| The oldest shaped bricks found date back | | | | of Gothic architecture that flourished |
| to 7,500 B.C. They have been found in | | | | in Northern Europe, especially in the |
| Çayönü, a place located in the upper | | | | regions around the Baltic Sea which are |
| Tigris area in south east Anatolia close | | | | without natural rock resources. Brick |
| to Diyarbakir. Other more recent | | | | Gothic buildings, which are built almost |
| findings, dated between 7,000 and 6,395 | | | | exclusively of bricks, are to be found |
| B.C., come from Jericho and Catal | | | | in Denmark, Germany, Poland and Russia. |
| Hüyük. From archaeological evidence, | | | | During the Renaissance and the Baroque, |
| the invention of the fired brick (as | | | | visible brick walls were unpopular and |
| opposed to the considerably earlier | | | | the brickwork was often covered with |
| sun-dried mud brick) is believed to have | | | | plaster. It was only during the mid-18th |
| arisen in about the third millennium BC | | | | century that visible brick walls |
| in the Middle East. Being much more | | | | regained some degree of popularity, as |
| resistant to cold and moist weather | | | | illustrated by the Dutch Quarter of |
| conditions, brick enabled the | | | | Potsdam, for example. |
| construction of permanent buildings in | | | | The transport in bulk of building |
| regions where the harsher climate | | | | materials such as bricks over long |
| precluded the use of mud bricks. | | | | distances was rare before the age of |
| By 1200AD brick making was to be found | | | | canals, railways, roads and heavy goods |
| across Europe and Asia, from the | | | | vehicles. Before this time bricks were |
| Atlantic to the Pacific. In the Near | | | | generally made as close as possible to |
| East and India, bricks have been in use | | | | their point of intended use. It has been |
| for more than five thousand years. The | | | | estimated that in England in the |
| plain of the Tigris-Euphrates lacks | | | | eighteenth century carrying bricks by |
| rocks and trees. Sumerian structures | | | | horse and cart for ten miles over the |
| were thus built of plano-convex | | | | poor roads then existing could more than |
| mudbricks, not fixed with mortar or with | | | | double their price. |
| cement. As plano-convex bricks (being | | | | Bricks were often used, even in areas |
| rounded) are somewhat unstable in | | | | where stone was available, for reasons |
| behaviour, Sumerian bricklayers would | | | | of speed and economy. The buildings of |
| lay a row of bricks perpendicular to the | | | | the Industrial Revolution in Britain |
| rest every few rows. They would fill the | | | | were largely constructed of brick and |
| gaps with bitumen, straw, marsh reeds, | | | | timber due to the unprecedented demand |
| and weeds. | | | | created. Again, during the building boom |
| The Ancient Egyptians and the Indus | | | | of the nineteenth century in the eastern |
| Valley Civilization also used mudbrick | | | | seaboard cities of Boston and New York, |
| extensively, as can be seen in the ruins | | | | for example, locally made bricks were |
| of Buhen, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, for | | | | often used in construction in preference |
| example. In the Indus Valley | | | | to the brownstones of New Jersey and |
| Civilization particularly, all bricks | | | | Connecticut for these reasons. |
| corresponded to sizes in a perfect ratio | | | | The trend of building upwards for |
| of 4:2:1, and made use of the decimal | | | | offices that emerged towards the end of |
| system. The ratio for brick dimensions | | | | the 19th century displaced brick in |
| 4:2:1 is even today considered optimal | | | | favor of cast and wrought iron and later |
| for effective bonding. | | | | steel and concrete. Some early |
| In Sumerian times offerings of food and | | | | 'skyscrapers' were made in masonry, and |
| drink were presented to "the brick god," | | | | demonstrated the limitations of the |
| who was "represented in the ritual by | | | | material - for example, the Monadnock |
| the first brick." More recently, mortar | | | | Building in Chicago (opened in 1896) is |
| for the foundations of the Hagia Sophia | | | | masonry and just sixteen stories high, |
| in Istanbul was mixed with "a broth of | | | | the ground walls are almost 1.8 meters |
| barley and bark of elm" and sacred | | | | thick, clearly building any higher would |
| relics, accompanied by prayers, placed | | | | lead to excessive loss of internal floor |
| between every 12 bricks. | | | | space on the lower floors. Brick was |
| The Romans made use of fired bricks, and | | | | revived for high structures in the 1950s |
| the Roman legions, which operated mobile | | | | following work by the Swiss Federal |
| kilns, introduced bricks to many parts | | | | Institute of Technology and the Building |
| of the empire. Roman bricks are often | | | | Research Establishment in Watford, UK. |
| stamped with the mark of the legion that | | | | This method produced eighteen story |
| supervised its production. The use of | | | | structures with bearing walls no thicker |
| bricks in Southern and Western Germany, | | | | than a single brick (150-225 mm). This |
| for example, can be traced back to | | | | potential has not been fully developed |
| traditions already described by the | | | | because of the ease and speed in |
| Roman architect Vitruvius. | | | | building with other materials, in the |
| In the 12th century, bricks from | | | | late-20th century brick was confined to |
| Northern Italy were re-introduced to | | | | low- or medium-rise structures or as a |
| Northern Germany, where an independent | | | | thin decorative cladding over |
| tradition evolved. It culminated in the | | | | concrete-and-steel buildings or for |
| so-called brick Gothic, a reduced style | | | | internal non-loadbearing walls. |