Brutally Brilliant in Brick and Concrete

Unlike Johannesburg architect, Thorsten Deckler, who feels that you can pretty much build anything with facebrick, many people over the decades have felt differently about utilitarian brick and concrete. In the inter-war years, the English town of Slough was used as a dumping ground for redundant war materials and quite abruptly, just before World War 11, became the home of hundreds of ugly new concrete and brick factories.

English poet and writer Sir John Betjeman was so struck by the desecration caused by industrialisation and what he perceived as the “menace of things to come” that he was prompted to write a poem called ‘Slough” in which he called for the destruction of the English town. Luckily, not everyone shares the same Brutalist sentiments!

Deckler is a fan of brick, who together with his wife Anne Graupner, runs a practice named 26’10 South Architects after the latitude of Johannesburg – this is in part a commitment to this rather fraught but exciting city. Deckler has few qualms about facebrick housing. “I guess I associate these materials with both the happy homes I spent time in as well as a period in which honesty of materials was valued,” he explains. However, he admits that the opposite can also be true: exposed brick deployed in an oppressive environment can lead to a strong aversion for the material.

Deckler has particularly been moved by Swedish Brutalist architect, Sigurd Lewerentz (1885 – 1975). According to Deckler, Lewerentz used brick in a gripping manner which is witnessed in many of his projects from the Eneborg housing project which called for construction in the local dark clay brick to two world renowned Swedish churches, St Peter’s in Klippan and St Mark’s in Bjorkhagen, Sweden. Both churches show his investment in brick as a material and his mastery of the medium. The Brutalist movement was a big fan of brick – utilitarian, stark and rugged.

Brutalist brick buildings are typically massive in character if not in size and are renowned for their functionality. Favoured for educational buildings, government projects and public housing, Brutalism can be seen as an expression of moral seriousness amongst architects after the lightness and frivolity of some 1930s and 1940 architecture. “I have some feelings for Brutalism where it was handled less dogmatically and where proportions, human scale and the integration of nature are well considered,” says Deckler recalling many of Lewerentz’s works. From churches to corporate buildings and suburban homes, around the world, facebrick has featured prominently in the last century, the choice of architects looking for honesty, practicality and integrity.

Deckler leaves us with this thought: “This all goes back to the argument that decent architecture, no matter what material and style it is, can be enabling, comforting, inspiring and memorable if it is in control of proportion and scale, and offers intimacy and generosity.” Corobrik, the brickmaking giant has been supplying the Southern African market for the past 115 years. “Our bricks are as relevant today as they were a century back, “said Musa Shangase, Corobrik Commercial Director.  “We continue to invest in our business to ensure we remain relevant and can produce bricks, that are environmentally friendly, long-lasting and never go out of fashion.”

For more information visit www.corobrik.co.za.