Brick


 * BRICK **

Brick is a material used for construction, a block made of ceramic. Usually bricks are rectangular and with red-orange color, but the size, and sometimes the shape changes to adapt to different needs, for example some bricks have a round shape on one side to fit columns or end a corner. Bricks for building may be made from clay, shale, soft slate, calcium silicate, concrete, or shaped from quarried stone.  Bricks are used for building, block paving and pavement, in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar.

It is important to know that it is heavy and weak in tension.

The advantages are that it is strong in compression and cheap. Bricklaying is to make something like a wall or a ledge with bricks.

 A basic technique is to stagger the bricks, and the other is to join them with mortar otherwise the wall won´t stand for long. There are a lot of types of brick such as rain kilns, dry pressed brick, mud bricks, calcium silicate bricks, among others.



=Post-Reading=


 * Brick upon Brick

It refers to two things that always together, or can not be separated
 * Brick & Mortar

It refers to a situation that can´t be solved because it is an obstacle that can not be passed
 * Be / come up against a brick wall

It refers to a situation that happens quikly and surprise someone
 * Come down on somebody like a ton of bricks

It can refers to a person indiscret
 * Drop a Brick


 * INTERVIEW:** Brick in Piazza del Campo

As we can see, from the numerous and beautiful places and architecture in Italy, brick is a largely used material. Why is that? Italian was the home of the Renaissance of Europe, clearly this generated a change on the arts and architecture was not the exception. The materials used evolved from crafted stone to bricks, and we can observe this in many cities where the Renaissance occurred. An example of this is Piazza del Campo in Siena.

What are the features of Piazza del Campo?

In piazza Del Campo in Siena, Italy, we can observe a classical medieval architecture from Italian origin. It uses red bricks like in other Italian squares, Piazza Della signoria in Florence and piazza San Marco in Venice, and it has the recursive structure organized around the Palazzo Pubblico, Palace of the government, with a high Campanile or bell tower, a large space for people to walk and that guide them to other important structures like the church or the fountain.

The floor of the plaza has different forms, sizes and colors of bricks, was this made with a specific function or is just design and decoration?

Well, the floor is structured with several paths and walkways that share a same size and converge to the same point, guiding to the government palace. The bricks’ colors contrast and make a differentiation on these paths throughout the square and the places where they ultimately lead to on the other side of the palace. This is accomplished thanks to the shape of the square that imitates a sea shell.

So the different paths are made of different shapes of bricks, we can see that the buildings around the plaza also have different brick patterns, is this made for the same purpose? And if the answer is yes, are they somehow related to the ones on the floor?

Since brick–making was a monopoly of the commune of Siena, they tried to have standards when building structures. All the buildings around the plaza have unified rooflines and they all seem alike. However they housed the families that ruled the city, and they all wanted to be distinctive. In order to contrast each other, they differentiated with the bricks they made and let people know which family the building belonged to. Now, clearly the paths that lead to these houses made clear to where they were leading to and all of this thanks to the use of bricks.

You say the buildings were made following standards, does this have anything to do with the use of the bricks?

The same height of all the buildings helped to build an integrated and very structured view of the square, all of them built radiating around the central government palace that was highlighted with a tall bell tower. This creates a harmonious design that serves as a focal point from where the city develops, and where the beauty of the city can be appreciated. Bricks, of course, were the top quality for building the central and surrounding palaces.

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