Terrazzo Research Document
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Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region This North eastern region of Italy is thought to be the birth place of terrazzo, holding a deep rooted history of artisans and craftsmen from the towns surrounding the Tagliamento and Meduna riverbeds. The riverbeds, consisting of various marbles and granites from the Friulian Dolomites, provided the material for the people of Sequals, Colle and Spilimbergo to develop their unique method for laying floor. During the 500-800s there was strong seasonal emigration to Venice by Friuli workers who would take with them stones and the skills required to create terrazzo and apply it to the grand Venetian institutions. In the Seventeenth century, the craftsmen began to emigrate to Europe and America taking their unique skills and profession with them.
Sequals
Spilimbergo Udine
Tagliamento Riverbed
Pre-1920 photo depicting the terrazzo mechanics with trowel in hand and the finishers with the galera. Venice Art Terrazzo Company Archive
Workers placing and pressing marble fragments at the Hotel Riviera in Venice. Asin Erminio, Terrazzo company
Technical Development Before the invention of cement, the marble fragments were simply pressed into a pre-leveled layer of clay producing a mostly rough and uneven surface. Techniques for levelling these surfaces progressed from rubbing with a stone by hand, to the development of long-handled, weighted grinding stone, called a Galera. The first sealer for terrazzo was discovered when workers noticed that a coating of goat milk brought out the rich colours and sheen of the marble. In 1924 improvements on the Galera concept of rubbing the terrazzo smooth led to the development of electric grinding equipment to achieve a fine finish. In more recent years, new developments with cementitious binders as well as epoxies, polyesters, latex and acrylics have continued to make terrazzo more cost-effective, high functioning and versatile. Source: The National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association, www.ntma.com
Modern Terrazzo Construction Common types of modern terrazzo include Monolithic, Polyacrylate and Epoxy. Monolithic (cementiouous) Terrazzo, as seen in the illustration to the left, is closest to the traditional kind. This type requires a substantial sub-layer of sand to act as level and cushion and therefore is the thickest of the three types at around 7-10cm. The benefits of this type are that it can accommodate large pieces of marble, is suitable for indoor and outdoor use, and is breathable. However due to the nature of cement, colour choices and aggregate types are limited. (no glass) Polyacrylate and Epoxy types are now the most common types in modern construction. They offer quicker setting times, unlimited colour and aggregate choices and reduced build-ups, (2-5cm). Because they are lighter in weight, they are the prefered choice in taller buildings.
Source: The National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association, www.ntma.com
Drawing Credits: Monika Jasiokovรก , Ling Lee, Cray Cheng and Agata Bonislawska
Terrazzo Frammentata Vernazza
Ligurian Floods On October 25 2011, flooding from a freak rainstorm devastated the towns of Vernazza and Monterosso, two of the five villages that make up the celebrated Cinque Terre in Liguria region of North West Italy. Rivers of water, rocks and mud cascaded down the steep and narrow streets, burying the town’s lowest levels in as much as 4 meters of debris, destroying bridges, cars and businesses while also overwhelming the railroad tracks that provided the primary way in or out of Vernazza. In total 13 people lost their lives and over 100 million euro worth of damage was done. After a full year of clean up and rebuilding efforts the towns were slowly reopened to tourism.
Img Sources: treknepal2011.wordpress.com
South Beach At the southern end of Vernazza there lies a small beach, accessible through an opening in the cliff. This beach is a side effect of the flooding when hundreds of tonnes of stone and debris made its way down through the town forcing its way through the, once small, opening in the cliff face. At first glance, the beach seems like any other, but on closer inspection, one can see that much of what makes up the beach is in fact, manufactured - a wide assortment of concrete, ceramics ,tiles, flooring, wood and plastics.
Pre-October 5th
Post October 5th Red indicates area of coast transformed into beach by the flood event.
Beach Matter A collection of objects found on Vernazza’s South Beach. Items of interest are selected for their signs of previous use. Credits to Ling Lee for some great finds.
Convex ceramic fragment with ‘fish-scale’ patterned glaze Perhaps a fruit bowl.
Granite, flat on two sides Perhaps a kitchen counter top.
White Marble, Carrara? flat on two sides - Perhaps a door step.
Terracotta tile with patterned blue glaze Perhaps a wall tile
Extruded clay brick with mortar - perhaps a garden wall.
Terrazzo floor tile perhaps part of an outdoor terrace
Collected Pieces After a short time searching on the beach, we were able to collect 40-50 pieces of Terrazzo tile of varying size and colour. The size and shape of the tile related to their position on the beach. On their journey to the sea, they lose more and more of their mass to the perpetual tumbling and rolling, until they finally join the grains of sand on the sea bed. From there, one could imagine they might once again be formed into seams of white marble only to be quarried once again by our distant descendants.
Imagined Material Journey Giant blocks of Carrara marble are quarried and transported to nearby Massa for cutting and processing. In Massa, small fragments of marble are created as a biproduct which are sold to a Terrazzo tile manufacturing company in the same district. Once the fragments are bound into tiles, they are distributed to flooring suppliers throughout Italy, including stores in La Spezia. A Vernazza Local buys the tiles to lay on their terrace at the front of their house. October 25th 2011, the flood and landslide destroys the terrace carrying the fragments of terrazzo down the valley towards the harbour. The broken tiles lay on the beach and are eroded over a period of years.
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Casting Terrazzo A. Household sieve / B. Spoon / C. High-shear mixing blade / D. Jesmonite AC100 Liquids / E. AC100 Powders / F. Digital scale / G. Mixing bowl / H. Various aggregates / I. Calcium Carbonate
Test Casts A series of 100x100mm experimental casts to test aggregate types, ratios and finishing techniques.
ite
Base Jesmon
0 Powders 100g AC10 Liquids 0 10 40g AC
Mix A Feldon
ders 100 Pow 140g AC 0 Liquids 0 1 C 66g A on Grit m) 25g Feld .1 - 0.8m 0 : e z si le ic rt a (P
Granite + Pink Sand Mix B2 90g Powders / 44g Liquids 10g Granite - (Particle size: 0.1 - 0.3mm) 10g Pink Sand - (Particle size: 0.1 - 0.3mm)
Pink Sand Mix A 130g AC100 Powders 52g AC100 Liquids 20g Pink Sand (Particle size: 0.1 - 0.3mm)
ix A Chalk M
ders 100 Pow 100g AC Liquids 0 0 1 C 50g A onate um Carb 25g Calci
Granite + Fe ldon
Mix A2 110g AC10 0 Powders 58g AC100 Liqu 10g Feldon ids Grit (Particle si ze: 0.1 - 0.8m m) 35g Granite (Particle si ze: 0.1 - 0.3m m)