How are bricks made?

Bricks are quite literally the corner stone of our civilisation and have been found in some form or another in almost every ancient civilisation. The common clay brick in use today has been around for centuries and the fundamentals have changed very little during that time. The oldest shaped mud brick discovered dates from 7500 BC and were found in the upper Tigris region. The earliest sun- dried clay bricks were made in Mesopotamia as well as in ancient Egypt.

The Romans made use kiln fired bricks and the massive expansion of the roman army introduced fired bricks to all corners of the Roman Empire through the use of portable kilns. This was no doubt responsible for the common use of clay bricks in modern Europe and the eventual spread of the brick to the colonies of all the new worlds. Bricks were also in use in pre-modern China where the job of brick making was that of an unskilled artisan while the kiln master was a master craftsman.

If the Romans were responsible for the proliferation of bricks throughout the ancient world then it was once again the Italians that renewed the use of bricks in modern Europe when they introduced bricks once again to Germany, where an entirely new architectural tradition was started. The brick gothic era that is still visible in much of Europe was born from the renewed interest in bricks and became unique and separate from the traditional gothic architecture.

The industrial revolution saw a proliferation in large scale buildings made of brick, as demand for durable functional buildings grew so did the demand for bricks. The 19th century in America where cities were growing fast and the buildings were growing even faster the building trade fell out of love with bricks. To construct buildings on the magnitude of modern skyscrapers out of bricks the vase of the walls had to be unrealistically thick. So the steel and concrete era of modern city building was born.

Today brick is still popular for housing and for decorative use in brick paving or as cladding, however more massive commercial construction projects steel and concrete are far more popular, given they are more cost effective and efficient. Brick paving is one area of modern commercial building that still sees traditional clay brick in constant use due to its aesthetic qualities and durable nature. Brick paving can create a warm and friendly atmosphere in an environment built from steal, concrete and tar.

Brick has been a part of modern civilisation for thousands of years and no matter how much the modern infrastructure might change; brick paving will always have a place in the built environment. The patterns, textures and colours that this relatively simple part of our everyday creates are reminiscent of a simpler time.