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Description
Zocalo + OscuraCotto, a Terra Cotta love story. Cotto (from the Italian terra cotta or "baked earth") is part of a long line of fired clays that date back to the dawn of civilization itself. From Egyptian water jugs to Chinese roof tiles to Roman bricks terra cotta has been part of the human story for as long as we've had an alphabet. The materials that go into making our Cotto haven't changed much over the millennia, but the way in which they're fired has evolved.
Cotto, a Terra Cotta love story.
Cotto (from the Italian terra cotta or "baked earth") is part of a long line of fired clays that date back to the dawn of civilization itself. From Egyptian water jugs to Chinese roof tiles to Roman bricks terra cotta has been part of the human story for as long as we've had an alphabet. The materials that go into making our Cotto haven't changed much over the millennia, but the way in which they're fired has evolved. From kiln furniture to mold designs to firing method, our handmade and high-fired Cotto is our modern take on an ancient world tradition.
We make Cotto in Mexico, a country with an incredibly rich history in ceramic arts. The techniques to manufacture our modern terra cotta have their roots in the arrival of the Spanish and the establishment of San Miguel de Allende in 1551. A UNESCO World Heritage site, San Miguel is arguably one the most important colonial cities in all of the Americas. It's also covered in historic terra cotta. From ancient roof tiles to 400 year old floors, it's a city that takes fired clay to a whole new level. It's also the fitting home of our Cotto line.
How It's Made
Made from locally sourced organic clays, our hand crafted Cotto elevates the storied tradition of terra cotta. Each clay formulation is mixed with water and blended to the ideal consistency. The clay mixture is pressed to shape in a mold and allowed to dry for 1-2 weeks. This is to achieve the right moisture level for firing. It's also at this point that wood ash is added to the surface of our "Fired Earth" tiles. The ash is what gives Fired Earth its unique surface coloration. An important note here this process is highly dependent on the weather. San Miguel has a distinct rainy season that can delay drying times by quite a bit! Once dried, tiles are brushed and stacked, ready for the kiln.
What Sets Our Cotto Apart?
Unlike most Cotto or traditional terra cotta, we high-fire our clay at 1260 Centigrade (230 Fahrenheit). What this means is that the terra cotta becomes "semi-vitrified" increasing in density and decreasing in porosity. Special kiln furniture is needed at such high temperatures to ensure the tiles don't warp or bend. It is also the most difficult step in their manufacture, requiring a skilled technician throughout the day and a half firing period. The result is an incredibly durable, highly unique tile that is unlike any other terra cotta on Earth.Shipping Notes
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4.1 ★★★★★
Based on 928 reviews
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★★★★★ 5
great resource for high school parents
Format: Paperback
A terrific book -- on many levels. It is, first, a series of excellent suspense stories, with vivid characterizations of the students seeking admission to Wesleyan. The author found some fascinating students to follow, with the result that the reader really cares what happens to them. Even more important -- especially to someone about to embark on the college hunt -- he provides an invaluable insight into how the admissions process works. The admissions game, I now realize thanks to this splendid tale, is a crazy-quilt mixture: at Wesleyan, at least, the process focuses on the individual, quirks and all, far more than I imagined. At the same time, the process comes off as frighteningly random -- with so much depending on which admissions officer reads the application, and what that person focuses on in the few minutes available. The book is also a vivid reminder that admissions officers are people, too -- people of infinite variety.
So it was a pleasure to read -- and it will also prove immensely useful to parents. One common theme kept repeating: take the hard courses, even if it means lower grades. Another: having a passion is a real plus, but the rest of the record can't be a disaster. But those are just the beginning.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2003
★★★★★ 4
Very accurate view of admission (I worked there); compelling read, enlightening even for people who think they already know
Format: Kindle
I was a Senior Interviewer during my senior year at Wesleyan 1981 and so I worked with many of the main characters in the book. Although the book describes a later time period it rang entirely true to me. The volume of applications...the controlled chaos...the searching for a hook or a champion for an application was very familiar.
At least at Wes it seemed (and seems) that unless one's application has some unusual feature that the school is looking for that year (a particular athlete or a particular musician or a particular tough background that was overcome) the road to admission will be challenging.
An area that did surprise me was the emphasis on the family of the applicant...and the degree to which an applicant was held to a higher standard if their parents were deemed to be college fluent. I guess this makes sense and actually provides a leveling of the playing field but it was surprising none the less.
It may also be surprising to some that these days you don't just need to convince the gatekeepers that you could be successful at the school..you must also show how your presence would enhance the school. This is of course an enormous burden for most teenagers.
Like it or not this is the reality at many "top" schools. If you or your child is applying to college you owe it to yourself to read this book....either to understand the game or to make an informed decision not to play.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013
★★★★★ 5
What is better? The overachieving 6 or underachieving 8?
Format: Hardcover
First, let me say that I thought that this was an excellent book and would recommend it to anyone who is at all interested in the college admissions process. Second, I was surprised at how many of the reviewers seemed shocked--shocked!--that applicants got bonus points for coming from minority backgrounds. Was this some kind of revelation? However one thing that surprised me a little bit is how--even moving beyond race entirely--the more advantages you have had in life, the more disadvantageous it will be for your admissions process. For example, I was unaware that having successful parents would be, in essence, held against you on the theory that more would be expected of you. While other reviewers have (jokingly?) said that they would advise their white kids not to check the "Caucasian" box, I might advise my (still very young) kids to say that their parents have been unemployed their whole life.
I suppose that the main issue which this whole process really boils down to is the following: As a college applicant, is it more important to succeed in life relative to the world around you (i.e. relative to your classmates, to others of your race, to others of your geographical area, to your own parents' life and accomplishments, etc.) or is it more important to succeed absolutely and not on a relative scale. This book clearly informs us that the answer is the former and not the latter. Whether that should be the answer is another question.
For example, say that a student's entire life could be distilled into 2 numbers each on a sliding scale from 1-10. The first number is simply your academic performance (grades, SAT's, course load, etc.) The second number is your background (race, economic circumstances, gender, etc.) In the case of Wesleyan, it seems clear to me that they would rather have a student whose first number was, say, a 6 if his or her second was a 2 (take Mig for example in Steinberg's book) than a student whose first number was an 8 if the second number was a 9 or 10 (take Tiffany Wang for example). Whether that is the right approach is certainly a legitimate issue for discusion and I'm not saying that it's not.
I suppose that one of the things that would be interesting to know (even though one never really can know of course) is whether those numbers will change in the future. For example, if one were to know that Mig would always be a 6 and Tiffany would always be an 8, would that change the analysis as to which is the right approach? I suspect that part of the reason that a school like Wesleyan would favor the overachieving 6 over the underachieving 8 is due to the hope or expectation that those trends will continue in the future and that one day the 6 will actually be ahead of the 8. And maybe that's the way it works. Who knows.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2003
★★★★★ 5
You will find out how a selective private college evaluate and admit students
Format: Paperback
I'm a high school counselor and college advisor. Fifteen years ago when I started my college counseling position, I struggled to understand or explain to students and their parents how a selective private college evaluate and admit students. It was this book that helped me understand the essence of selective private college admissions. Compared to other dry theory books, this book tells the admissions practice as stories that are easy to read, understand, and associate with. I highly recommend this book to students, parents, and new counselors.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2024
★★★★★ 3
Who edited this mess?!?!?!?
Format: Kindle
This is a very interesting work of nonfiction. I found it intriguing and read it very quickly. I actually got invested in these students and their stories and their journey to get admitted to the college that was right for them. BUT, and this is a big but, this book is so poorly edited, it is disgraceful! If a person were reading this for research purposes, and it could be useful for just that, good luck to them. The dates are all over the place. At one point, the kids are being considered for the class of 2004, then it makes a reference to the current year as 2000, then it reverts back to 2004 for a long while, then it mentions how the kids--currently at their various chosen colleges--reacted to the events of 9/11/01. What the hell? It's very confusing. It makes it very difficult to keep things in context.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2013
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