Wienerberger sponsor 'Eggness of Brick' lecture

Architects, designers and students from around the UK were encouraged to take a fresh look at bricks by former RIBA president Maxwell Hutchinson at a recent lecture sponsored by Wienerberger.

Referring to brick as the 'UK vernacular', Maxwell urged young architects to throw off their preconceptions and approach this staple of the built environment as a new, innovative and sustainable material whose application is limited 'only by your imagination'.

Using the humble egg as a basis for comparison, Hutchinson explored the number of ways in which this basic foodstuff can be creatively and attractively presented - from boiled, fried, scrambled and poached, to coddled, curried and pickled.

His basic premise was that contemporary bricks offer a broader palette of colour, texture, shapes and sizes than has ever before been the case.

In addition, its historic lineage, natural core material and sustainable credentials should make bricks and brickwork a natural choice for innovative, environmentally friendly and architecturally sympathetic design.

This was the third lecture to be hosted by Wienerberger, which is the world's largest clay brick manufacturer.

Hutchinson's lecture was further supported by visual examples of exciting brickwork applications overseas, particularly in Holland, Belgium and Germany.

"Too often brick is seen as a material to be venerated but not creatively challenged," Hutchinson warned.

"Bricks should be liberated so that they can be acknowledged as a truly modern and creative option for architects".

"Mies van der Rohe talked of the 'discipline' imposed by the choice of brick as a material for the built form and I would urge tomorrow's architects to embrace this discipline and apply their imagination to one of the best-loved and characteristic components of the built environment".

Maxwell Hutchinson was the RIBA's youngest president when elected in 1989 and has subsequently become a well-known broadcaster and author, while continuing in private practice.

One of the young architects present at the lecture spoke of the frustration experienced by the profession in getting clients to look at the lifetime value of a building rather than short-term cost-cutting.

"People occasionally challenge the sustainability of bricks because of the embedded energy issue," said Wienerberger Sales and Marketing Director Mark Morris.

"In actual fact, the longevity of the humble brick - not to mention the raw material from which it is made - makes it more cost-effective, energy-efficient and sustainable than almost any other material".

"Our European counterparts are already doing amazing things with bricks which are literally redefining their towns and cities".

"We believe that the UK could do much more and that architects should be the creative drivers for a change in both application and perception".

A video of the Maxwell Hutchinson lecture, together with earlier lectures by both Dr James Campbell and George Ferguson, can be found on the Wienerberger website.

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