NZ Visual Diary - entry 416

extruded arch forms - residential brick wall

On a recent stroll through the lovely suburb of Mount Eden, I spotted some unusual brick work on a residential brick wall. In my 20s during which I taught high school social studies and had the annual summer school holiday to pursue other sorts of remunerative labour, I worked several summers as the apprentice (or tender) to a third-generation Welsh stone mason. That work cultivated in me a keen eye for masterful and creative stone and brick work.

I thought the brick work featured in today’s photograph fit that category of artful masonry.

The wall itself is lovely but commonplace brickwork, employing a typical running bond pattern such that the vertical cement joints from one course (or row) of brick to the next do not form uninterrupted vertical lines. Rather, the vertical joints are offset by using half-bricks (called “closers”) at the ends of alternating courses. The pattern has both aesthetic and integrity implications for the wall’s appearance and strength.

The exceptional bit of masonry is expressed by the repeating pattern of arch forms at the top portion of wall. Each arch is composed of a series of extruded voussoir (or brick segments) that together create the arch form. Each voussoir transfers compressive forces to its neighbours, creating the self-supporting curve of the arch form.

I don’t recall having previously seen this particular architectural embellishment within a common brick wall at the perimeter of a single-family residence.

I was charmed by it.