4 ms·

A man in Egypt keeping a 200-year-old tradition of tile-making [video]

113 points by sakopov 5y ago

walrus01 5y ago
If you want to see amazing tile work, search youtube for "uzbekistan mosque". It's a whole unique central asian art form. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uzbekistan+mosque https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uzbekistan+mosq...
zuhayeer 5y ago
Always refreshing to see people working on a craft they love and genuinely enjoy doing everyday. Takes you back to the essence of business, create something people want to buy and serve it to them.
- Hokusai 5y ago
  > create something people want to buy and serve it to them. When your customer is going to come back angry when you cheat them it is important to make something that people appreciates. And when people appreciates your work it is easy to become proud and want to improve even more. One of the problems nowadays is that the people making products and services and the consumers are completely separated. The guy that adds a dark-pattern in a website may never meet any of its customers. It is a way more detached business and less human as a consequence.
  - katzgrau 5y ago
    That's not a problem specific to "nowadays." It's just a problem that emerges very quickly with scale. Once the craftsperson (developer/carpenter/artist/baker/etc) decides they want to grow the business, they're going to hire someone to take over some of the work. More often than not, that person is not going to care as much about the craft as the owner did. Nobody cares as much as the craftsperson/founder.
    - pjmlp 5y ago
      Which is the main reason why most businesses die after three generations on average.
      - dredmorbius 5y ago
        The figure I've heard is 50% fail within 5 years. Three generations is a staggering success. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/10/25/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail-and-how-can-you-avoid-being-one-of-them/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/10/25...
- arp242 5y ago
  This is one of my favourites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2BctOSZxSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2BctOSZxSA
jchook 5y ago
Interesting that he notes the method came from Greeks. I'm reminded of this video of handmade mosaic tiles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-n03ano-Ak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-n03ano-Ak
- madaxe_again 5y ago
  I’d take that with a tiny pinch of salt - it seems he was referring to the specific enterprise that his family had worked for - but cement tiles were made all over the world in the 19th century, and I’ve a feeling they actually originated in Spain.
- m000 5y ago
  There are still workshops in Greece making this type of cement tiles. The workshop equipment is a bit more modern, but the technique is pretty much the same with Saied's. https://www.tsourlakistiles.gr/ https://www.tsourlakistiles.gr/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poFEiRG9NEk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poFEiRG9NEk
  - twic 5y ago
    Spain too, highly scientifically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytMh1Hoa-U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytMh1Hoa-U They have all sorts of designs, and a showroom in Shoreditch, so this is not exactly a dying art: https://cement-tiles.com/encaustic-cement-tiles-online-shop/index.php?type=motifs https://cement-tiles.com/encaustic-cement-tiles-online-shop/...
    - xtiansimon 5y ago
      Ha! It’s the same process as the Egyptian. 25 years ago I visited Spain and I was surprised by the workman repairing sidewalks who were on hands and knees hand-cutting stone. I think about this a lot when I walk through downtown in my city on Long Island NY. Our downtown sidewalks are a combination of real brick, which over time has become uneven (Not a lot of taxpayers walking to complain I guess.) and in new areas of downtown they have poured tinted concrete. A stencil is applied to give the concrete a brick-like appearance. How curious the Egyptian’s process in Spain is elevated and pretentious (after the hydraulic press the Spanish tile maker gently brushes the tile). Beats being on you hands and knees cutting tile by hand (like your dad’s generation).
iljun 5y ago
Similar tradition also in Malta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaC9ecUP648 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaC9ecUP648
j4yav 5y ago
This series (still standing) on this channel is quite good.
rosetremiere 5y ago
I don't understand the hydraulic press part. First, I'd expect the press to somehow mess with the patterns, and second, I would have thought he'd just let the cement take. Anyone knows what the point of this part?
- kwhitefoot 5y ago
  As far as I can tell it ensures that the material is properly compacted. Here is a pdf with a lot more detail: http://www3.ipc.org.es/dms/pdfs/Baldosas_hidraulicas/Hydraulic_mosaic/4-4-7%20ing%20-%20Hydraulic%20mosaic_vPDF.pdf http://www3.ipc.org.es/dms/pdfs/Baldosas_hidraulicas/Hydraul... See also https://www.notechmagazine.com/2014/09/hydraulic-mosaic.html https://www.notechmagazine.com/2014/09/hydraulic-mosaic.html
  - rosetremiere 5y ago
    Very interesting, thank you! So, I guess both the hydraulic press and slow curing time ensured that the tiles were very hard/abbrasion resistant. More so than plain mortar, somewhat closer to ceramic.

113 points by sakopov 5y ago

If you want to see amazing tile work, search youtube for "uzbekistan mosque". It's a whole unique central asian art form. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uzbekistan+mosque https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uzbekistan+mosq...

zuhayeer 5y ago

Always refreshing to see people working on a craft they love and genuinely enjoy doing everyday. Takes you back to the essence of business, create something people want to buy and serve it to them.

Hokusai 5y ago
> create something people want to buy and serve it to them. When your customer is going to come back angry when you cheat them it is important to make something that people appreciates. And when people appreciates your work it is easy to become proud and want to improve even more. One of the problems nowadays is that the people making products and services and the consumers are completely separated. The guy that adds a dark-pattern in a website may never meet any of its customers. It is a way more detached business and less human as a consequence.
- katzgrau 5y ago
  That's not a problem specific to "nowadays." It's just a problem that emerges very quickly with scale. Once the craftsperson (developer/carpenter/artist/baker/etc) decides they want to grow the business, they're going to hire someone to take over some of the work. More often than not, that person is not going to care as much about the craft as the owner did. Nobody cares as much as the craftsperson/founder.
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    Which is the main reason why most businesses die after three generations on average.
    - dredmorbius 5y ago
      The figure I've heard is 50% fail within 5 years. Three generations is a staggering success. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/10/25/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail-and-how-can-you-avoid-being-one-of-them/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/10/25...
arp242 5y ago
This is one of my favourites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2BctOSZxSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2BctOSZxSA

jchook 5y ago

Interesting that he notes the method came from Greeks. I'm reminded of this video of handmade mosaic tiles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-n03ano-Ak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-n03ano-Ak

madaxe_again 5y ago
I’d take that with a tiny pinch of salt - it seems he was referring to the specific enterprise that his family had worked for - but cement tiles were made all over the world in the 19th century, and I’ve a feeling they actually originated in Spain.
m000 5y ago
There are still workshops in Greece making this type of cement tiles. The workshop equipment is a bit more modern, but the technique is pretty much the same with Saied's. https://www.tsourlakistiles.gr/ https://www.tsourlakistiles.gr/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poFEiRG9NEk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poFEiRG9NEk
- twic 5y ago
  Spain too, highly scientifically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytMh1Hoa-U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytMh1Hoa-U They have all sorts of designs, and a showroom in Shoreditch, so this is not exactly a dying art: https://cement-tiles.com/encaustic-cement-tiles-online-shop/index.php?type=motifs https://cement-tiles.com/encaustic-cement-tiles-online-shop/...
  - xtiansimon 5y ago
    Ha! It’s the same process as the Egyptian. 25 years ago I visited Spain and I was surprised by the workman repairing sidewalks who were on hands and knees hand-cutting stone. I think about this a lot when I walk through downtown in my city on Long Island NY. Our downtown sidewalks are a combination of real brick, which over time has become uneven (Not a lot of taxpayers walking to complain I guess.) and in new areas of downtown they have poured tinted concrete. A stencil is applied to give the concrete a brick-like appearance. How curious the Egyptian’s process in Spain is elevated and pretentious (after the hydraulic press the Spanish tile maker gently brushes the tile). Beats being on you hands and knees cutting tile by hand (like your dad’s generation).

iljun 5y ago

Similar tradition also in Malta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaC9ecUP648 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaC9ecUP648

j4yav 5y ago

This series (still standing) on this channel is quite good.

rosetremiere 5y ago

I don't understand the hydraulic press part. First, I'd expect the press to somehow mess with the patterns, and second, I would have thought he'd just let the cement take. Anyone knows what the point of this part?

kwhitefoot 5y ago
As far as I can tell it ensures that the material is properly compacted. Here is a pdf with a lot more detail: http://www3.ipc.org.es/dms/pdfs/Baldosas_hidraulicas/Hydraulic_mosaic/4-4-7%20ing%20-%20Hydraulic%20mosaic_vPDF.pdf http://www3.ipc.org.es/dms/pdfs/Baldosas_hidraulicas/Hydraul... See also https://www.notechmagazine.com/2014/09/hydraulic-mosaic.html https://www.notechmagazine.com/2014/09/hydraulic-mosaic.html
- rosetremiere 5y ago
  Very interesting, thank you! So, I guess both the hydraulic press and slow curing time ensured that the tiles were very hard/abbrasion resistant. More so than plain mortar, somewhat closer to ceramic.