Editing Brick (section)

== History ==

=== Middle East and South Asia ===
[[File:SL Anuradhapura asv2020-01 img24 Jetavanaramaya Stupa.jpg|thumb|upright|left|220px|The ancient [[Jetavanaramaya]] [[stupa]] of [[Anuradhapura]] in [[Sri Lanka]] is one of the largest brick structures in the world.]]
The earliest bricks were dried [[mudbrick]]s, meaning that they were formed from clay-bearing earth or mud and dried (usually in the sun) until they were strong enough for use. The oldest discovered bricks, originally made from shaped mud and dating before 7500 BC, were found at [[Tell Aswad]], in the upper [[Tigris]] region and in southeast [[Anatolia]] close to [[Diyarbakir]].<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://wikis.ifporient.org/archeologie/index.php/Tell_Aswad IFP Orient – Tell Aswad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726171607/http://wikis.ifporient.org/archeologie/index.php/Tell_Aswad |date=26 July 2011 }}. Wikis.ifporient.org. Retrieved 16 November 2012.</ref>

Mudbrick construction was used at [[Çatalhöyük]], from c. 7,400 BC.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1405/|access-date=30 January 2022|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}</ref>

Mudbrick structures, dating to c. 7,200 BC have been located in [[Jericho]], Jordan Valley.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mud-brick Village Survived 7,200 Years in the Jordan Valley|language=en|work=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-mud-brick-village-survived-7-200-years-in-the-jordan-valley-1.8498916|access-date=30 January 2022}}</ref> These structures were made up of the first bricks with dimension 400x150x100 mm.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |language=en |doi=10.1088/1757-899x/603/3/032097|title=History and Evolution of Full Bricks of Other European Countries |year=2019 |last1=Fiala |first1=Jan |last2=Mikolas |first2=Milan |last3=Fiala Junior |first3=Jan |last4=Krejsova |first4=Katerina |journal=IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |volume=603 |issue=3 |page=032097 |bibcode=2019MS&E..603c2097F |s2cid=203996304 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Between 5000 and 4500 BC, Mesopotamia had discovered fired brick.<ref name=":1" /> The standard brick sizes in Mesopotamia followed a general rule: the width of the dried or burned brick would be twice its thickness, and its length would be double its width.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hasson Hnaihen |first=Kadim |date=2019-12-18 |title=The Appearance of Bricks in Ancient Mesopotamia |journal=Athens Journal of History |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=73–96 |doi=10.30958/ajhis.6-1-4 |s2cid=214024042 |issn=2407-9677|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The [[South Asia]]n inhabitants of [[Mehrgarh]] also constructed air-dried mudbrick structures between 7000 and 3300 BC<ref name="Possehl">Possehl, Gregory L. (1996)</ref> and later the ancient [[Indus Valley]] cities of [[Mohenjo-daro]], [[Harappa]],<ref name="BriOnl">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/79195/brick/76609/History-of-brickmaking History of brickmaking], ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref> and [[Mehrgarh]].<ref>{{Citation|year=2005|title=Uncovering the keys to the Lost Indus Cities|journal=Scientific American|volume=15|pages=24–33|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0105-24sp|last1=Kenoyer|first1=Jonathan Mark|issue=1|pmid=12840948}}</ref> Ceramic, or ''fired brick'' was used as early as 3000 BC in early Indus Valley cities like [[Kalibangan]].<ref name="Ancient Bricks Anlysis">{{citation|arxiv = 1303.1426|last1 = Khan|first1 = Aurangzeb|title = Bricks and urbanism in the Indus Valley rise and decline|last2 = Lemmen|first2 = Carsten|year = 2013|bibcode = 2013arXiv1303.1426K|url=https://www.academia.edu/1285495}}</ref>

In the middle of the third millennium BC, there was a rise in monumental baked brick architecture in Indus cities. Examples included the [[Great Bath|Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro]], the fire altars of [[Kalibangan|Kaalibangan]], and the granary of [[Harappa]]. There was a uniformity to the brick sizes throughout the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley]] region, conforming to the 1:2:4, thickness, width, and length ratio. As the Indus civilization began its decline at the start of the second millennium BC, Harappans migrated east, spreading their knowledge of brickmaking technology. This led to the rise of cities like [[Pataliputra]], [[Kosambi|Kausambi]], and [[Ujjain]], where there was an enormous demand for kiln-made bricks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gupta |first=Sunil |date=May–June 1998 |title=History of Brick in India |pages=74–78 |work=ARCHITECTURE+DESIGN |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/52450268/History_of_Brick.pdf |access-date=December 4, 2022 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

By 604 BC, bricks were the construction materials for architectural wonders such as the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]], where glazed fired bricks were put into practice.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Shebli2.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The brickwork of [[Shebeli Tower]] in [[Iran]] displays 12th-century craftsmanship]]

=== China ===
The earliest fired bricks appeared in Neolithic China around 4400 BC at [[Chengtoushan]], a walled settlement of the [[Daxi culture]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n00CnC84MIcC|title=Water Civilization: From Yangtze to Khmer Civilizations|author=Yoshinori Yasuda|pages=30–31|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2012|isbn=9784431541103}}</ref> These bricks were made of red clay, fired on all sides to above 600&nbsp;°C, and used as flooring for houses. By the [[Qujialing culture|Qujialing period]] (3300 BC), fired bricks were being used to pave roads and as building foundations at Chengtoushan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n00CnC84MIcC|title=Water Civilization: From Yangtze to Khmer Civilizations|author=Yoshinori Yasuda|pages=33–35|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2012|isbn=9784431541103}}</ref>

According to Lukas Nickel, the use of ceramic pieces for protecting and decorating floors and walls dates back at various cultural sites to 3000-2000 BC and perhaps even before, but these elements should be rather qualified as [[tile]]s. For the longest time builders relied on wood, mud and rammed earth, while fired brick and mudbrick played no structural role in architecture. Proper brick construction, for erecting walls and [[vault (architecture)|vaults]], finally emerges in the third century BC, when baked bricks of regular shape began to be employed for vaulting underground tombs. Hollow brick tomb chambers rose in popularity as builders were forced to adapt due to a lack of readily available wood or stone.<ref name=":2">Lukas Nickel: Bricks in Ancient China and the Question of Early Cross-Asian Interaction, ''Arts Asiatiques'', Vol. 70 (2015), pp. 49-62 (50f.)</ref> The oldest extant brick building above ground is possibly [[Songyue Pagoda]], dated to 523 AD.

By the end of the third century BC in China, both hollow and small bricks were available for use in building walls and ceilings. Fired bricks were first mass-produced during the construction of the tomb of China's first Emperor, [[Qin Shi Huang]]di. The floors of the three pits of the [[Terracotta Army]] were paved with an estimated 230,000 bricks, with the majority measuring 28x14x7 cm, following a 4:2:1 ratio. The use of fired bricks in Chinese city walls first appeared in the [[Han dynasty|Eastern Han dynasty]] (25 AD-220 AD).<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=6430406 | year=2019 | last1=Xue | first1=Q. | last2=Jin | first2=X. | last3=Cheng | first3=Y. | last4=Yang | first4=X. | last5=Jia | first5=X. | last6=Zhou | first6=Y. | title=The historical process of the masonry city walls construction in China during 1st to 17th centuries AD | journal=PLOS ONE | volume=14 | issue=3 | pages=e0214119 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0214119 | pmid=30901369 | bibcode=2019PLoSO..1414119X | doi-access=free }}</ref> Up until the Middle Ages, buildings in Central Asia were typically built with unbaked bricks. It was only starting in the ninth century CE when buildings were entirely constructed using fired bricks.<ref name=":2" />

The carpenter's manual ''[[Yingzao Fashi]]'', published in 1103 at the time of the [[Song dynasty]] described the brick making process and [[Ceramic glaze|glazing]] techniques then in use. Using the 17th-century encyclopaedic text ''[[Song Yingxing|Tiangong Kaiwu]]'', historian [[Timothy Brook (historian)|Timothy Brook]] outlined the brick production process of [[Ming dynasty]] China: {{blockquote|...the kilnmaster had to make sure that the temperature inside the kiln stayed at a level that caused the clay to shimmer with the colour of molten gold or silver. He also had to know when to quench the kiln with water so as to produce the surface glaze. To anonymous labourers fell the less skilled stages of brick production: mixing clay and water, driving oxen over the mixture to trample it into a thick paste, scooping the paste into standardised wooden frames (to produce a brick roughly 42&nbsp;cm long, 20&nbsp;cm wide, and 10&nbsp;cm thick), smoothing the surfaces with a wire-strung bow, removing them from the frames, printing the fronts and backs with stamps that indicated where the bricks came from and who made them, loading the kilns with fuel (likelier wood than coal), stacking the bricks in the kiln, removing them to cool while the kilns were still hot, and bundling them into pallets for transportation. It was hot, filthy work.}}

=== Europe ===
{{Main|Roman brick}}
[[File:Woman&cat.jpg|thumb|right|Brick relief sculpture by [[Walter Ritchie]]]]
[[File:Trier - Aula Palatina.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] Basilica [[Aula Palatina]] in [[Trier]], Germany, built with fired bricks in the fourth century as an audience hall for [[Constantine I]]]]

Early civilisations around the [[Mediterranean]], including the [[Ancient Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], adopted the use of fired bricks. By the early first century CE, standardised fired bricks were being heavily produced in Rome.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Östborn |first1=Per |last2=Gerding |first2=Henrik |date=1 March 2015 |title=The Diffusion of Fired Bricks in Hellenistic Europe: A Similarity Network Analysis |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-014-9229-4 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory |language=en |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=306–344 |doi=10.1007/s10816-014-9229-4 |s2cid=254606236 |issn=1573-7764}}</ref> The [[Roman legion]]s operated mobile [[kiln]]s,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Materials science in construction : an introduction|last=Ash|first=Ahmed|others=Sturges, John.|isbn=9781135138417|location=Abingdon, Oxon|oclc=896794727|date = 20 November 2014}}</ref> and built large brick structures throughout the [[Roman Empire]], stamping the bricks with the seal of the legion.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Roman Brick Stamps: Auxiliary and Legionary Bricks|url=http://www.romancoins.info/Legionary-Bricks.html|access-date=30 January 2022|website=}}</ref> The Romans used brick for walls, arches, forts, aqueducts, etc. Notable mentions of Roman brick structures are the Herculaneum gate of Pompeii and the [[baths of Caracalla]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=2fm.pl |last2=BrickArchitecture.com |title=The History of Bricks and Brickmaking |url=https://brickarchitecture.com/about-brick/why-brick/the-history-of-bricks-brickmaking |access-date=5 December 2024 |website= |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Early Middle Ages]] the use of bricks in construction became popular in [[Northern Europe]], after being introduced there from Northwestern Italy. An independent style of brick architecture, known as [[brick Gothic]] (similar to [[Gothic architecture]]) flourished in places that lacked indigenous sources of rocks. Examples of this architectural style can be found in modern-day Denmark, Germany, Poland, and [[Kaliningrad]] (former [[East Prussia]]).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Welle |first=Deutsche|title=Discover Brick Gothic architecture on the European route|url=https://www.dw.com/en/discover-brick-gothic-architecture-on-the-european-route/a-5637476|access-date=30 January 2022|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[File:Castillo de Malbork, Polonia, 2013-05-19, DD 04.jpg|thumb|[[Malbork Castle]] of the [[Teutonic Order]] in Poland – the largest brick castle in the world]]
This style evolved into the [[List of Brick Renaissance buildings|Brick Renaissance]] as the stylistic changes associated with the [[Italian Renaissance]] spread to northern Europe, leading to the adoption of [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] elements into brick building. Identifiable attributes included a low-pitched hipped or flat roof, symmetrical facade, round arch entrances and windows, columns and pilasters, and more.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Italian Renaissance Revival Style 1890 - 1930 {{!}} PHMC > Pennsylvania Architectural Field Guide |url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/architecture/styles/italian-renaissance.html |access-date=4 December 2022 |website=}}</ref>

A clear distinction between the two styles only developed at the transition to [[Baroque architecture]]. In [[Lübeck]], for example, Brick Renaissance is clearly recognisable in buildings equipped with terracotta reliefs by the artist Statius von Düren, who was also active at [[Schwerin]] ([[Schwerin Castle]]) and [[Wismar]] (Fürstenhof).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schloss Schwerin {{!}} Welterbe Schwerin |url=https://www.welterbe-schwerin.de/residenzensemble/schloss-schwerin |access-date=16 June 2024 |website= |language=de}}</ref>

Long-distance [[bulk transport]] of bricks and other construction equipment remained prohibitively expensive until the development of modern transportation infrastructure, with the construction of [[canal]], [[road]]s, and [[railway]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=General information on the history of the brick {{!}} Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry |url=https://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/general-information-on-the-history-of-the-brick/ |access-date=16 June 2024 |website=}}</ref>

=== Industrial era ===
[[File:MNAR (Mérida) Interior 01.jpg|thumb|upright|In the [[National Museum of Roman Art]] in [[Mérida, Spain]] (designed by [[Rafael Moneo]] and built in the 1980s) the coating of hard-fired clay bricks forms a compression-resistant element together with the fill of non-reinforced concrete.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.sze.hu/~eptansz/Deplazes_Constructing_Architecture.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.sze.hu/~eptansz/Deplazes_Constructing_Architecture.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|page=55|year=2005|chapter=Prefabrication|first=Barbara|last=Wiskemann|publisher=Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture|location=Basel, Boston & Berlin|title=Constructing Architecture: Materials, Processes, Structures|isbn=978-3-7643-7313-9|editor-first=Andrea|editor-last=Deplazes}}</ref>]]
Production of bricks increased massively with the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the rise in factory building in England. For reasons of speed and economy, bricks were increasingly preferred as building material to stone, even in areas where the stone was readily available. It was at this time in [[London]] that bright red brick was chosen for construction to make the buildings more visible in the heavy fog and to help prevent traffic accidents.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZQl3C5BAHsC|title=London the Biography|author=Peter Ackroyd|page=435|publisher=Random House|year=2001|isbn=978-0-09-942258-7}}</ref>

The transition from the traditional method of production known as hand-moulding to a mechanised form of mass-production slowly took place during the first half of the nineteenth century. The first brick-making machine was [[patent]]ed by Richard A. Ver Valen of Haverstraw, New York, in 1852.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US9082|title=US Patent 9082|access-date=26 September 2014}}</ref> The [[Bradley & Craven Ltd]] 'Stiff-Plastic Brickmaking Machine' was patented in 1853. Bradley & Craven went on to be a dominant manufacturer of brickmaking machinery.<ref>''The First Hundred Years: the Early History of Bradley & Craven, Limited, Wakefield, England'' by Bradley & Craven Ltd (1963)</ref> Henry Clayton, employed at the Atlas Works in [[Middlesex]], England, in 1855, patented a brick-making machine that was capable of producing up to 25,000 bricks daily with minimal supervision.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US13123|title=Henry Clayton|access-date=17 December 2012}}</ref> His mechanical apparatus soon achieved widespread attention after it was adopted for use by the [[South Eastern Railway, UK|South Eastern Railway Company]] for brick-making at their factory near [[Folkestone]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S54AAAAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA361|title=The Mechanics Magazine and Journal of Engineering, Agricultural Machinery, Manufactures and Shipbuilding|year=1859|page=361}}</ref> 

At the end of the 19th century, the Hudson River region of [[New York State]] would become the world's largest brick manufacturing region, with 130 brickyards lining the shores of the Hudson River from Mechanicsville to Haverstraw and employing 8,000 people. At its peak, about 1 billion bricks were produced a year, with many being sent to New York City for use in its construction industry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/culture/article/Brick-collectors-Hudson-Valley-17271119.php|title=Brick collectors of the Hudson Valley|work=www.timesunion.com|first=Michelle|last=Falkenstein|date=June 28, 2022|access-date=June 28, 2022}}</ref>

The demand for high office building construction at the turn of the 20th century led to a much greater use of [[cast iron|cast]] and [[wrought iron]], and later, steel and [[concrete]]. The use of brick for [[skyscraper]] construction severely limited the size of the building – the [[Monadnock Building]], built in 1896 in Chicago, required exceptionally thick walls to maintain the structural integrity of its 17 storeys.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Monadnock Building: The Last Brick Skyscraper|url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/09/monadnock-building-last-brick-skyscraper.html|access-date=28 January 2022|website=|language=en}}</ref>

Following pioneering work in the 1950s at the [[ETH Zurich|Swiss Federal Institute of Technology]] and the [[Building Research Establishment]] in [[Watford]], UK, the use of improved masonry for the construction of tall structures up to 18 storeys high was made viable. However, the use of brick has largely remained restricted to small to medium-sized buildings, as steel and concrete remain superior materials for high-rise construction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dehoopsteenwerwe.co.za/information03.html|title=The History of Bricks|publisher=De Hoop:Steenwerve Brickfields}}</ref>