As a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, do you ever wonder about the limits of brick architecture whenever you avail yourself of related services like masonry repair? Brick is such a popular building material in the city, and there’s bound to be a house or two in every neighborhood built with it. It’s the same with many regions all across the entire world. After all, brick is a strong and long-lasting material, and everyone desires the sturdiness and longevity it introduces to a building.
With that in mind, if you’re planning on starting a new brick work project and building a brick house, or changing your current house plan and level up the look of your masonry structure, then these famous brick buildings can show you the extent of customization and variety you can put to use:
NorthRhine Westphalia State Archive
Administration and archives building of the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia in Duisburg, Germany by Jroepstorff under CC BY-SA 3.0 License
It may be 2019, but buildings, such as this state archive, still stand tall and proud up to this day. The state archive is a reflection of old brick masonry construction styles, having been built back in the 1930s. So the original part of the building looks as traditional as any early 1900s building, with flat exterior walls of bricks and steep gable roofs. The exposed bricks and blocks outside the building are a mixture of the traditional burnt clay bricks as well as other darker materials.
But it has been recently renovated to add a snake-like extension that stretches to the north-west direction to accommodate more rooms, offices, and storage facilities. Nevertheless, the main brick building still manages to keep its integrity and quality through the decades thanks to its masonry walls and the materials’ high compressive strength.
And if you’re interested in incorporating the classical 1930s look to your home plans in Tulsa in the future, then this is a great building to take inspiration from. You may want to work with a trusted team of masonry contractors near you to make sure it turns out the way you want.
Hameau de la Reine
Hamlet of the Queen, Versailles, Department of Yvelines, Region of Île-de-France, France by Zairon under CC BY-SA 4.0 License
Another Hameau de la Reine, also known as The Queen’s Hamlet, was built around 1783-1786 for Marie Antoinette as a rural retreat. The entire estate was built to be a functioning farm and was comprised of many smaller cottages aside from the main one for the queen. The designs and floor plans of these structures integrated a mixture of different architectural styles — specifically, Norman, Flemish, and French. And all these buildings are heavily comprised of brick and stone exteriors.
As you can see, each cottage gives off the vibe of a humble countryside home. And in today’s modernity, such stone and brick exterior designs ideas are definitely a breeze of fresh air. And so are the overall look of the cottages themselves, especially if you’re going to build a house out of it in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.
Christi Auferstehung Church
gottfried böhm, kirche christi auferstehung, 1963-1970 by seier+seier under Commercial use & mods license
Going forward in time, you'll see a more modern masonry work that's been designed to incorporate both rigidity and flexibility. Basically, it's the midpoint of the then and the now. Built between 1968 -1970, the Christi Auferstehung Church is a magnificent yet low-key structure with exterior red brick walls that give you the impression of an impenetrable fortress.
Unlike the State Archive, however, the said brick structure has incorporated other shapes into its design. Some outer sections are visibly curved from the outside, while some are shaped like cylindrical trapezoids, octagons, U's, and even circles. You wouldn’t see too many houses designed similar to this in Tulsa. So if you want yours to look uniquely eye-catching, then you could take an idea or two from this building.
MARTa Herford
Marta in town of Herford, District of Herford, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. 6 Days before the opening. by Wittekind under CC BY 2.0 License
Irregularly-shaped modern brick buildings also exist all over the world. A perfect example of that is the MORTa Herford Museum. It has seemingly exposed brick walls, and was built to have a combination of slanting lines, smooth curves, bending shapes, and irregular cylinders. You won't see a lot of ninety-degree angles on this building, despite the perpendicular shape of a single brick.
So you can just imagine the sophistication of the brick paneling done on this project. It's a great building to base a project of your own from, isn't it? Who would think that it’s possible to have a brick home design such as this? Well, if you work with the right brick contractors to do the job, then everyone will be amazed once you manage to have one built.
CKK Jordanki
Visualization of the concert hall of the Jordanki Cultural and Congress Center by MenisArchquitectos under CC BY-SA 4.0 License Culture and Congress Center
If having the most modern brick architecture design were a ground for competition, then the CKK Jordanki Congress and Cultural Center would probably be the clear-cut winner. That’s because this building has the most irregular shapes out of the structures listed here for both its interiors and exteriors. The architect, Fernando Menis, even had crushed brick and concrete mixed together to form cave-like shapes and textures inside the hall for the best amplification and distribution of acoustics during performances.
What, crushed bricks? Isn’t that cheating, and won’t it just be similar to using gravel or sand? Well, for architecture, one’s output can only ever be limited by their creativity. For one, there are tons of types of bricks used in construction (common bricks, engineering bricks, fly ash clay bricks, and sand lime bricks to name a few). And each has a unique feature to offer to a construction project, so you can’t ever compare crushed bricks to sand, or concrete, or gravel.
Now, it’s up to your masonry service provider to determine what’s best for your project. And if you’re working on some residential masonry in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then Brick 1 Masonry is the perfect company of brick contractors to call. With our years of experience in the field, we can build you whatever brick structure you desire; we can even work to incorporate the designs from these famous buildings to make your property one of the best in your area. Feel free to visit our Services page for more information on what we can offer, or contact us to start any discussions for your next plans and projects.
Achieve perfect brick modernity for your brick homes with Brick 1 Masonry.
