Artisans in Architecture Atthangudi Tiles MATERIAL STUDY This study, research, documentation and information dissemination project hopes to bring together efforts so as to find a respectable space for artisans in architecture today.
AinA Pg-2 Atthangudi tiles are tiles. handmade decorative cement floor This art is 3 generations old,around 120 to 150 years old. These tiles need no special machines and not even baking, as the ingredient used is not clay, but sand and cement. Just bare hands, a clean glass, and a mould are enough. Certain designs didn't even need the mould. Manufacturing process Equipments Moulds: patterned tile making Mild steel 20 mm thk Frames: bounding box for tile Wooden drawing tool: free hand pattern tile Ladles : pouring the oxide Glass plates: base plates for smooth surface float glass, frosted & textured glass miscellaneous: ladles, leveling equipment, mixing equipment Oxides: used as coloring agents. Different proportion of sand, cement and oxide used to give different colors. Sand: local kalve sand with higher quartz content. It is formed of weathered rocks and found locally. Cement: used as base
1. Preparing of dry cement and sand mixture in the ratio 1:3 respectively. 2. Preparing of wet cement sand water mixture in the ratio 1:3:5 respectively 3. Preparing of oxide proportions Oxides- proportions The proportions of sand cement and oxide determine the colour. Trial and error method is adopted to obtain various shades while regular shades have fixed proportions. Red: 1.5 sand 3 Cement 1 red oxide Yellow: 4. Setting up the workplace White: 1 sand 4 Yellow oxide 2 Cement 4 white cement Other colors like burgundy, purple black, rust, pastel shades etc made by changing proportions 4 sand 1 white cement 8 Cement 4 Yellow oxide Green: 2 sand 4 Cement 1 green oxide Blue: 2 sand 4 Cement 1 blue oxide Tile properties: - Cheap and simple production method - Naturally gets polished with use - Simple tile maintenance, to be cleaned with water only. - Variations in colors and patterns due to handmade production. - Custom made designs possible at cheap rates. - Variety of designs and colors available. - Porous, so no under water use and also catches stains quickly. - No polish required after laying - Due to less compact layers cannot take heavy loads. - One damaged tile in floor cannot be replaced. - Tile size limitation due to production process. - Due to use of oxide fading of colors in direct sunlight. AinA Pg-3
AinA Pg-4 Step 1 20-30 Workman 1: Cleaning the frame Setting the frame and mould on the glass. 20-30 30-40 Workman 2: Putting dry cement sand mixture on the earlier tile as a jointing compound. Leveling the layer of dry mixture. Step 2 20-30 5-15 Workman 1: Pouring of oxide into the mould. Leveling of oxide and removing the mould. Putting of first layer of dry cement mortar and sending it to workman 2. Workman 2: Putting of wet cement sand mixture. Leveling the mixture. 15 20 Compressing the tile with the metal plate. Finishing tile edges and removing of the frame. then sending it for stacking
AinA Pg-5 10 days 2 days 2 days drying curing drying Tile layers Oxide layer 3-4 mm thk Cement sand layer (dry) 3-4 mm thk Cement mortar (base) 10 mm thk Tile sizes Floor border 10 x 10 10 x 5 8 x 8 8 x 6 8 x 5 8 x 4 Areas that we need to work upon: - Instead of using ladles to pour the oxide, different sized nozzles can be used. It would result into uniform layer of oxide, possibility of intricate designs and would be faster to pour. - The compression technique with the aid of a metal plate does not provide the required pressure needed to attain the adequate compactness. - The layers are manually leveled which results into restriction of the tile sizes. - Due the raw material, the tile thickness cannot be reduced as it makes the tile brittle. - During curing discoloration occurs around the edges
AinA Pg-6 Varieties of tiles: Flat shade tiles: tiles with a single flat color. Hand patterned tiles: tiles with organic patterns and free-flowing designs. Molded patterned tiles: tiles with ornamental intricate or bold patterns. Available in variety of colors. Textured tiles: Tiles with textured surface for areas like bathrooms where friction on the floor is needed. various frosted textures and patterned textures available. Border tiles: border tiles in smaller sizes which can be used for skirting or for framing of the floor tiles. Combined patterned tiles: Tessellation of repetitive patterns to create a complete form with border tiles and motif inserts. Motifs : smaller motifs for inserts in between the tiles Tile costs: - Locally it costs Rs 18 per sq. feet. - Out of state it costs Rs 25 per sq. feet including the laying charges and excluding the transportation - Cost of one tile: Within 30kms- Rs. 8/- Madras- Rs. 10/- to 12/- Bangalore- Rs 15/-