Energy, Water, and Waste in the Built Environment

2371 Words5 Pages

CPD 710
ENERGY, WATER & WASTE IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT:
Brickworks waste in the built environment, its possible re-use & recycling methods in the South African context.

“Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.” – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
BACKGROUND:
The Regionalist structural design found in the Pretoria region is characterized by the use of clay brickwork for load bearing walls. Fisher Le Roux & Mare (1998: 124-140) discusses the reasons why clay bricks are so predominant in the residential architecture of Pretoria, which he refers to as the Third Vernacular of South Africa. The first and second being the Cape Dutch & Veranda styles. This practice of brickwork was influenced by several factors. Firstly the material had been widely obtainable in the region, for example when Kirkness established brickworks on the southern side of Muckleneuk Hill (Fisher et al 1998: 129). The “un pretentiousness” of clay brickwork also appealed to the predominantly Protestant Afrikaner, at that time, population of Pretoria. The financial viability of the use of clay brickwork also appealed to the Afrikaner population of the region. Moreover the character of the Pretoria populous and the regional architecture that established had a “strong... affinity for the natural, whether in landscape or the more subtle rootedness to the soil...” (Fisher et al 1998: 138) and the use of clay in bricks encompassed this connection with the milieu. As well as the aesthetic and colour of clay bricks allowed a connection with the natural environment. The climatic situation of the region also had guidance in choice of appropriate material and clay bricks were used as thermal mass. Bricks allow for insulation mate...

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