design
mag |
65
Jacq. de Brouwer on brickwork
As a student, De Brouwer was strongly
influenced by what he saw in Tilburg: the
brickwork, the chimneys and those beautiful
mind-trigging aspects of design that look so
“intensely simple”, to use his phrase.
Brick has been his preferred facade material
from his first project as an architect in Bedaux
de Brouwer.“When you have to start with bricks
and you know their modular benefits, you ask
yourself how can I enhance the quality?
This together with the kind of financial freedom
you can get when you start with an affordable
material, allows you to add, for example,
spectacular joints like those in this urban
pavilion.”
Jacq. de Brouwer is optimistic about the future
of brickwork in the Netherlands, seeing bricks as
“the kind of module from which you can make
and solve almost every problem. So in a
functional way it is a Volvo,” he says colourfully.
He sees bricks and brickwork as durable and
sustainable but also believes they play “an
intriguing part that belongs to our architectural
mindset,” namely the ability of these little
modules to add to the quality of the design by
such simple measures as using a different
mortar joint finish.“The fact that you can also
get bricks in many colours and with constantly
improving performance ensures brickwork will
have a good future”.
The black glazed
bricks are a slim
50mm high and laid
with omitted perpend
joints and have
deeply raked bed
joints, increasing the
effect of the brick
coursing and
intensifying the
cylindrical shape.
A spiral staircase and
an elevator connect
the two apartments
to the ground floor
car park.
