Terracotta

Architectural terracotta is fired clay, typically glazed, molded into decorative blocks, tiles and ornamental units for facades, cornices and roofing rather than plain structural brick. Its plasticity before firing allowed elaborate relief ornament to be cast cheaply and repeated across a facade, which made it especially popular for late nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial and civic buildings in the United States, where glazed terracotta cladding gave steel-framed skyscrapers a fireproof, ornamental skin. Roofing tile is architectural terracotta's other major historic use, common across the Mediterranean, Latin America and parts of Asia for its low cost, durability and characteristic reddish color.