CERAMIC STRUCTURES

The course started by us being introduced to clay as a material by letting us play with the material, and different types of clay with it. We were also told about different processes and possibilities by using clay as a material. For the 4 days we were working with stone-ware clay. Stoneware appeared after earthenware. It requires higher firing temperatures ranging from 2,000° to 2,400° F—hotter than lava from a volcano. Those high temperatures turn the glazes on the outside of the stoneware to glass, or vitrify it.

We started by understanding a hand-building technique each day and then later working with the technique to make something out of the clay. The techniques involved pinching,coiling,slab-making and the wheel on the final day. In order to enhance these techniques, we also made some of our own tools in the workshop according to our liking.

In order to make something, we often look at ceramics with a preconceived idea associated with the material. However, here we tried to work our way through the material to create forms that may or may not be an object of function but, just by tweaking the scale, it could almost turn into spatial experiences. We as architecture students often try and experiment with organic forms  and find it difficult to find a material that aids the thought of that form. Clay, perhaps gives us full control on how to formulate a logic, but also letting the material properties come into play, in turn making some intricate free-flowing forms.

The way the course was structured, it let us explore the material much more than the techniques. Working Hands-on is always a fun experience anyway, so I would say that we did try and push our imaginations to operate with the clay as a material, to come up with possibilities of space making