Here's a good example of a battered old totan siding house, nicely set off by its solid-looking window frames:
And here's a revival of the theme, a few blocks away in the same town:
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Modern Update on an Old Material
Totan (トタン) or galvanized sheet iron, comes from the Portuguese "tutanaga," an alloy composed of copper, zinc and nickel to which bits of iron and other metals are added. It is most likely a Chinese invention, the word coming into Portuguese via the Persian "tutia-nak," meaning "zinc oxide"— only to return east to Japan in the 15th century along with Christian missionaries.
Here's a good example of a battered old totan siding house, nicely set off by its solid-looking window frames:
And here's a revival of the theme, a few blocks away in the same town:
Here's a good example of a battered old totan siding house, nicely set off by its solid-looking window frames:
And here's a revival of the theme, a few blocks away in the same town:
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