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Collection by Diana Budds

Material Focus: Brick

The materials most closely associated with modernism are steel and concrete but the building block of the ages is—and will likely remain—brick. Used as early as 7500 BC, the material now crops up in modern homes, like in the handful we've gathered in the following slideshow. (If you need further convincing, Louis Kahn loved brick, too.)

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Wolf also enlarged the 16-by-30-foot space's single window.
Wolf also enlarged the 16-by-30-foot space's single window.
Subverting the traditional, conservatively cozy British barn conversion, Carl Turner created a getaway in rural Norfolk for himself and his friends to visit, repose, and consider the beauty of agrarian minimalism. Turner reclaimed most of the timber used for the flooring as he renovated buildings in London. He thought his stockpile was big enough for the Ochre Barn, but the scale of the place defeated him. The solution, surprisingly, was eBay, turning up an old mill’s worth of boards.
Subverting the traditional, conservatively cozy British barn conversion, Carl Turner created a getaway in rural Norfolk for himself and his friends to visit, repose, and consider the beauty of agrarian minimalism. Turner reclaimed most of the timber used for the flooring as he renovated buildings in London. He thought his stockpile was big enough for the Ochre Barn, but the scale of the place defeated him. The solution, surprisingly, was eBay, turning up an old mill’s worth of boards.
The facade of a house in Belgium consists of "knitted bricks." “In this part of Belgium, 90 percent of the houses are built with brick,” says architect Tom Verschueren. “It’s a classic material that we tried to use in House BVA in a totally different way.”
The facade of a house in Belgium consists of "knitted bricks." “In this part of Belgium, 90 percent of the houses are built with brick,” says architect Tom Verschueren. “It’s a classic material that we tried to use in House BVA in a totally different way.”
The exposed original brick is one of the few reminders of the apartment’s old bones.
The exposed original brick is one of the few reminders of the apartment’s old bones.