Digital + Hand Crafted Seal for P.S. 21 in Queens, NY
Public School 21 in Queens, New York is under construction as the team at Boston Valley Terra Cotta finishes the Board of Education seal that is mounted on the building. The seal is an excellent example of how Boston Valley harmonizes intricate hand-craft with digital design and manufacturing.
Clockwise from top left:
1. Sample Taken from building for color matching 2. Plaster Mold for Seal 3. Terra cotta seal taped and sprayed with first glaze coat.
3D scanners analyzed the original seal and a new digital model was produced. The negative mold was CNC milled from the 3D model and the terra cotta block was handpressed. After going through a multi-stage drying process that has been developed to prevent cracking, the new seal is sprayed and then hand painted with incredible rigor to match the original.
Dave Erhardt, glaze artist, hand paints lettering and details.
The finished seal will have the markings of both digital tooling precision and the care of hand-working.
See more on this project by clicking on the Public School 21 Queens tag above.
