Bricks Decoded: Typography with Bricks.

On our journey of Bricks Decoded we’ve done a deep-dive into the vast and almost endless capability of bricks. We’ve witnessed them in remarkable residential settings, knockout retail interiors and high-rise construction, as well as in the complex creation of curves and patterns or expressed in art and sculpture. Today we are adding to this impressive repertoire by turning our attention to typography with bricks.

Our experience with typography is usually on a small scale. What you’re reading now for example is perhaps only a few millimetres. But across our built environment, type can stand tall and can reach monumental heights. So what’s the fascination with larger-than-life type? Well, it simply provokes a sense of joy and discovery. Usually unexpected, uncovering lettering within architecture momentarily slows us down and invites us to engage with buildings differently. Once words are assigned, new meanings emerge and all of a sudden, we are more aware.

Words have hopped off the page and onto buildings. And while the combination of typography and architecture is not new, there are clever ways in which the modular brick has been manipulated to create signage, super graphics, sculpture or branding. Through extrusions and skilful patterning, brick facades transition from a building skin to intelligible words.

Advances in technology and building methodologies have played a vital role in the realisation of typography in bricks. Parametric design, digital fabrication and augmented bricklaying are just some of the technologies that have propelled this phenomenon to new frontiers.

But can we really call it typography? Strictly speaking probably not, but we’ve collated projects where type and brick come together as the perfect vessel to enhance and generate enthralling architecture. Set aside any apprehensions you may have in combining words and architecture and be prepared to be astounded. That’s what we’re here for, right?

The writing’s on the wall and it’s written in brick! Let’s delve a little deeper, shall we?

Related:

Bricks Decoded: Knockout Brick Houses.

Bricks Decoded: Curved Brick Buildings.

Bricks Decoded: The Return Of Glass Blocks.

Photography by Christopher Frederick Jones.

Render by Liquid Blu Architects.

Gympie Aquatic Recreation Centre in Queensland Liquid Blu Architects.

Liquid Blu used brick as a means of welcoming people to this large community facilities. The aquatic centre, or the ARC as it’s colloquially known, are intended to enhance the experience of the user whilst offering the local community a fun, innovative and sustainable destination.

The main entry is articulated by a sweeping radial form with a highly detailed and layered brick façade. This memorable façade is created through the ingenious patterning of dry pressed Bowral Bricks in Chillingham White. The bricks are laid in Flemish bond with headers and stretchers laid alternately in every course.

A circular motif made from extruded headers is imprinted across the masonry wall. This is then overlaid by the super graphic displaying ARC, which emerges with its own elaborate set of rules. Two types of cant bricks are used at specific angles to create a sculpted taper onto the brick faces. On a particularly sunny day, elaborate shadows are cast across the smooth masonry surface.

The pattern and letters highlighted simultaneously in the brick façade appears simple from afar but unfolds as an incredible, intricate puzzle up close. Just magical!

Photography by Nic Granleese.

Hello House in Melbourne by OOF! Architecture.

When faced with an exposed corner site, most homes are designed to turn inward limiting interaction with the street. However, this extension to a former Victorian-era storefront by OOF! Architecture rejects this premise with a bold and friendly HELLO emblazoned across the masonry wall. This cheerful greeting is spelled out in Bowral Charolais Cream dry-pressed clay bricks that are over three metres tall and as wide as the entire extension. The bricks are laid in a Flemish bond pattern with projecting headers to frame the lettering.

“The Hello wall, designed in collaboration with artist Rose Nolan, is big but it’s not dumb,” explain the architects. “The wall protects the house interiors while offering to start a conversation with passers-by and its toothy brickwork contributes a new chapter to the brick.”

There is so much to love about this home. The daring use of HELLO stitched into the brick ignites a convivial spirit that we could all use a bit more of right now. It is refreshing that “rather than blending in or blanding out, Hello House is a slightly loud but friendly new face in the street.” This is without a doubt the friendliest house on the block!

Photography by Derek Li Wan Po.

Photography by Derek Li Wan Po.

Photography by Derek Li Wan Po.

Photography by Walter Mair.

Photography by Derek Li Wan Po.

Photography by Walter Mair.

Kunstmuseum Basel by Christ & Gantenbein, in collaboration with design group iart.

In the expansion of the Kuntsmuseum in Basel, Christ & Gantenbein, together with iart, have developed a façade that is utterly mind-bending and a work of art in itself. The Swiss architects have brought back the notion of the classical frieze using technology and hidden pixels to display words and moving images in a 3-meter high brick band.

The LED-light frieze is constructed by the same brick as the rest of the museum’s façade, but the bottom of each brick has been cut and LEDs have been mounted into the flat profile of each of these grooves. The true mastery is the fact that the LED-strips are not directly visible from the street, yet they illuminate the exposed surface of the bricks from their sunken position in the grooves of the brickwork.

According to the architects, “the intensity of the light ranges from brilliant to glimmering to barely perceptible. This effect is controlled by sensors placed on the roof of the building to measure the luminance of the surroundings, thus adapting to the time of day and weather.”

This unconventional media façade is part of a self-supporting brick wall whose colour lightens from the ground up. The bricks protrude and recess “lending a playful character” to the otherwise austere building.

The frieze is a clever and sophisticated inbuilt signage system for the museum and as exhibitions and programs change, it can be programmed to display different messages and images. This is perhaps the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while!

Photography by Xia Zhi.

Central Canteen of Tsinghua University in Beijing  by SUP Atelier + School of Architecture Tsinghua University.

The Central Canteen of Tsinghua University in Beijing is a multi-functional building that serves as the canteen for students and professors as well as food storage for all the campus canteens.

Encased in brick, the masonry external walls were chosen for their artistic significance as well as their functional purpose. Embracing a range of patterning and brick types, many walls are designed as pieces of artwork, to emphasize the different spaces. Along with the various faces of the building, bricks form words and numbers such as 1911 in extruded bricks, the building acronym TCCH in solid, monolithic bricks and GHUA in overhung and concave bricks. These examples of largescale typography assist with wayfinding and promote the identity of the university.

Bricks are used in various imaginative ways throughout this enormous building: “in a conventional way, in a zigzag way, brick indented, brick overhung and brick sun-shading system”, explains SUP Atelier. “They bring various textures for exterior walls and meet different functional demands. Since the brick walls are designed like artwork, the traditional craftsmanship prevails.”

Photography by Nouman Malik.

Mobile Retail Space in Rajkot, India by I-Con Architects and Urban Planners.

Mobile Retail Space spans over two levels and houses the mobile retail store, Dev Mobile. The warm, earthy red brick embraces you and welcomes you into the space which has been conceptualised to depict the importance of connectivity while also preserving the essence of tradition.

The outer brick jali or latticed screen acts like the permeable skin of the building enticing people to enter the unconventional retail atmosphere. The bricks are assembled in a woven pattern onto 19-millimetre diameter steel rods and steel bars that project beyond the bricks hold the antenna that captures mobile frequencies. A cut-out in the latticed façade adjacent allows a peek into the courtyard and building form beyond.

Lighter coloured header bricks that are also woven onto the rods, protrude through the red brick lattice pattern spelling out DEV MOBILE. This simple typography in brick is perhaps the only indication of the building’s use in an otherwise ambiguous and intriguing space.

Photography by Parham Taghioff.

Aperture in Tehran by Admun Design and Construction Studio.

Masonry construction in Iran is really something else. We’ve covered Iran’s remarkable contemporary architecture boom before and we could easily delve into their extraordinary use of bricks that goes above and beyond typical masonry construction. Aperture by Admun Design and Construction is a perfect example of this showcasing insane creativity and innovation with brick.

Located in an industrial setting east of Tehran, Steel Form Factory is a multipurpose building that comprises of two offices, two residential units, a showroom and several locker rooms. Brick was chosen because of its availability as a local material, its response to environmental needs and of course, its innumerable aesthetic qualities.

“Using brick in this project provides the opportunity to create various textures, using merely a single material,” explain the architects. “It can also play the role of interior finishing, leading to an integrated exterior and interior architecture. Moreover, brick adds a warm taste in contrast with the industrial cold atmosphere. Consequently, the architecture works as a landmark adding a colourful contrast to the neighbourhood fabric.”

The external brick façade is constructed in a flush Flemish bond pattern with some protruding header bricks that form a tactile skin. The brand STEEL FORM is spelled out in large letters above the building’s entrance and is made from steel-cased glazed brick modules. These tiny openings are dotted across the façade and are covered with steel frames built from the factory’s waste and capped by glass sheets. Window apertures emanate from the text, getting larger as they move away from the signage. At night, these glazed bricks and openings illuminate the intricate brick pattern, glowing like a lantern. Completely captivating!

This Yellowtrace Promotion is proudly created in partnership with Brickworks. All related thoughts and ideas reflect our genuine opinion. Like everything we do at Yellowtrace, our sponsored content is carefully curated to maintain utmost relevance to our readers.

[Photography credits as noted.]