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