Brick Masonry

The architectural language used by Louis Kahn is to show the direction of press and pull according to the structural condition of the building. The experience of natural force inside the masonry is the main topic of his design, meanwhile this kind of experience is based on the understanding and respect for the nature of the material. The dialogue between him and brick impresses me deeply. He took masonry its own as an independent history, and find the truth of architecture under this precondition. This spirit is the base of my research.Masonry is a kind of integrated material made of unit blocks and mortar together. The sequence from the nature of brick masonry (brick masonry of building) to the form and constructing of brick masonry (building of brick masonry) is explored. The form of a building can not be detached from the nature of the material. So the pattern and structure's origin and way of constructing brick masonry into different architectural elements are analyzed under the understanding the nature such as the material, geometry and physical character of brick masonry.Brick is a brittle material. Universal unit brick is cuboid. Its character is having three pares of faces formed by three different sizes: length, width and height. So the masonry made of bricks is both 3d substance and 2d surface. The duality of brick masonry is very important. The brick masonry structure is set up by the principle that force can be delivered from one brick to another and so on. Form this point, it's also obvious that the ability of bearing pull and bending force is much less than that of carrying press.Bricks are used in buildings by layering. The combination of bricks and artistic treatment form the detail of a building which is the secondary texture. This secondary texture is the special fascination of brick masonry. There are also many methods of making the layering seams. According to the relation with the surface, three kinds of seams are divided: concave seam, flat seam and even no seam on the surface.From the nature of brick masonry which is made up of many small pieces glued together, its size is very limited and the ability of bearing pull, bending and shearing force is quite little. So it is almost not possible to be made into a horizontal structural component. But as a vertical or a curved surface element, it comes into being by using the effect that the bricks pressing each other enough. The means of spanning for brick structure are approximate horizontally crossing short distance openings, cantilevering, arch, vault and dome, etc.The starting point of the research is the material, to dig out the possibilities of using pure material: brick masonry. People in some areas insist on using only brick masonry to the best of its potential. Architecture created by this spirit has its own special spatial effect. Analyzing the origin of the forms and understanding the nature of one material is the base of finding its potential in the future. Only after this we can combine different kinds of material better. Quite often people neglect to think on the words used so much in daily life and only take and use them as granted. This research is for the common knowledge, for tracing back to the origin of things.