Will we always use Bricks to build?

Discussion in 'Architecture & Engineering' started by alexb123, Sep 19, 2006.

  1. alexb123 The Amish web page is fast! Valued Senior Member

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    I have been watching a building being constructed and its very clever just like lego being put together, very modern method.

    However, it got me thinking about Bricks and how they do not seem to have changed over the years. It seems building methods have moved on but the humble brick has remained the same.

    Will the brick ever be replaced? Why has the brick stood the test of time? Surely laying bricks is so labour intensive that another solution would be the builders holy grail?
     
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  3. heavymetal Banned Banned

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    How about concrete !!!!

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    In many many poor countries the people use mud or even straw to build a house !!!

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  5. VitalOne Banned Banned

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    probably in the future, you know a few thousand years, a new type of material much better than the others will be created
     
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  7. Nickelodeon Banned Banned

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    Well the new appartments that I see going up around my area seem to have paper thin walls! I think they are using cardboard(!)
     
  8. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    Bricks are cheap, durable, look a lot better than concrete, the construction is easily scalable to any size or shape you wish. Bricks have been used in building for about five thousand years or so.
    I see no reason for them being changed for something else.

    Tell that to the ancient egyptians, sumerians, indians, and others
    It's not that bad if the worker, you know, works.
     
  9. Absane Rocket Surgeon Valued Senior Member

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    Glass house

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    Maybe a plastic house.

    Or an aluminum/steel house.
     
  10. Kat9Lives Registered Senior Member

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    two of the three little pigs tried alternative methods and look how it worked out for them....stick to bricks i say..
     
  11. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    Have you heard of heat insulation?

    Why reinvent the wheel/brick?
     
  12. lixluke Refined Reinvention Valued Senior Member

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    LMAO
     
  13. geodesic "The truth shall make ye fret" Registered Senior Member

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    Bricks are easy to make, easy to carry, pack efficiently, are cheap, reusable...
    Also, altering the structure of a brick house is significantly easier than with almost any other material. Coming up with a superior material for bricks is possible, but likely not cheap.
    The brick is here for the long term.
     
  14. lixluke Refined Reinvention Valued Senior Member

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  15. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    We certainly don't use them in California! Bricks and cement blocks ("cinder blocks") have to be steel-reinforced with rebar in order to conform to building codes in earthquake country. That is not entirely impractical with cement blocks but it makes bricks far too costly to use except for decorative facades. Brick chimneys are common in homes with fireplaces (which are not all that common in a place with no forests, where you can pay $400 a cord for firewood) but they're always either falling down or cracking in earthquakes so they're slowly all being reinforced. Stucco, an ancient type of exterior plaster, is ubiquitous in southern California and other Southwestern locations where the weather is mild.
     
  16. valich Registered Senior Member

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    Go get'm Fraggle. I think alexb123 has a slight case of miosis thinking of bricks as only being used in his territory and historic time and place. Bricks are far from being the world standard in construction and have only been used relatively recently in the history of homo sapiens on Earth. Look at all the mud-houses, stucco, stone-layed walls, adobe structures, squatter huts, log cabbins, thistle-roofed woven houses, wood-planked, aluminum pre-fab homes and modular units - heck, bricks are on their way out as a relic of ancient history with what modern technology is now developing.
     
  17. kebabomatic Banned Banned

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    My grandmother tell me story about how she liberated germany when she was in soviet army driving truck. Was american truck. Well built. Not like modern american trucks. and then she always spits on floor.

    she tell me that soviet army had many guns. artillery guns. Many many. And they shoot germany into pieces. And then soviet army liberated berlin. And berlin was into pieces. Bricks all over place. No houses.

    She tell me germans were funny people. germans not resisting the moral better army of soviet union. They surrender finally and then start collecting bricks. very organized. germans are a bit crazy she says. they make organized lines and collect bricks. clear streets for noble soviet army. and then start building new houses with old bricks.

    bricks good.
     
  18. alexb123 The Amish web page is fast! Valued Senior Member

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    There have been more replys than I thought there would be. It does seem that the brick is indeed a flexible material, strong and long lasting. It will last more than a human life time which will do please most people. I can see why the brick is still around.

    However, wouldn't it make sense to learn from lego and have bricks that fit together rather than having to lay them with cerment? Maybe the next step isn't to change the brick but to change how they are bonded together?
     
  19. Nickelodeon Banned Banned

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    Whats wrong with the current method? And whats to stop Lego style bricks flying of in a wind?

    Even in Legoland they glue their bricks together (unless its just to stop people wandering off with bits of the attraction...).
     
  20. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    They do .....if it's a strong enough wind! ...LOL!

    Baron Max
     
  21. Nickelodeon Banned Banned

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    Well then, lets just use glue.

     
  22. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    They do use "glue" ....only it's called mortar! And if you think it's not good enough to hold the bricks together or in place, try to batter down a big brick wall sometime. And if you try it, bring a damned big sledgehammer!

    Baron Max
     
  23. geodesic "The truth shall make ye fret" Registered Senior Member

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    However, there are significant problems with bricks and mortar - damp being the major one in the UK, where earthquakes are less of a problem. Nickelodeon, have you got a link for that quote? It'd be interesting to see if the waterproof glue is as effective as traditional damp proofing methods.
    Also, bricks aren't wonderful insulators, and in general make a poor internal surface, requiring plastering.
     

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