Who Invented the Brick?: Design Mysteries Series
The Marvelous Module!
1 X 2 X 4 = Brick
Why is this ratio so perfect and who thought of it?
I never gave much thought to bricks until seeing Alvar Aalto’s beautiful library in Helsinki. The next day we visited this Muuratsalo Experimental House. It always amazes me that very famous people have mailboxes with their names on them, Aalto’s was black with his name emblazoned in cut steel letters. We were able to wander the property and marvel at the brick patterns that Aalto developed for his many brick buildings. The walls present a collage of the possibilities of the humble brick, each one expressing a different feeling.
The typical brick forms a perfect structure simple by piling them one on top of the other. What happens when the human mind starts playing with this marvelous module?
Again the human hand determines the size. Bricks are picked up by the mason with one hand while using the other hand to spread mortar. Since most bricks are laid horizontally that means the brick can only be about 4” wide; about the width that a hand can pick up comfortably. I can imagine the discussion between the mason and the brick maker over the width, probably in many languages since the “brick” is one of those ubiquitously simultaneously invented designs. The mason says, “No, it’s too wide to pick up, make it smaller.” While the brick maker says, “What do you mean it’s too wide, it’s perfect.” “It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever made.” to which the mason replies, “Who cares, I can’t pick it up!” This probably went on for a few weeks, maybe even months, until they reached a compromise that satisfied the vision of the brick maker and the utility of the mason. That the length is twice the width achieves a structure that perfectly spans two bricks allowing for just a touch of bonding mortar. Two bricks side-to-side equaled one bricks length, which creates not only a pleasing pattern but also a strong wall. The Fractal we know as brick allows designers and builders almost endless possibilities and variations in pattern and design. Who could have predicted the arch would morph from the common brick our most ancient of building materials.
Who thought up this amazingly versatile building block most historians point to Mesopotamia, but it could have arisen in the Indus Valley or maybe Mesoamerica? No one is sure, but we credit Romans with the arch a giant leap of both architecture and faith.
Louis Kahn, who According to many architects may be the greatest architect of the 20th century, chose to work with the humble brick in many of his buildings. His famous quote: When you’re low on inspiration, architect Louis I. Kahn famously told his students, you should have a chat with your material: “You say to a brick, ‘What do you want, brick?’ And brick says to you, ‘I like an arch.’ And you say to brick, ‘Look, I want one, too, but arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel.’ And then you say, ‘What do you think of that, brick?’ Brick says: ‘I like an arch.’ Kahn believed that the building and the material would tell you what it wanted to be if you listened hard enough.
So I haven’t answered any of the question but they are still fun to think about.
#DesignMysteriesSeries [#67]
Design Mysteries Series
Bruce Hannah 2018 ©
