Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Brick 10:



Brick 10:
The bricks have the Strecher bond with flushed joints. The filling of mortar is quite regular and neat. Even though the colours of each bricks change gradually, they are mostly dark brown when you look from far away. There is a row of paler bricks next to the windows for decoration. They have the soldier courses and immersed a bit on the wall but it is not really noticeable. Moreover, there is a dark brown line on top of these soldier courses that I think it is not mortar and they are pretty visible. Probably this building is quite new since the bricks are quite smooth and clean. The bricks here could be partly structural since there are lots of concrete for supporting the building as well.

Brick 9:




Brick 9:
The bricks of this building are in colonial bond with the ironed joints. The colours are mostly dark brown but the bricks on the arches on the wall stick out for supporting and the colours are darker for decoration possibly. Some bricks have a round corner on the arches. The white coloured mortar is quite visible when you stand near the building. The surface is pretty smooth. There is a semi-circular arch which has the same colour as the arches on the wall on top of the windows which are under those big arches on the wall and that is quite interesting. The bricks could be structural since this building is mainly constructed by bricks and not so tall. Moreover, there are some columns that stick out a bit on the wall for supporting.

Brick 8:




Brick 8:
This is another side of the Powerhouse Museum and the bricks here a different from the previous one. Here the bricks have the Strecher bond with raked joints. There are some soldier courses on top of the wall. It has the same dark brown coloured bricks as the previous one but it also has two rows of bricks in reddish brown for decorating the wall. Again I think the bricks here are quite old and even dirtier. Moreover, the filling of mortar is not so well here since some of the white mortar is very visible while some are not. The surface is pretty smooth. The bricks here should be structural since it is just a short wall surrounding the museum.

Brick 7:




Brick 7:
This is the Powerhouse Museum. Some of the bricks are in English bond with the flushed joints. The bricks here are mainly dark brown in colour. The surface is pretty smooth. The filling of mortar is quite regular but quite dirty. And some of the bricks are a little bit broken. Probably most of the bricks here are quite old and it is quite interesting that some of the bricks would have a red spot or line. I don’t think this is a kind of decoration and actually the whole building does not have so much decoration. Some bricks on the columns sticking out a little bit and some reddish brown bricks could be a kind of decoration on the wall possibly. The bricks could be non-structural since bricks are not the main construction medium and it also has concrete and steel for construction.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Brick 6:




Brick 6:
This building has lots of decorations actually and since the colours of bricks are quite similar all around the building and the mortar cannot be seen clearly, it makes the decorations not so obvious. This building has the Strecher bond with flushed joint. Some rows of bricks stick out for decoration. The brick is pretty smooth and the various colours of bricks could make some patterns on the wall. Especially the dark bricks and the pale brown bricks placing randomly could make a nice pattern on the wall. The dark colours of bricks are quite similar to the roof and actually there is a row of soldier course on top of the windows. The bricks might not be structural since this building is quite tall and maybe the walls are not load barring.

Brick 5:




Brick 5:
Most of the bricks of this building have the Strecher bond with raked joints but the bricks on the columns at the corners have the colonial bond. The bricks are all in deep brown and this colour is quite similar to the roof colour. It makes the building looks quite old. The thickness of mortar is not regular since some of the mortars are really visible while some are not. There is the rough relieving arch at the windows and some arches for both decorating the columns at the corners of the building and supporting the whole building. The bricks here could be for structural use since the whole building is mainly constructed by bricks and the columns in front of the entrance could be for extra support.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Brick 4:



Brick 4:
The bricks of the building have the Flemish bond with dark colours and have the flushed joints as well. The colours of bricks are quite interesting that some bricks have a paler colour in the middle. The surface texture is pretty smooth. The bricks are in good conditions and the mortar is very clean and the white colour stands out clearly. The bricks might not be structural and is for decoration only because the columns on the ground should be for supporting and they might be made of concrete or sandstone. Moreover, the church is quite tall so the bricks could not be for supporting the whole church. However, the bricks on the wall cannot really decorate the church because most of the decorations are still done by the sandstone near the windows and doors.