About this Event
About the Lecture
The humble brick; in its simple modular form the brick easily fits to the human hand, can be carried easily, highly portable its simple form belies its earthliness, quarried from subterranean strata such as clay, chalk, and silt, what lies beneath our feet. It has been mobilised in the 21st century by ideas of growth, building and capital. To counter this there is a rise of regenerative materials for greener methods of building, how does the brick shape up in light of a concern for more sustainable products, those that lean less heavily on our planet.
At a material scale The Eco-Brick Project explore bio-receptive materials, with the designing, making and testing of clay bricks. A testing station at the University of Westminster Marylebone Campus will read the environmental conditions to track environmental changes around the growing structure. At the social level the project’s engagement with the Suffolk based heritage brick company Bulmer Brick and Tile will explore regenerative material skills and rural resilience through knowledge exchange, resulting in a collective session for ideas and skill exchange open to professionals, students and regional planning officers to critically engage with responsible material culture and resilience around rural networks.
The Eco Brick Project addresses ecologies at the material scale to lead on bio-receptive materials, and social ecology extending regenerative material skills and rural resilience through knowledge exchange working in tandem with the Suffolk based company Bulmer Brick and Tile (BBT). In addition we have carried out workshops at the University as part of the London Architecture Festival which explored making from bio regenerative materials. New Build Systems + The Common Brick was a response to the unique craftsmanship of Bulmer Brick and Tile Company as well as reflecting and responding to the age old making process set up by the 400 yr old Suffolk based brick company, BBT, just outside the Sudbury, home of Thomas Gainsborough, the leading 18th century portrait painter. The site is a great example of a circular economy with the blue clay providing the raw material coming from the site, due to it being on the old Thames river line.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
St Marylebone Parish Church, 17 Marylebone Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 5.00 to GBP 8.00
