The artform or craftsmanship of making bricks goes back centuries, even as far back as BC when they made bricks out of need and not out of stature or standing in the community, as that would come later, much later.

Made out of clay and straw, and then laid out in the sun to dry and harden these Hand Crafted Bricks was a heavy task until one bright spark designed and created a mold and that could not only shape but also press it into harder and more compressed blocks.

These sundried hardened bricks was transported over long distances as the wetter parts of the countries of these bricks’ origins were not hot enough for the bricks to dry in the sun.

Not until another bright spark came up with the idea to use an oven also made out of clay and then bake the bricks in there.

This made it easier to make the bricks anywhere, anytime no matter the weather.

With this increase in places and time to make bricks (as they could now work through the night as they did not need the sun anymore) so did the need as well as what as known as the status symbol.

The bigger the house and fancier the design, the more money was spent, hence the more status you had to have, because of affordability.

This could have, unofficially, led to the class system as people living in wood structures were look down upon by those living in brick homes and those living in bigger and fancier brick homes looked down upon both the smaller cheaper brick homes and the wooden structures.

Well, that’s my summation at least!

With the increase in modernization in the industry, the Hand Crafted Bricks fell by the wayside and machinery took over in every aspect of brick and block making.

With this modernization of the building industry came the modernization of the industrial sectors which led to the industrial revolution.

Bricks made by hand today is an art form only practiced by artisans specifically using it as an art form or expression of art in certain projects or in the very poor and rural areas where they still use this practice out of need and not out of stature as in going back to the beginning of brick-making (and this article).

So now we can see how making bricks from hand molding clay and straw and laid in the sun to dry turned out to be one of the most important steps in industrialization!