Glazed Terracotta-Based Ceramic Façades

TA D 7 : 1 Attracted by the inherent weathered aesthetic and reflective properties, and the allure of the imperfections found in its pressed and molded form, UNStudio began incorporating glazed terracotta-based ceramics into their façade designs on projects such as the W21–22 Retail Building (Figures 1 and 2) for the Baku White City Masterplan Development in Azerbaijan in 2012, and again in 2014 on the wasl Tower (Figure 7), a benchmark 300 m (984.25 ft.) super-high-rise located in the heart of Dubai’s downtown next to the Burj Khalifa. This article cross-analyzes these two contrasting building typologies and outlines strategic approaches UNStudio took using the material during the design process. Baku’s geographical identity as the City of Wind became the driving narrative element for incorporating ceramics into the W21–22 Retail Building design, as the studio wanted to create the morphology of a stone massing being carved and eroded by wind and sand over time. The solid volume of the building looks as though it were shaped into a prismatic and reflecting surface; an urban kaleidoscope is achieved through the texture and luster of the ceramic glazing, which is reminiscent of the pearlescent sheen found on the surface of oil. Beyond the building’s aesthetic, this three-story self-standing urban actor with four public-facing façades became our first ‘dual ceramic double-skin’ system implemented on a building that functionally shielded the base curtain wall glazing from not only extreme wind abrasion but direct incident heat. The term ‘dual ceramic double-skin’ resulted from the façade system needing a glazed tile facing both externally toward the city street and internally toward the occupants so as never to create a backside or unpolished appearance. This required approximately 9,150 external-facing tiles and 9,150 internalfacing tiles. The design of the dual ceramic double-skin cladding called for two half-shell tiles locking together onto a suspended diagrid steel substructure (Figure 3) to enhance the depth of the façade (Z-depth) on both the external and internal faces. This suspended double-skin system would require a 600 mm Frans van Vuure UNStudio