The enduring value of ceramic tiles
More than four centuries ago, the Ottoman architect Sinan used carefully selected tiles across domes and interiors to present several monumental public buildings at their ceremonial best, in all their (1) ________. This was possible because workshops were already producing tiles for floors, walls and domes, and their artisans fully understood their practical and decorative (2) ________. When Sinan sought elaborate new decoration, he could draw on a (3) ________ tradition of tile-making and highly skilled craftspeople whom he could (4) ________ on to supply the tiles. Later, decorative ceramic panels were frequently (5) ________ to many other uses, not least decorating civic buildings. It is hard to (6) ________ the effect of such colour on contemporary visitors who had previously seen mainly bare and undecorated stone interiors. Yet despite its considerable importance in architectural history, ceramic decoration is now often taken for granted. When we enter the concourse of a station, we (7) ________ the pattern’s quality but rarely consciously notice the individual tiles. Perhaps because we walk across them rather than study them closely, tilework often fails to (8) ________ to our emotions.