Bricks!

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about a common building material. Bricks. You see them. You register that they exist. You may have a loose one or two, and you have definitely seen one shattered. But, have you ever thought about what exactly they are? What they're made out of? What they've been used for? What patterns can you make with them? And what will become of them in the future?

Bricks. They're rectangular. And we've used them since 4000bc, in Mesopotamia. They weren't that hard of an invention to make. We used them back when they were just blocks of clay hardened by the sun. And we've kept using them, as we can shape them, transport them, and use them to make many things, unlike rocks, where we just have to hope for the best that they're the right shape and size for what we're doing, and they're close by. Not many people were willing to move giant rocks for long distances, if you discount Stonehenge.

But, that was back when we just sucked water out of clay to make shaped rocks. The recipe has changed over the years, and now they're made out of... clay. Despite how the times have changed, the recipe is still the same. We just bake them differently, not leaving them out to dry. I mean, there are concrete bricks as well. But, despite the fact they're made out of concrete, they still are a worse choice of material then clay. Weird.

We've used bricks for buildings. That's a great thing they're used for. Their main purpose is that. And they do a great job. Houses benefit from a fire proof building material. Speaking of that, they can also make ovens. And they do great at that too. Honestly, bricks are a great fallback material to have on hand. Just ask the third little pig.

They can also be very decorative. Nice colors, nice patterns. And, because they're clay, and not some fragile rock, they can be melded before being baked to become corners, or ovals, or really just any shape. They're very flexible, which is one of the reasons we have had them around for so long, and use them to this day. And they're beautiful. For a common building material, they're only bland if you try to make them that way. But since they can be blank, that's useful even then.

But, as time goes on, and more and more technology gets created and thrown out there at a sickeningly fast paces, what's to become of this tried-and-true technology? Well, there's many options. Besides the chance that we just stick to this, we've been making environmentally friendly variants, making hollow blocks, and many other things that could one day replace bricks. But don't hold your breath.

That's Adventure Van...

wondering why they just did a blog about bricks.