate tradition continued and spread to much of the Islamic world, notably the znik pottery of Turkey under the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries. Palaces, public buildings, mosques and trbe mausoleums were heavily decorated with large brightly colored patterns, typically with floral motifs, and friezes of astonishing complexity, including floral motifs and calligraphy as well as geometric patterns.

Islamic buildings in Bukhara in central Asia (16th-17th century) also exhibit very sophisticated floral ornaments. In South Asia monuments and shrines adorned with Kashi tile work from Persia became a distinct feature of the shrines of Multan and Sindh. The Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore stands out as one of the masterpieces of Kashi time work from the Mughal period.

The zellige tradition of Arabic North Africa uses small colored tiles of various shapes to make very complex geometric patterns. It is halfway to mosaic, but as the different shapes must be fitted precisely together, it falls under tiling. The use of small coloured glass fields also make it rather like enamelling, but with ceramic rather than metal as the support.

Azulejos are derived from zellige, and the name is likewise derived. The term is both a simple Portuguese and Spanish term for zellige, and a term for later tilework following the tradition. Some azujelos are small-scale geometric patterns and/or vegetative motifs, some are blue monochrome and highly pictorial, and some are neither. The Baroque period produced extremely large painted scenes on tiles, usually in blue and white, for walls. Azulejos were also used in Latin American architecture.

Medieval influences between Middle Eastern tilework and tilework in Europe were mainly through Islamic Iberia and the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. The Alhambra zellige are said to have inspired the tessellations of M. C. Escher.[citation needed]

Medieval encaustic tiles were made of multiple colours of clay, shaped and baked together to form a patternt that, rather than sitting on the surface, ran right through the thickness of the tile, and thus would not wear away.

Medieval Europe made considerable use of painted tiles, sometimes producing very elaborate schemes, of which few have survived. Religious and secular stories were depicted. The imaginary tiles with Old testament scenes shown on the floor in Jan van Eyck's 1434 Annunciation in Washington are an example. The 14th century "Tring tiles" in the British Museum show childhood scenes from the Life of Christ, possibly for a wall rather than a floor,[3] while their 13th century "Chertsey Tiles", though from an abbey, show scenes of Richard the Lionheart battling with Saladin in very high-quality work.[4] Medieval letter tiles were used to create Christian inscriptions on church floors.

Delftware wall tiles, typically with a painted design covering only one (rather small) blue and white tile, were ubiquitous in Holland and widely exported over Northern Europe from the 16th century on, replacing many local industries. Several 18th century royal palaces had porcelain rooms with the walls entirely covered in porcelain in tiles or panels. Surviving examples include ones at Capodimonte, Naples, the Royal Palace of Madrid and the nearby Royal Palace of Aranjuez.

There are several other types of traditional tiles that remain in manufacture, for example the small, almost mosaic, brightly colored zellige tiles of Morocco and the surrounding countries. With exceptions, notably the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, decorated tiles or glazed bricks do not feature largely in East Asian ceramics.

The Victorian period saw a great revival in tilework, largely as part of the Gothic Revival, but also the Arts and Crafts Movement. Patterned tiles, or tiles making up patterns, were now mass-produced by machine and reliably level for floors and cheap to produce, especially for churches, schools and public buildings, but also for domestic hallways and bathrooms. For many uses the tougher encaustic tile was used. Wall tiles in various styles also revived; the rise of the bathroom contributing greatly to this, as well as greater appreciation of the benefit of hygiene in kitchens. William De Morgan was the leading English designer working in tiles, strongly influenced by Islamic designs.

Since the Victorian period tiles have remained standard for kitchens and bathrooms, and many types of public area.

Portugal and So Lus continue their tradition of azulejo tilework today, with azulejos used to decorate buildings, ships,[5] and even rocks.

Azulejos

Notable among American tilemakers of the 1920s and 1930s were Ernest A. Batchelder and Pewabic Pottery.

Roof tiles are designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as terracotta or slate. Modern materials such as concrete and plastic are also used and some clay tiles have a waterproof glaze. A large number of shapes (or "profiles") of roof tiles have evolved.

These are commonly made of ceramic or stone, although recent technological advances have resulted in rubber or glass tiles for floors as well. Ceramic tiles may be painted and glazed. Small mosaic tiles may be laid in various patterns. Floor tiles are typically set into mortar consisting of sand, cement and often a latex additive for extra adhesion. The spaces between the tiles are commonly filled with sanded or unsanded floor grout, but traditionally mortar was used.

Natural stone tiles can be beautiful but as a natural product they are less uniform in color and pattern, and require more planning for use and installation. Mass-produced stone tiles are uniform in width and length. Granite or marble tiles are sawn on both sides and then polished or finished on the top surface so that they have a uniform thickness. Other natural stone tiles such as slate are typically "riven" (split) on the top surface so that the thickness of the tile varies slightly from one spot on the tile to another and from one tile to another. Variations in tile thickness can be handled by adjusting the amount of mortar under each part of the tile, by using wide grout lines that "ramp" between different thicknesses, or by using a cold chisel to knock off high spots.

Some stone tiles such as polished granite, marble, and travertine are very slippery when wet. Stone tiles with a riven (split) surface such as slate or with a sawn and then sandblasted or honed surface will be more slip-resistant. Ceramic tiles for use in wet areas can be made more slip-resistant either by using very small tiles so that the grout lines acts as grooves or by imprinting a contour pattern onto the face of the tile.

The hardness of natural stone tiles varies such that some of the softer stone (e.g. limestone) tiles are not suitable for very heavy-traffic floor areas. On the other hand, ceramic tiles typically have a glazed upper surface and when that becomes scratched or pitted the floor looks worn, whereas the same amount of wear on natural stone tiles will not show, or will be less noticeable.

Natural stone tiles can be stained by spilled liquids; they must be sealed and periodically resealed with a sealant in contrast to ceramic tiles which only need their grout lines sealed. However, because of the complex, nonrepeating patterns in natural stone, small amounts of dirt on many natural stone floor tiles do not show.

The tendency of floor tiles to stain depends not only on a sealant being applied, and periodically reapplied, but also on their porosity or how porous the stone is. Slate is an example of a less porous stone while limestone is an example of a more porous stone. Different granites and marbles have different porosities with the less porous ones being more valued and more expensive.

Most vendors of stone tiles emphasize that there will be variation in color and pattern from one batch of tiles to another of the same description and variation within the same batch. Stone floor tiles tend to be heavier than ceramic tiles and somewhat more prone to breakage during shipment.

Rubber floor tiles have a variety of uses, both in residential and commercial settings. They are especially useful in situations where it is desired to have high-traction floors or protection for an easily breakable floor. Some common uses include flooring of garage, workshops, patios, swimming pool decks, sport courts, gyms, and dance floors.

Plastic floor tiles including interlocking floor tiles that can be installed without adhesive or glue are a recent innovation and are suitable for areas subject to heavy traffic, wet areas and floors that are subject to movement, damp or contamination from oil, grease or other substances that may prevent adhesion to the substrate. Common uses include old factory floors, garages, gyms and sports complexes, schools and shops.

Ceiling tiles are lightweight tiles used inside buildings. They are placed in an aluminium grid; they provide little thermal insulation but are generally designed either to improve the acoustics of a room or to reduce the volume of air being heated or cooled.

Mineral fiber tiles are fabricated from a range of products; wet felt tiles can be manufactured from perlite, mineral wool, and fibers from recycled paper; stone wool tiles are created by combining molten stone and binders which is then spun to create the tile; gypsum tiles are based on the soft mineral and then finished with vinyl, paper or a decorative face.[citation needed]

Ceiling tiles very often have patterns on the front face; these are there in most circumstances to aid with the tiles ability to improve acoustics.[citation needed]

Ceiling tiles also provide a barrier to the spread of smoke and fire. Breaking, displacing, or removing ceiling tiles enables hot gases and smoke from a fire to rise and accumulate above detectors and sprinklers. Doing so delays their activation, enabling fires to grow more rapidly.[6]

Ceiling tiles, especially in old Mediterranean houses, were made of terracotta and were placed on top of the wooden ceiling beams and upon those were placed the roof tiles. They were then plastered or painted, but nowadays are usually left bare for decorative purposes.

Modern-day tile ceilings may be flush mounted (nail up or glue up) or installed as dropped ceilings.

Ceramic materials for tiles include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.[citation needed] Terracotta is a traditional material used for roof tiles.[7]

This is a US term, and defined in ASTM standard C242 as a ceramic mosaic tile or paver that is generally made by dust-pressing and of a composition yielding a tile that is dense, fine-grained, and smooth, with sharply-formed face, usually impervious. The colours of such tiles are generally clear and bright.[8]

Similar to mosaics or other patterned tiles, pebble tiles are tiles made up of small pebbles attached to a backing. The tile is generally designed in an interlocking pattern so that final installations fit of multiple tiles fit together to have a seamless appearance. A relatively new tile design, pebble tiles were originally developed in Indonesia using pebbles found in various locations in the country. Today, pebble tiles feature all types of stones and pebbles from around the world.

Printing techniques and digital manipulation of art and photography are used in what is known as "custom tile printing". Dye sublimation printers, inkjet printers and ceramic inks and toners permit printing on a variety of tile types yielding photographic-quality reproduction.[9] Using digital image capture via scanning or digital cameras, bitmap/raster images can be prepared in photo editing software programs. Specialized custom-tile printing techniques permit transfer under heat and pressure or the use of high temperature kilns to fuse the picture to the tile substrate. This has become a method of producing custom tile murals for kitchens, showers, and commercial decoration in restaurants, hotels, and corporate lobbies.

A method for custom tile printing involving a diamond-tipped drill controlled by a computer. Compared with the laser engravings, diamond etching is in almost every circumstance more permanent.[citation needed]

Certain shapes of tiles, most obviously rectangles, can be replicated to cover a surface with no gaps. These shapes are said to tessellate (from the Latin tessella, 'tile') and such a tiling is called a tessellation. Geometric patterns of some Islamic polychrome decorative tilings are rather complicated (see Islamic geometric patterns and, in particular, Girih tiles), even up to supposedly quaziperiodic ones, similar to Penrose tilings.

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Tile - Wikipedia

History of tile (glazed brick), manufacture and decoration in Iran, goes back to the prehistoric period. It has an important position among the various decorative arts in Iranian architecture. Four main decorative features could be categorized here. They are stone carvings, brick work, stucco and tile panels. The intricate method of manufacture, designs and type of materials used in these four methods have evolved as a result of natural factors, economical and political effects.Tiles were used to decorate monuments from early ages in Iran. Mosaic patterns were the first step in the evolution of tile decoration. Imaginative and creative artisans put together mosaic patterns using bits of colored stone and brick and created patterns of triangles, semi-circles and circles in harmony with the structures they were placed on. These patterns later evolved into design of natural subjects, such as plants, trees, animals and human beings. The earliest examples of mosaic patterns have come from the columns of the temple at Ubaid in Mesopotamia, and are attributed to the second half of the 2nd mill. B.C. Here, colored pieces of stone have been juxtaposed with shell and ivory to create geometric patterns. It is these early mosaic patterns which are the roots of later tile art. The first glazed bricks, a further advancement in tile art, have also been discovered in such sites as the palaces of Ashur and Babylon in the same area. A most famous example of early tile art on wares is the mosaic rhyton discovered in the excavations at Marlik. This vessel has two shells. The outer shell is covered with colored pieces of stone. This object is known as Thousand Flowers. One of the earliest examples of Iranian tile work on architecture, actually glazed pieces of unbaked brick, have been excavated at Susa and Chogha Zanbil, and are attributed to the end of the second millennium B.C.In the Achamenian period full use was made of glazed and decorated fired bricks in yellow, green and brown on the palaces of Susa and Persepolis. Fired and glazed bricks were an Important advancement in tile technique.

The Eternal Soldiers at Persepolis have long elegant gowns in glaze made of fired earth and plaster.Glaze was used on vessels and even coffins in the Parthian period, but little architectural evidence has been discovered to show that glazed bricks were used. Turquoise and light green glaze were the most popular colors. Fresco painting was more popular for the decoration of buildings.Excavations in Firuzabad and Bishapur have yielded much evidence of tile art and mosaic manufacture for the Sasanid period. Here, tiles have glaze that is one centimeter thick, and mosaic patterns of flowers, plants, geometric designs birds and human beings.The art of tile working blossomed in the Islamic period of Iran. It became the most important decorative feature of religious buildings.Iranian tile makers were in great demand and worked in the far corners of the Islamic empire. The earliest example of Islamic tile decoration can be seen on the Mosque of the Dome of Rock belonging to 7-8th century A.D.Before tile work, as we know today, became popular brick and stucco were most important in decoration of buildings up to 10-11th A.D. Two mosques of Nain and Neiriz have brick decoration in geometric patterns of the Buyid period. By 11-12th A.D. , brick decoration had spread from the east throughout Iran. The best examples of brick decoration of this period are the mausoleums of Pir Alamadar, 1026 A.D., Chehel Dokhtaran, 466 A.D., and the Tower of Mihmandost 1096 A.D.

The next stage of development was the use of colored glaze on decorative brick; turquoise being the most popular color. Pieces of turquoise glazed bricks were used with decorative brick works on monuments from the Saljuq period onwards.So artisans were familiar with the technique of manufacture of glazed bricks by this time. Sometimes these turquoise glazed bricks were used to create Kufic inscription among the brick patterns or were scattered among the brick patterns. The earliest example unfired turquoise Kufic inscription, is a panel stored at Iran Bastan Museum (National Museum of Iran) ascribed to the end of the 10-11th A.D. Other religious structures which have turquoise tile works are Seyed Mosque, Isfahan, 1122 A.D., the red Dome of Maraqeh 1147 A.D. and the Jame Mosque of Gonabad 1212 A.D.Mongol invasion slowed and halted many artistic traditions and trends. Normal conditions only returned by the 13th century A.D., when the Ilkhanid rulers accepted Islam; they also became interested in creating secular and non-secular monuments and buildings. By this time, decorative bricks and tiles were used not only on the exterior, but also inside the building to cover the walls and domes.

The art of tile manufacture reached its highest point of perfection and beauty at the end of Ilkhanid period and the beginning of Timurid in the form of Moraq tiles (mosaic style). Tile panels created with this technique are very durable and could withstand the elements of time. Here, tiles in such colors as yellow, blue, brown, black, turquoise, green and white were cut and carved into small pieces according to a previously prepared pattern. These pieces were placed close together and liquid plaster poured over to fill in all the opening and gaps. After the plaster dried and hardened, a large single piece tile panel had been created , which was then plastered onto the required wall of the building. Timurid monuments in Herat, Samarkend and Bukhara were covered by this decorative technique. Among the most famous monuments so decorated are Goharshad Mosque (1418 AD.), Molana Mosque (1444 AD.), Jame Mosque of Yazd (1456 AD.), Jame Mosque of Varamin (1322 AD.) and Madrassa of Khan in Shiraz (1615 AD.)From the beginning of Safavid period, another method of tile decoration was added to the repertoire of artisans. Economical and political reasons prompted the creation of this Seven Colors (Haft Rang) tile to decorate many religious and non-secular buildings, which were made in great numbers in this period. Reasons which caused the popularity of this technique were:1- Seven Colors tiles were cheaper to produce.2- Less time was needed for their manufacture.3- Artisans could extend their repertoire of motives and designs for decoration.

Square tiles were placed together and necessary design was painted in glazed colors on them. Each tile was fired. Then all were placed again next to each other to create the main large pattern. Arabesque motives were extremely popular. This method of tile decoration was popular until the end of Qajar period, when the repertoire of colors extended to include yellow and bright orange.Another important type of tile decoration at this time was luster tile. It was in demand by the end of Saljuq period and reached to its highest point of perfection in Kharazmshah and Ilkhanid eras.Luster tile panels were made in square, rectangle, hexagon, octagon and polygonal forms. They contained luster designs of human, animals, floral and geometrical motives with borders of inscriptions, which included poems, proverbs and sayings attributed to Prophet and other religious personalities. Many of those tiles were discovered in the excavation at Takht Soleiman, especially from the palace of Abagh Khan (Ilkhanid period) and in Gorgan, Kashan and Khorasan regions.Exquisite luster mihrabs appeared in 13th AD. Workshops of such cities as Gorgan, Soltanieh, Saveh and Kashan specialized in creation of these pieces. Shiraz, Kerman and Meshed became important luster tile producing centers during 17th AD. centuries. In Meshed, Mosque of Imam Reza (1215 AD.) has fine luster decorated tiles.Another popular technique was brick and tile decoration, a technique which had evolved from earlier decorative combinations of tile and brick; though, polychrome tiles were used instead of monochrome ones. This type of decoration was used in religious and non-religious buildings from 13th AD. onwards. Jame Mosque of Varamin (1322 AD.) , Soltanieh Dome (1304-1311 AD.), Jame Mosque of Ashtarjan (1315 AD.) and Vakil Mosque (1773 AD.) contain fine examples of this type of tile decoration.Variety of design of this technique included large inscriptions known as Moqili, seen mostly in religious buildings such as Jame Mosque of Isfahan (14th AD.) and Hakim Mosque of Isfahan (1656 AD.)

Evidence of brick work, stucco carving and tile panels from the last 14 centuries have provided much evidence of creative and imaginative nature of Persian Artisans. They placed their art in the service of religious architecture. This religious inspiration found its highest expression in ornate inscriptions, which decorated so many works during these centuries.In 8-10th centuries AD., most of these inscriptions included sayings, proverbs, wishes, maxims, names of religious personalities and invocations of Allahs help, in decorative, simple or broken Kufic script and are found on poetry, such as ceramic wares of Neishabour.In 13-14th centuries AD., ceramic wares and tiles were decorated with many different forms of inscriptions. The most popular were molded decorations and inscriptions with messages of happiness, good health, prayers, wish for victory, proverbs, simple messages of good will, poems and the name of Allah. Workshops at Kashan, Rey and Gorgan produced these types of ware.

Broken Taliq script became popular in 11-14th centuries AD. This script was in luster and under-glaze decoration, contained lines from poems and verses of such poets as Ferdowsi, Hafiz, Molana and Baba Afzali Kashani. Furthermore, it became popular for artisans of Kharazmshah and Ilkhanid periods to add the date of manufacture and the name of maker. The oldest dated tile is of 1203 AD. Tile panels of these period had mostly square, lotus, star and polygonal form and were put together to create panels.In Safavid era, Naskh and Thulth scripts were used. Works of famous calligraphers, such as Alireza Abbasi, Mohammad Saleh Isfahani, Mohammad Reza Imami and Hossein Banna have been found.It should be mentioned that the technique of tile and its secrets of trade were safely guarded and orally handed from father to son and master to student; thus rarely have designs, patterns and details of technique been documented and few complete treatises exist on the art of Iranian tile work in the past

Iranian Art Persian Art -Isfahan Handicrafts Iran Art Tile Work of Iran

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