Painted psychedelic Rolls-Royce ArtCar by Artist and Brickman BB Bango. See more at ClayClay

Excellent article about Bespoke bricks - 'Feats of clay' in Home section of the Sunday Times 1st November 2015. Bricks are suddenly getting interesting! Read article at bottom of Brick Directory home page www.brickdirectory.co.uk

Mini Bricks

Miniature clay brick kits are produced in the Isle of Wight by ClayClay. Up to the 1950s one of the popular childrens pastimes was, like Meccano and model train sets, the making of buildings using little bricks, mortar and and a bit of patience. Although there are a few Spanish made kits coming into the market thay are largely seen as expensive and using the powdered mortar is not easy. These mini clay bricks are a serious alternative to Lego except you have to make your own mortar but then they come apart like Lego too (dump the building project in water and the mortar dissolves)

A lot about bricks in politics at the moment. Boris Johnson, London Mayor, in his speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham held up a 3 holed extruded brick to illustrate his point about manufacturing and building of houses in London. He was also seen handmaking a brick at the Ibstock factory as shown on 'Have I got News for you' 10th October 2014 This show also featured the Brick society monthly magazine as its featured magazine in the missing Words bit of the show. More about bricks at www.brickdirectory.co.uk

Sent to Nathan Sawaya, Brick Artist who is behind the ongoing Art of the Brick Exhibition running at The old Truman Brewery, 15 Hanbury St, London E1 6QR to 4th January 2015. We make Mini clay bricks and thought you be interested in giving them a try alongside the Lego bricks? We, at ClayClay, are one of only three manufacturers in the world of Mini Clay bricks. The clay is from North Yorkshire, UK, the bricks are made in the Isle of Wight. They are joined by your own mortar mix - flour, sand and water and come apart if you put the whole artwork in cold water. Sizes are 32*16*10.5mm and 48*24*16mm. If you would like samples pleae contact us or see more at www.clayclay.co.uk or www,minibrick.co.uk . I look forward to hearing from you.

Video Bricks

Videos relating to bricks at ClayClay including mini bricks. For films made on the Isle of Wight or independent music made on the Isle of Wight, click on links

Green Bricks

US brick manufacturer, Boral, has released a white paper entitled "Building With Brick: Sustainable and Energy Efficient: A White Paper on Performance Benefits of One of Man's Oldest Building Materials." The paper cites a 4000-year old arch in the Middle East made of brick that still stands today. "All too often, newly invented materials are not only disproportionately expensive, but also lack a time-tested track record that can provide reassurance about their expected performance,” the paper read. Brick’s durability - it's not compromised by decay- contributes to its overall long life with little maintenance. “In fact, because of its durability, the US National Institute for Standards and Technology has rated brick masonry as having a 100-year lifespan,” the report read. By all environmental impact standards, brick is one of the best choices for sustainable eco-friendly construction. Why? 'The efficiency of the manufacturing process, use of alternative energy sources, recycled content, minimized waste and efficiency of transportation because clay and shale used to make brick can be found almost everywhere in the world and they are easily removed from the ground without the damaging effects that accompany the mining of more elusive resources,' the report stated.
One of the notable qualities of brick is that very little waste is produced in the manufacturing and building process because the materials are inherently recyclable “A kilo of clay material yields almost a kilo of brick," states the report. "Any materials that are left over after one run of bricks has been fired can simply be re-mixed into the next run.” Additionally, leftover brick material on the construction site can be recycled in a number of ways, be it crushed for landscaping, reused for other projects or added to concrete aggregate.