7 Use of Brick Material for various solutions

For an architect and designer, selecting a material is very influential in design and aesthetics. Often, architects and designers see the potential use of traditional materials to solve building design problems.

Here are seven inspirations for using brick materials in various scales and shapes of buildings.

Tropical and Tradisional Style from Belgrano Barbecue & Studio

Tropical and Traditional Style from Belgrano Barbecue & Studio, Photo by Luis Barandiarán

Located in City Bell, Argentina, a 409 square meter building with a tropical atmosphere of the surrounding environment. There is a green garden with typical tropical plants and reddish-brown traditional-modern-style buildings. Studio VA Arquitectos designed this building as an additional space to complement the existing house building. This outbuilding uses brick to retain the materials used in the main house and reinforce the character of the traditional house. The use of brick material is also found in the garden, which gives a homey feel and maintains privacy, and creates a peaceful visual experience

Mlawa House James & Mau

Mlawa House, photo by Jakub Certowicz

In this design, James & Mau needed help in the form of using local construction techniques with the use of brick and concrete materials. These sets of interior and exterior walls form a direct connection between the interior space and the garden terrace so that they can use each other through complementary uses. The garden's walls were then made to divide the long green corridors into a series of small garden terraces.

DongFengYun Hotel Mi’Le Mgallery Luoxu + CCD

DongFengYun Hotel, photo by Ting Wang

Located in Dongfeng Yun Art City, Mile, Yunnan Province, it was compiled by the famous artist Luo Xu based on the design concept of "thrift, simplicity, and authenticity" through the translation of round, stable, and simple images. In interior design, CCD does not adopt modern and industrial design expressions but takes inspiration from the local cultural context by utilizing simple language to integrate space into nature through natural materials with a muted color palette with soft lighting. The hotel consists of arched structures formed from local red brick arrangements. These brick arrangements create abstract lighting and shadows, making the visitors' imagination experience.

Brick Cave H&P Architects

Brick Cave photo by Joe Fletcher

One building retains traditional elements with design adjustments in the rapid urbanization of Hanoi city. Artificial with nature is the basis of this design, H&p Architects uses a house structure that resembles a cave as a concept. This building provides an exciting and pleasant experience because residents are close, in harmony with nature, and safe. Bricks have long been a familiar local material and are widely used in rural Vietnam with a simple manual construction method. Although the use of stone also serves as a filter between buildings with external factors, the brick arrangement also creates a diverse relationship with the environment.

Traditional Vietnamese House in Long An, Full of Red Bricks

Long An House, Photo by Hiroyuki Oki

Long An is a province in southern Vietnam located in the Mekong Delta region. Long An is also used as the name of the house designed by Tropical Space Co. This house is inspired by the shape of a traditional Vietnamese house which is generally triangular or trapezoidal, but If you pay attention, the design of Long An House is inspired by the traditional Vietnamese house structure displayed through three separate rooms and a sloping roof. Despite being attached to the traditional approach, architects still use modern and powerful architectural language to adapt to the site's conditions and the homeowner's characteristics. The uniqueness of this house can be seen from all sides of the building using red bricks, a widespread material used in traditional houses here. The conventional Vietnamese house style that stretches from front to back can create a sustainable and functional space.

Brick-Wood House, Respecting the Mango Tree

Brick-Wood House, Photo by Amit Pasricha

In the initial design process, Studio PKA experienced problems with the existence of a fairly large mango tree on the site. This obstacle became the initial concept in designing to preserve mango trees and be in harmony with the house. Although the design is carefully arranged to ensure mango trees are not disturbed, Brick Wood House speaks of simplicity with the aesthetic appeal of bricks, wood, and exposed concrete. In addition, its design responds to the environment by serving as a place called a 'home.'

Redesign Anna Garden House, KiKi ARCHi Show Simplicity That Remain Elegant In Red Brick

Anna Garden House, photo by Eiichi Kano & PRphoto

In this Anna Garden House design project, KiKi ARCHi had the initial idea to peel the walls and leave a layer of red brick. KiKi ARCHi, a Japan-based studio, says that stripping the walls means highlighting the simple shapes and geometries of Anna Garden House, which can restore the connection between the house and the garden. In addition to the exterior, the interior was changed to be simpler and straightforward but still looks elegant, like an old European-style building. KiKi ARCHi then translates the increasingly strong connection between the house and the garden to pass on a touch of red brick to the ground floor interior. Red brick walls can remain in a specific space, blending into concrete floors, columns, and upholstered furniture. In the end, the new identity of Anna Garden House was created by optimizing its shape and material.