BRICK

BRICK pre-reading

 A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history. Usually bricks are rectangular and with red-orange color, but the size, and sometimes the shape changes to adapt to different needs.

 Bricks are made from clay, shale, soft slate, calcium silicate, concrete, or shaped from quarried stone. However, true bricks are ceramic, and therefore created by the action of heat and cooling. Clay is the most common material, with modern clay bricks formed in one of three processes - soft mud, dry press, or extruded.

The dry press method is similar to mud brick but starts with a much thicker clay mix, so it forms more accurate, sharper-edged bricks. In the other hand, for extruded bricks the clay is mixed with 10-15% or 20-25% water. This is forced through a die to create a long cable of material of the proper width and depth. This is then cut into bricks of the desired length by a wall of wires. Most structural bricks are made by this method, as it produces hard, dense bricks, and suitable dies can produce holes or other perforations.

Bricks have been used in construction for centuries. Until recently, almost all houses were built almost entirely from bricks. Although many houses in the UK are now built using a mixture of concrete blocks and other materials, many houses are skinned with a layer of bricks on the outside for aesthetic appeal.

Bricks are used for building, block paving and pavement. In the metallurgy and glass industries are often used for lining furnaces, in particular refractory bricks such assilica, magnesia, chamotte and neutral refractory bricks. This type of brick must have goodthermal shock resistance, refractoriness under load, high melting point, and satisfactory porosity.

 The process by which bricks used to build walls, ledges and other structures is the brick laying techniques. The advantages are that it is strong in compression and cheap. However, the disadvantages are that it is heavy and weak in tension.

post-reading

Find out the meaning of the expressions below, and write your explanation on your wiki. Illustrations will be appreciated!

• Brick upon brick: it means do something step by step.

• Brick & mortar: they are two things that can’t be separate; you need a mortar to make a brick.

• Be /come up against a brick wall: you arrive to a death end.

• Come down on somebody like a ton of bricks: it refers to a surprise situation.

• Drop a brick: it is like to be indiscreet.



<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">INTERVIEW: Brick in Piazza del Campo

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">**As we can see, from the numerous and beautiful places and architecture in Italy, brick is a largely used material. Why is that?** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Italy 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.

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.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What are the features of Piazza del Campo? **

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.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The floor of the square has different forms, sizes and colors of bricks, was this made with a specific function or is just design and decoration? **

Since brick–making was a monopoly of the commune of Siena, they tried to have standards when building structures. All the buildings around the square 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 differetiated 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.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So the different paths are made of different shapes of bricks, we can see that the buildings around the square 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? **

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.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">You say the buildings were made following standards, does this have anything to do with the use of the bricks? **

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