Brick



In ancient history, bricks were made out of sun dried mud. At the present time bricks may be made from clay, shale, soft slate, calcium silicate, concrete, or shaped from quarried stone. Bricks are used for building and pavement. Bricks are also used in the metallurgy and glass industries for lining furnaces. They have various uses, especially 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 and the United States. I know just a few types of bricks, such as: mud bricks, dry pressed bricks, extruded bricks, calcium silicate bricks and fly ash bricks. It’s the way people decide to put (lay) rows of bricks on top of the other. The technique you use will determine the structural force and the esthetics of the building. The most common brick pattern is called a “Running Bond”. It is simply brick on brick with each row of bricks above resting in the center of where the bricks below join together.
 * **What are they made of?**
 * **What are they used for?**
 * **How many types of brick are there? **
 * **What is the meaning of //brick laying techniques//? **
 * **Describe 2 brick laying techniques**

Another common brick pattern is referred to as the “Flemish Bond” It is much stronger than most brick patterns and has a very nice esthetic quality especially when used with a variety of coloured bricks. Smaller bricks are placed above and below each point where bricks are laid together. The “running bond” is very easy to make and therefore is cheaper, but it is not visually interesting. On the other hand the “Flemish bond” is very esthetic and visually dynamic but is it more expensive because it is more difficult to make.
 * **What are their advantages and disadvantages? **

**I would use a combination of bare concrete and steel, mostly because of the esthetic qualities of the two of them united. Another good reason to use these materials is their adaptability to create shapes and also because they are not very expensive and they are easy to find.**
 * Write on your brick wiki page: "What construction material would you use to build your own house? Why? **

//“Piazza del Campo” was the place were the Sienese used to organize their games and markets, it was the most important public space of the city. Brick is used as pavement and almost on all of the facades of the buildings that surround the square. Although brick is the structural material used in these constructions it is also used as a pattern that organizes the square itself, dividing the resting places from the more transitional ones.//