The roofs of Rome are blanketed by terra cotta tiles formed into two interconnecting shapes: the imbrex (a hollow half-cylinder) and the tegula (flat with raised edges). They work together in overlap to create an impervious roofing assembly, versions of which are seen the world over. The imbrex and tegula type is a means for understanding the interplay of environment, craft, and geopolitics in building materials. My work in Rome represents a dialogue between ancient and new applications of terra cotta across my experiences in both Italy and India. Five lines of inquiry are displayed in the studio: 1) a series of multivalent clay objects, made using a pottery wheel, that evoke various forms of architectural terra cotta encountered in the past year, 2) large format composite photographs of the factory at Albuqueque & Sons, a roof tile manufacturer in Mangaluru, India, 3) drawings and images of ongoing design work for an open-air pavilion at Albuquerque & Sons, 4) a slideshow and audio of terrasong, a sound sculpture produced last winter in collaboration with Anthony Vine, a Rome Prize Fellow in musical composition, and 5) objects collected in and around Rome that resonate with those produced in the studio.

Bio

Ajay Manthripragada is Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. His practice, based in San Francisco, is recognized for buildings that are at once conceptually and experientially rich. He has been nominated for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize as an emerging practitioner and has taught design and theory at several institutions, including the Rice University School of Architecture and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.