The “contemporary bonds” (a catch-all term for patterns of brick that defy categorization) in use here often project brick beyond the wall’s face, skip individual brick units altogether to form brick screens, or simply avoid any real pattern at all. Others weave together combinations of brick sizes, colors, and orientations that appear random at first, but upon closer inspection reveal an intricate, repeating pattern.

Because brick masonry is a combination of many small units installed with mortar in-between, brick offers an incredible degree of design flexibility for architects. Each individual unit can be placed in any of several orientations, and multiple units can be organized together into patterns of a particular orientation. This produces the bond pattern.

It’s our goal here at the Heartland Region of the Brick Industry Association (BIA), and at the national Brick Industry Association, to support architects as they create beautiful, durable, inspiring structures. To that end, we offer lots of technical resources, including our popular Technical Notes and online courses through AEC Daily, at no charge. We like free.

We know you like free, too, so in the absence of in-person conferences and seminars in our COVID-19 impacted world, BIA is bringing you a series of live webinars to help you stay up to date with your continuing education.

Designing houses of worship, such as synagogues, mosques, and churches, comes with serious challenges for architects. There are multiple values in play simultaneously that would seem at odds with each other. It’s just a building…the real worth is in the worship that takes place there among the people who gather. The building should serve as a tool to inspire people toward authentic worship and remind them of something larger than themselves. The building should be modest so as to reserve funds for higher causes. The building should be set apart and stand the test of time, serving as a symbol and landmark for the community. Wow. That’s a lot for any designer to balance. A house of worship is at once sacred and earthly. Where does one begin?

The brick arch is a classic feature of traditional brick masonry structures. It is as functional and durable as it is beautiful. A brick masonry arch found in the ruins of Ur in Mesopotamia dates back to 1400 B.C.! But there’s no reason why arches need to be limited to traditional styles, just because they’ve been around forever. Today’s talented architects can incorporate this aesthetically pleasing, useful feature into many building styles.

So, how much do you really know about the concepts and techniques that make a brick arch work? Let’s find out with a little quiz.

College and university campuses represent a concentration of thoughtful, innovative designs that would not otherwise exist in the often smallish communities that are their homes. College towns are indeed lucky to have the work of so many creative architects and designers on display for the public.

So, let’s celebrate college and university architecture with some images of excellent brick structures on campus!