Brick

A single brick

A wall constructed in glazed-headed Flemish bond with

bricks of various shades and lengths

An old brick wall in English bond laid with alternating

courses of headers and stretchers

A brick is building material used to make

walls, pavements and other elements in
masonry construction. Traditionally, the
term brick referred to a unit composed of
clay, but it is now used to denote
rectangular units made of clay-bearing
soil, sand, and lime, or concrete materials.
Bricks can be joined together using
mortar, adhesives or by interlocking
them.[1][2] Bricks are produced in
numerous classes, types, materials, and
sizes which vary with region and time
period, and are produced in bulk
quantities. Two basic categories of bricks
are fired and non-fired bricks.

Block is a similar term referring to a

rectangular building unit composed of
similar materials, but is usually larger than
a brick. Lightweight bricks (also called
lightweight blocks) are made from
expanded clay aggregate.
Fired bricks are one of the longest-lasting
and strongest building materials,
sometimes referred to as artificial stone,
and have been used since circa 4000 BC.
Air-dried bricks, also known as mudbricks,
have a history older than fired bricks, and
have an additional ingredient of a
mechanical binder such as straw.

Bricks are laid in courses and numerous

patterns known as bonds, collectively
known as brickwork, and may be laid in
various kinds of mortar to hold the bricks
together to make a durable structure.

History
Bricked Front Street along the Cane River in historic
Natchitoches, Louisiana

Middle East and South Asia

Remains of 3rd century BC Hindu brick temple, Tamil

Nadu, India
The brickwork of Shebeli Tower in Iran displays 12th-
century craftsmanship

The ancient Jetavanaramaya stupa in Anuradhapura,

Sri Lanka is one of the largest brick structures in the
world.
The earliest bricks were dried brick,
meaning that they were formed from clay-
bearing earth or mud and dried (usually in
the sun) until they were strong enough for
use. The oldest discovered bricks,
originally made from shaped mud and
dating before 7500 BC, were found at Tell
Aswad, in the upper Tigris region and in
southeast Anatolia close to Diyarbakir.[3]
The South Asian inhabitants of Mehrgarh
also constructed, and lived in, air-dried
mudbrick houses between 7000–3300
BC.[4] Other more recent findings, dated
between 7,000 and 6,395 BC, come from
Jericho, Catal Hüyük, the ancient Egyptian
fortress of Buhen, and the ancient Indus
Valley cities of Mohenjo-daro, Harappa,[5]
and Mehrgarh.[6] Ceramic, or fired brick
was used as early as 3000 BC in early
Indus Valley cities like Kalibangan.[7]

China

The earliest fired bricks appeared in

Neolithic China around 4400 BC at
Chengtoushan, a walled settlement of the
Daxi culture.[8] These bricks were made of
red clay, fired on all sides to above 600 °C,
and used as flooring for houses. By the
Qujialing period (3300 BC), fired bricks
were being used to pave roads and as
building foundations at Chengtoushan.[9]
Bricks continued to be used during 2nd
millennium BC at a site near Xi'an.[10] Fired
bricks were found in Western Zhou (1046–
771 BC) ruins, where they were produced
on a large scale.[11][12][13] The carpenter's
manual Yingzao Fashi, published in 1103
at the time of the Song dynasty described
the brick making process and glazing
techniques then in use. Using the 17th-
century encyclopaedic text Tiangong
Kaiwu, historian Timothy Brook outlined
the brick production process of Ming
Dynasty China:
...the kilnmaster had to make
sure that the temperature inside
the kiln stayed at a level that
caused the clay to shimmer with
the colour of molten gold or
silver. He also had to know
when to quench the kiln with
water so as to produce the
surface glaze. To anonymous
labourers fell the less skilled
stages of brick production:
mixing clay and water, driving
oxen over the mixture to
trample it into a thick paste,
scooping the paste into
standardised wooden frames (to
produce a brick roughly 42 cm
long, 20 cm wide, and 10 cm
thick), smoothing the surfaces
with a wire-strung bow,
removing them from the frames,
printing the fronts and backs
with stamps that indicated
where the bricks came from and
who made them, loading the
kilns with fuel (likelier wood
than coal), stacking the bricks in
the kiln, removing them to cool
 while the kilns were still hot,
and bundling them into pallets
for transportation. It was hot,
filthy work.

Europe

The Roman Basilica Aula Palatina in Trier, Germany,

built with fired bricks in the 4th century as an audience
hall for Constantine I
The world's highest brick tower of St. Martin's Church
in Landshut, Germany, completed in 1500

Malbork Castle, former Ordensburg of the Teutonic

Order – biggest brick castle in the world
Chile house in Hamburg, Germany

Early civilisations around the

Mediterranean adopted the use of fired
bricks, including the Ancient Greeks and
Romans. The Roman legions operated
mobile kilns,[14] and built large brick
structures throughout the Roman Empire,
stamping the bricks with the seal of the
legion.
During the Early Middle Ages the use of
bricks in construction became popular in
Northern Europe, after being introduced
there from Northern-Western Italy. An
independent style of brick architecture,
known as brick Gothic (similar to Gothic
architecture) flourished in places that
lacked indigenous sources of rocks.
Examples of this architectural style can be
found in modern-day Denmark, Germany,
Poland, and Russia.

This style evolved into Brick Renaissance

as the stylistic changes associated with
the Italian Renaissance spread to northern
Europe, leading to the adoption of
Renaissance elements into brick building.
A clear distinction between the two styles
only developed at the transition to Baroque
architecture. In Lübeck, for example, Brick
Renaissance is clearly recognisable in
buildings equipped with terracotta reliefs
by the artist Statius von Düren, who was
also active at Schwerin (Schwerin Castle)
and Wismar (Fürstenhof).

Long-distance bulk transport of bricks and

other construction equipment remained
prohibitively expensive until the
development of modern transportation
infrastructure, with the construction of
canal, roads, and railways.
Industrial era

Production of bricks increased massively

with the onset of the Industrial Revolution
and the rise in factory building in England.
For reasons of speed and economy, bricks
were increasingly preferred as building
material to stone, even in areas where the
stone was readily available. It was at this
time in London that bright red brick was
chosen for construction to make the
buildings more visible in the heavy fog and
to help prevent traffic accidents.[15]

The transition from the traditional method

of production known as hand-moulding to
a mechanised form of mass-production
slowly took place during the first half of
the nineteenth century. Possibly the first
successful brick-making machine was
patented by Henry Clayton, employed at
the Atlas Works in Middlesex, England, in
1855, and was capable of producing up to
25,000 bricks daily with minimal
supervision.[16] His mechanical apparatus
soon achieved widespread attention after
it was adopted for use by the South
Eastern Railway Company for brick-making
at their factory near Folkestone.[17] The
Bradley & Craven Ltd ‘Stiff-Plastic
Brickmaking Machine’ was patented in
1853, apparently predating Clayton.
Bradley & Craven went on to be a
dominant manufacturer of brickmaking
machinery.[18] Predating both Clayton and
Bradley & Craven Ltd. however was the
brick making machine patented by Richard
A. Ver Valen of Haverstraw, New York in
1852.[19]

The demand for high office building

construction at the turn of the 20th
century led to a much greater use of cast
and wrought iron, and later, steel and
concrete. The use of brick for skyscraper
construction severely limited the size of
the building – the Monadnock Building,
built in 1896 in Chicago, required
exceptionally thick walls to maintain the
structural integrity of its 17 storeys.

Following pioneering work in the 1950s at

the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
and the Building Research Establishment
in Watford, UK, the use of improved
masonry for the construction of tall
structures up to 18 storeys high was made
viable. However, the use of brick has
largely remained restricted to small to
medium-sized buildings, as steel and
concrete remain superior materials for
high-rise construction.[20]

Types
This wall in Beacon Hill, Boston shows different types
of brickwork and stone foundations

There are thousands of types of bricks

that are named for their use, size, forming
method, origin, quality, texture, and/or
materials.

Categorized by manufacture method:

Extruded – made by being forced

through an opening in a steel die, with a
very consistent size and shape.
 Wire-cut – cut to size after
extrusion with a tensioned wire
which may leave drag marks
Moulded – shaped in moulds rather
than being extruded
Machine-moulded – clay is forced
into moulds using pressure
Handmade – clay is forced into
moulds by a person
Dry-pressed – similar to soft mud
method, but starts with a much thicker
clay mix and is compressed with great
force.

Categorized by use:
Common or building – A brick not
intended to be visible, used for internal
structure
Face – A brick used on exterior surfaces
to present a clean appearance
Hollow – not solid, the holes are less
than 25% of the brick volume
Perforated – holes greater than
25% of the brick volume
Keyed – indentations in at least one
face and end to be used with rendering
and plastering
Paving – brick intended to be in ground
contact as a walkway or roadway
 Thin – brick with normal height and
length but thin width to be used as a
veneer

Specialized use bricks:

Chemically resistant – bricks made with

resistance to chemicals
Acid brick – acid resistant bricks
Engineering – a type of hard, dense,
brick used where strength, low water
porosity or acid (flue gas) resistance are
needed. Further classified as type A and
type B based on their compressive
strength
Accrington – a type of engineering
brick from England
 Fire or refractory – highly heat-resistant
bricks
Clinker – a vitrified brick
Ceramic glazed – fire bricks with a
decorative glazing

Bricks named for place of origin:

Cream City brick – a light yellow brick

made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dutch – a hard light coloured brick
originally from the Netherlands
Fareham red brick – a type of
construction brick
London stock – type of handmade brick
which was used for the majority of
 building work in London and South East
England until the growth in the use of
machine-made bricks
Nanak Shahi bricks – a type of
decorative brick in India
Roman – a long, flat brick typically used
by the Romans
Staffordshire blue brick – a type of
construction brick from England

Methods of manufacture
Brick making at the beginning of the 20th century

Three basic types of brick are un-fired,

fired, and chemically set bricks. Each type
is manufactured differently.

Mudbrick

Unfired bricks, also known as mudbricks,

are made from a wet, clay-containing soil
mixed with straw or similar binders. They
are air-dried until ready for use.

Fired brick
Raw bricks sun-drying before being fired

Fired bricks are burned in a kiln which

makes them durable. Modern, fired, clay
bricks are formed in one of three
processes – soft mud, dry press, or
extruded. Depending on the country, either
the extruded or soft mud method is the
most common, since they are the most
economical.
Normally, bricks contain the following
ingredients:[21]

1. Silica (sand) – 50% to 60% by weight

2. Alumina (clay) – 20% to 30% by
weight
3. Lime – 2 to 5% by weight
4. Iron oxide – ≤ 7% by weight
5. Magnesia – less than 1% by weight
Shaping methods

Three main methods are used for shaping

the raw materials into bricks to be fired:

Molded bricks – These bricks start with

raw clay, preferably in a mix with 25–
30% sand to reduce shrinkage. The clay
is first ground and mixed with water to
the desired consistency. The clay is then
pressed into steel moulds with a
hydraulic press. The shaped clay is then
fired ("burned") at 900–1000 °C to
achieve strength.
Dry-pressed bricks – The dry-press
method is similar to the soft-mud
moulded method, but starts with a much
thicker clay mix, so it forms more
accurate, sharper-edged bricks. The
greater force in pressing and the longer
burn make this method more expensive.
Extruded bricks – For extruded bricks
the clay is mixed with 10–15% water
(stiff extrusion) or 20–25% water (soft
extrusion) in a pugmill. This mixture is
forced through a die to create a long
cable of material of the desired width
and depth. This mass is then cut into
bricks of the desired length by a wall of
wires. Most structural bricks are made
by this method as it produces hard,
dense bricks, and suitable dies can
produce perforations as well. The
introduction of such holes reduces the
volume of clay needed, and hence the
cost. Hollow bricks are lighter and
easier to handle, and have different
 thermal properties from solid bricks.
The cut bricks are hardened by drying
for 20 to 40 hours at 50 to 150 °C before
being fired. The heat for drying is often
waste heat from the kiln.
Kilns

Raw (green) Indian brick

Xhosa brickmaker at kiln near Ngcobo in 2007

A brickmaker in India – Tashrih al-aqvam (1825)

In many modern brickworks, bricks are

usually fired in a continuously fired tunnel
kiln, in which the bricks are fired as they
move slowly through the kiln on conveyors,
rails, or kiln cars, which achieves a more
consistent brick product. The bricks often
have lime, ash, and organic matter added,
which accelerates the burning process.
The other major kiln type is the Bull's
Trench Kiln (BTK), based on a design
developed by British engineer W. Bull in the
late 19th century.

An oval or circular trench is dug, 6–9

metres wide, 2-2.5 metres deep, and 100–
150 metres in circumference. A tall
exhaust chimney is constructed in the
centre. Half or more of the trench is filled
with "green" (unfired) bricks which are
stacked in an open lattice pattern to allow
airflow. The lattice is capped with a roofing
layer of finished brick.
In operation, new green bricks, along with
roofing bricks, are stacked at one end of
the brick pile. Historically, a stack of
unfired bricks covered for protection from
the weather was called a "hack".[22] Cooled
finished bricks are removed from the other
end for transport to their destinations. In
the middle, the brick workers create a
firing zone by dropping fuel (coal, wood,
oil, debris, and so on) through access
holes in the roof above the trench.

The advantage of the BTK design is a

much greater energy efficiency compared
with clamp or scove kilns. Sheet metal or
boards are used to route the airflow
through the brick lattice so that fresh air
flows first through the recently burned
bricks, heating the air, then through the
active burning zone. The air continues
through the green brick zone (pre-heating
and drying the bricks), and finally out the
chimney, where the rising gases create
suction that pulls air through the system.
The reuse of heated air yields savings in
fuel cost.

As with the rail process, the BTK process

is continuous. A half-dozen labourers
working around the clock can fire
approximately 15,000–25,000 bricks a day.
Unlike the rail process, in the BTK process
the bricks do not move. Instead, the
locations at which the bricks are loaded,
fired, and unloaded gradually rotate
through the trench.[23]

Influences on colour

Yellow London Stocks at Waterloo station

The fired colour of tired clay bricks is

influenced by the chemical and mineral
content of the raw materials, the firing
temperature, and the atmosphere in the
kiln. For example, pink bricks are the result
of a high iron content, white or yellow
bricks have a higher lime content. Most
bricks burn to various red hues; as the
temperature is increased the colour moves
through dark red, purple, and then to
brown or grey at around 1,300 °C
(2,372 °F). The names of bricks may
reflect their origin and colour, such as
London stock brick and Cambridgeshire
White. Brick tinting may be performed to
change the colour of bricks to blend-in
areas of brickwork with the surrounding
masonry.
An impervious and ornamental surface
may be laid on brick either by salt glazing,
in which salt is added during the burning
process, or by the use of a slip, which is a
glaze material into which the bricks are
dipped. Subsequent reheating in the kiln
fuses the slip into a glazed surface
integral with the brick base.

Chemically set bricks

Chemically set bricks are not fired but may

have the curing process accelerated by the
application of heat and pressure in an
autoclave.
Calcium-silicate bricks

Swedish Mexitegel is a sand-lime or lime-cement brick.

Calcium-silicate bricks are also called

sandlime or flintlime bricks, depending on
their ingredients. Rather than being made
with clay they are made with lime binding
the silicate material. The raw materials for
calcium-silicate bricks include lime mixed
in a proportion of about 1 to 10 with sand,
quartz, crushed flint, or crushed siliceous
rock together with mineral colourants. The
materials are mixed and left until the lime
is completely hydrated; the mixture is then
pressed into moulds and cured in an
autoclave for three to fourteen hours to
speed the chemical hardening.[24] The
finished bricks are very accurate and
uniform, although the sharp arrises need
careful handling to avoid damage to brick
and bricklayer. The bricks can be made in
a variety of colours; white, black, buff, and
grey-blues are common, and pastel shades
can be achieved. This type of brick is
common in Sweden, especially in houses
built or renovated in the 1970s. In India
these are known as fly ash bricks,
manufactured using the FaL-G (fly ash,
lime, and gypsum) process. Calcium-
silicate bricks are also manufactured in
Canada and the United States, and meet
the criteria set forth in ASTM C73 – 10
Standard Specification for Calcium Silicate
Brick (Sand-Lime Brick).

Concrete bricks

A concrete brick-making assembly line in Guilinyang

Town, Hainan, China. This operation produces a pallet
containing 42 bricks, approximately every 30 seconds.
Bricks formed from concrete are usually
termed as blocks or concrete masonry
unit, and are typically pale grey. They are
made from a dry, small aggregate concrete
which is formed in steel moulds by
vibration and compaction in either an
"egglayer" or static machine. The finished
blocks are cured, rather than fired, using
low-pressure steam. Concrete bricks and
blocks are manufactured in a wide range
of shapes, sizes and face treatments – a
number of which simulate the appearance
of clay bricks.

Concrete bricks are available in many

colours and as an engineering brick made
with sulfate-resisting Portland cement or
equivalent. When made with adequate
amount of cement they are suitable for
harsh environments such as wet
conditions and retaining walls. They are
made to standards BS 6073, EN 771-3 or
ASTM C55. Concrete bricks contract or
shrink so they need movement joints every
5 to 6 metres, but are similar to other
bricks of similar density in thermal and
sound resistance and fire resistance.[24]

Compressed earth blocks

A brick kiln in India

Compressed earth blocks are made

mostly from slightly moistened local soils
compressed with a mechanical hydraulic
press or manual lever press. A small
amount of a cement binder may be added,
resulting in a stabilised compressed earth
block.

Optimal dimensions,
characteristics, and strength
Comparison of typical brick sizes of assorted
countries with isometric projections with dimensions
in mm

Loose bricks
For efficient handling and laying, bricks
must be small enough and light enough to
be picked up by the bricklayer using one
hand (leaving the other hand free for the
trowel). Bricks are usually laid flat, and as
a result, the effective limit on the width of
a brick is set by the distance which can
conveniently be spanned between the
thumb and fingers of one hand, normally
about four inches (about 100 mm). In
most cases, the length of a brick is twice
its width plus the width of a mortar joint,
about eight inches (about 200 mm) or
slightly more. This allows bricks to be laid
bonded in a structure which increases
stability and strength (for an example, see
the illustration of bricks laid in English
bond, at the head of this article). The wall
is built using alternating courses of
stretchers, bricks laid longways, and
headers, bricks laid crossways. The
headers tie the wall together over its
width. In fact, this wall is built in a variation
of English bond called English cross bond
where the successive layers of stretchers
are displaced horizontally from each other
by half a brick length. In true English bond,
the perpendicular lines of the stretcher
courses are in line with each other.

A bigger brick makes for a thicker (and

thus more insulating) wall. Historically, this
meant that bigger bricks were necessary
in colder climates (see for instance the
slightly larger size of the Russian brick in
table below), while a smaller brick was
adequate, and more economical, in
warmer regions. A notable illustration of
this correlation is the Green Gate in
Gdansk; built in 1571 of imported Dutch
brick, too small for the colder climate of
Gdansk, it was notorious for being a chilly
and drafty residence. Nowadays this is no
longer an issue, as modern walls typically
incorporate specialised insulation
materials.
The correct brick for a job can be selected
from a choice of colour, surface texture,
density, weight, absorption, and pore
structure, thermal characteristics, thermal
and moisture movement, and fire
resistance.

Face brick ("house brick") sizes, (alphabetical order)

Standard Imperial Metric

 Australia 9 × 4⅓ × 3 in 230 × 110 × 76 mm

 Denmark 9 × 4¼ × 2¼ in 228 × 108 × 54 mm

 Germany 9 × 4¼ × 2¾ in 240 × 115 × 71 mm

 India 9 × 4¼ × 2¾ in 228 × 107 × 69 mm

 Romania 9 × 4¼ × 2½ in 240 × 115 × 63 mm

 Russia 10 × 4¾ × 2½ in 250 × 120 × 65 mm

 South Africa 8¾ × 4 × 3 in 222 × 106 × 73 mm

 Sweden 10 × 4¾ × 2½ in 250 × 120 × 62 mm

 United Kingdom 8½ × 4 × 2½ in 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm

 United States 7⅝ × 3⅝ × 2¼ in 194 × 92 × 57 mm

In England, the length and width of the

common brick has remained fairly
constant over the centuries (but see brick
tax), but the depth has varied from about
two inches (about 51 mm) or smaller in
earlier times to about two and a half
inches (about 64 mm) more recently. In
the United Kingdom, the usual size of a
modern brick is 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm
(about 85⁄8 × 41⁄8 × 25⁄8 inches), which,
with a nominal 10 mm (3⁄8 inch) mortar
joint, forms a unit size of 225 × 112.5 ×
75 mm (9 × 41⁄2 × 3 inches), for a ratio of
6:3:2.

In the United States, modern standard

bricks are specified for various uses;[25]
most are sized at about 8 × 35⁄8  ×
21⁄4 inches (203 × 92 × 57 mm). The more
commonly used is the modular brick 75⁄8 
× 35⁄8  × 21⁄4 inches (194 × 92 × 57 mm).
This modular brick of 75⁄8 with a 3⁄8
mortar joint eases the calculation of the
number of bricks in a given wall.[26]

Some brickmakers create innovative sizes

and shapes for bricks used for plastering
(and therefore not visible on the inside of
the building) where their inherent
mechanical properties are more important
than their visual ones.[27] These bricks are
usually slightly larger, but not as large as
blocks and offer the following advantages:
 A slightly larger brick requires less
mortar and handling (fewer bricks),
which reduces cost
Their ribbed exterior aids plastering
More complex interior cavities allow
improved insulation, while maintaining
strength.

Blocks have a much greater range of

sizes. Standard co-ordinating sizes in
length and height (in mm) include
400×200, 450×150, 450×200, 450×225,
450×300, 600×150, 600×200, and
600×225; depths (work size, mm) include
60, 75, 90, 100, 115, 140, 150, 190, 200,
225, and 250. They are usable across this
range as they are lighter than clay bricks.
The density of solid clay bricks is around
2000 kg/m³: this is reduced by frogging,
hollow bricks, and so on, but aerated
autoclaved concrete, even as a solid brick,
can have densities in the range of 450–
850 kg/m³.

Bricks may also be classified as solid (less

than 25% perforations by volume, although
the brick may be "frogged," having
indentations on one of the longer faces),
perforated (containing a pattern of small
holes through the brick, removing no more
than 25% of the volume), cellular
(containing a pattern of holes removing
more than 20% of the volume, but closed
on one face), or hollow (containing a
pattern of large holes removing more than
25% of the brick's volume). Blocks may be
solid, cellular or hollow

The term "frog" can refer to the indentation

or the implement used to make it. Modern
brickmakers usually use plastic frogs but
in the past they were made of wood.
Brick arch from a vault in Roman Bath – England

A brick section of the old Dixie Highway, United States

The compressive strength of bricks

produced in the United States ranges from
about 1000 lbf/in² to 15,000 lbf/in² (7 to
105 MPa or N/mm² ), varying according to
the use to which the brick are to be put. In
England clay bricks can have strengths of
up to 100 MPa, although a common house
brick is likely to show a range of 20–40
MPa.

Use
In the United States, bricks have been used
for both buildings and pavements.
Examples of brick use in buildings can be
seen in colonial era buildings and other
notable structures around the country.
Bricks have been used in pavements
especially during the late 19th century and
early 20th century. The introduction of
asphalt and concrete reduced the use of
brick pavements, but it is used as a
method of traffic calming or as a
decorative surface in pedestrian precincts.
For example, in the early 1900s, most of
the streets in the city of Grand Rapids,
Michigan, were paved with bricks. Today,
there are only about 20 blocks of brick-
paved streets remaining (totalling less
than 0.5 percent of all the streets in the
city limits).[28] Much like in Grand Rapids,
municipalities across the United States
began replacing brick streets with
inexpensive asphalt concrete by the mid-
20th century.[29]

Bricks in the metallurgy and glass

industries are often used for lining
furnaces, in particular refractory bricks
such as silica, magnesia, chamotte and
neutral (chromomagnesite) refractory
bricks. This type of brick must have good
thermal shock resistance, refractoriness
under load, high melting point, and
satisfactory porosity. There is a large
refractory brick industry, especially in the
United Kingdom, Japan, the United States,
Belgium and the Netherlands.

In Northwest Europe, bricks have been

used in construction for centuries. Until
recently, almost all houses were built
almost entirely from bricks. Although
many houses are now built using a mixture
of concrete blocks and other materials,
many houses are skinned with a layer of
bricks on the outside for aesthetic appeal.

Engineering bricks are used where

strength, low water porosity or acid (flue
gas) resistance are needed.

In the UK a red brick university is one

founded in the late 19th or early 20th
century. The term is used to refer to such
institutions collectively to distinguish them
from the older Oxbridge institutions, and
refers to the use of bricks, as opposed to
stone, in their buildings.

Colombian architect Rogelio Salmona was

noted for his extensive use of red bricks in
his buildings and for using natural shapes
like spirals, radial geometry and curves in
his designs.[30] Most buildings in Colombia
are made of brick, given the abundance of
clay in equatorial countries like this one.

Limitations
Starting in the 20th century, the use of
brickwork declined in some areas due to
concerns with earthquakes. Earthquakes
such as the San Francisco earthquake of
1906 and the 1933 Long Beach
earthquake revealed the weaknesses of
unreinforced brick masonry in earthquake-
prone areas. During seismic events, the
mortar cracks and crumbles, and the
bricks are no longer held together. Brick
masonry with steel reinforcement, which
helps hold the masonry together during
earthquakes, was used to replace many of
the unreinforced masonry buildings.
Retrofitting older unreinforced masonry
structures has been mandated in many
jurisdictions.
A panorama after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Gallery
Ishtar Gate of Babylon in the Pergamon
Museum, Berlin, Germany

Roman opus reticulatum on Hadrian's Villa

in Tivoli, Italy (2nd century)
Frauenkirche, Munich, Germany, erected
1468–1488, looking up at the towers

Eastern gable of church of St. James in

Toruń (14th century)
Decorative pattern made of strongly fired
bricks in Radzyń Castle (14th century)

Mudéjar brick church tower in Teruel,

Spain, (14th century)
Brick sculpting on Thornbury Castle,
Thornbury, near Bristol, England. The
chimneys were erected in 1514

A typical brick house in the Netherlands.

A typical Dutch farmhouse near
Wageningen, Netherlands

Decorative bricks in St Michael and All

Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi
Virgilio Barco Public Library, Bogotá,
Colombia

FES Building, Cali, Colombia

A brick kiln, Tamil Nadu, India

Brick sidewalk paving in Portland, Oregon

Brick sidewalk in Cambridge,
Massachusetts

Porotherm style clay block brick

Moulding bricks, Poland

Brick made as a byproduct of ironstone

mining Normanby – UK
 Fired, clay bricks in Hainan, China

See also
Autoclaved aerated concrete –
Lightweight, precast building material
Banna'i – Use of glazed tiles alternating
with plain brick for decorative purposes
Ceramic building material –
Archaeological term for baked clay
building material
Glossary of British bricklaying – List of
bricklaying terms and their meanings
Opus africanum – A form of ashlar
masonry used in Carthaginian and
ancient Roman architecture
Opus latericium – An ancient Roman
form of construction in which coarse-
laid brickwork is used to face a core of
opus caementicium
Opus mixtum – Combination of Roman
construction techniques
Opus spicatum – Herringbone pattern of
masonry construction used in Roman
and medieval times
 Opus vittatum – Roman construction
technique using horizontal courses of
tuff blocks alternated with bricks
Polychrome brickwork – Use of bricks of
different colours for decoration
Stockade Building System – Building
block system using compressed wood
shavings
Surfaced block – A concrete masonry
unit with a durable, slick surface
Wienerberger – Manufacturer of bricks,
pavers and pipes

References
1. Interlocking bricks used in Nepal
2. Bricks that interlock
3. (in French) IFP Orient – Tell Aswad
Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback
Machine. Wikis.ifporient.org. Retrieved
16 November 2012.
4. Possehl, Gregory L. (1996)
5. History of brickmaking , Encyclopædia
Britannica.
6. Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark (2005),
"Uncovering the keys to the Lost Indus
Cities", Scientific American, 15: 24–33,
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0105-
24sp
7. Bricks and urbanism in the Indus
Valley
 8. Yoshinori Yasuda (2012). Water
Civilization: From Yangtze to Khmer
Civilizations . Springer Science &
Business Media. pp. 30–31.
9. Yoshinori Yasuda (2012). Water
Civilization: From Yangtze to Khmer
Civilizations . Springer Science &
Business Media. pp. 33–35.
10. Brook, 19–20
11. Earliest Chinese building brick
appeared in Xi'an (中國最早磚類建材
在西安現身) . takungpao.com (28
January 2010)
12. China's first brick, possible earliest
brick in China (藍田出土"中華第一磚"
 疑似我國最早的"磚")
13. 西安發現全球最早燒制磚 (Earliest
fired brick discovered in Xi'an) . Sina
Corp.com.tw. 30 January 2010 (in
Chinese)
14. Ash,, Ahmed,. Materials science in
construction : an introduction .
Sturges, John. Abingdon, Oxon.
ISBN 9781135138417.
OCLC 896794727 .
15. Peter Ackroyd (2001). London the
Biography . Random House. p. 435.
ISBN 978-0-09-942258-7.
16. "Henry Clayton" . Retrieved
17 December 2012.
17. The Mechanics Magazine and Journal
of Engineering, Agricultural Machinery,
Manufactures and Shipbuilding . 1859.
p. 361.
18. The First Hundred Years: the Early
History of Bradley & Craven, Limited,
Wakefield, England by Bradley &
Craven Ltd (1963)
19. "US Patent 9082" . Retrieved
26 September 2014.
20. "The History of Bricks" . De
Hoop:Steenwerve Brickfields.
21. Punmia, B.C.; Jain, Ashok Kumar
(2003), Basic Civil Engineering , p. 33,
ISBN 978-81-7008-403-7
22. Connolly, Andrew. Life in the Victorian
Brickyards of Flintshire and
Denbigshire, p34. 2003, Gwasg Carreg
Gwalch.
23. Pakistan Environmental Protection
Agency, Brick Kiln Units (PDF file)
24. McArthur, Hugh, and Duncan Spalding.
Engineering materials science:
properties, uses, degradation and
remediation. Chichester, U.K.:
Horwood Pub., 2004. 194. Print.
25. [1] . Brick Industry Association.
Technical Note 9A, Specifications for
and Classification of Brick. Retrieved
28 December 2016.
26. [2] bia.org. Technical Note 10,
Dimensioning and Estimating Brick
Masonry (pdf file) Retrieved 8
November 2016.
27. Crammix Maxilite . crammix.co.za
28. Michigan | Success Stories | Preserve
America | Office of the Secretary of
Transportation | U.S. Department of
Transportation .
29. Schwartz, Emma (31 July 2003).
"Bricks come back to city streets" .
USA Today. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
30. Romero, Simon (6 October 2007).
"Rogelio Salmona, Colombian
 Architect Who Transformed Cities, Is
Dead at 78" . The New York Times.

Further reading
Aragus, Philippe (2003), Brique et
architecture dans l'Espagne médiévale,
Bibliothèque de la Casa de Velazquez, 2
(in French), Madrid
Campbell, James W.; Pryce, Will,
photographer (2003), Brick: a World
History, London & New York: Thames &
Hudson
Coomands, Thomas; VanRoyen, Harry,
eds. (2008), "Novii Monasterii, 7",
Medieval Brick Architecture in Flanders
and Northern Europe, Koksijde: Ten
Duinen
Das, Saikia Mimi; Das, Bhargab Mohan;
Das, Madan Mohan (2010), Elements of
Civil Engineering, New Delhi: PHI
Learning Private Limited, ISBN 978-81-
203-4097-8
Kornmann, M.; CTTB (2007), Clay Bricks
and Roof Tiles, Manufacturing and
Properties, Paris: Lasim, ISBN 2-
9517765-6-X
Plumbridge, Andrew; Meulenkamp, Wim
(2000), Brickwork. Architecture and
Design, London: Seven Dials, ISBN 1-
84188-039-6
 Dobson, E. A. (1850), Rudimentary
Treatise on the Manufacture of Bricks
and Tiles, London: John Weale
Hudson, Kenneth (1972) Building
Materials; chap. 3: Bricks and tiles.
London: Longman; pp. 28–42
Lloyd, N. (1925), History of English
Brickwork, London: H. Greville
Montgomery

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to:

Bricks
Look up bricks in Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Bricks.

"Brick"  . Encyclopædia Britannica. 4

(11th ed.). 1911.
Brick in 20th-Century Architecture
Brick Industry Association United
States
Brick Development Association UK
Think Brick Australia
International Brick Collectors
Association
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Brick&oldid=910054506"

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