Brick

=A brick is a block made of ceramic that has been hardened through being fired in a kiln or dried in the sun. It's a very common construction material. Just like stones, bricks are a long-lasting material as well, and they have been used for building, block paving and pavement for thousands of years. There are four types of bricks: Mud bricks, Dry pressed bricks, Extruded bricks and Salcium Silicate bricks, and all of these are made with different methods of preparing the ceramic that provide them particular properties that determine their uses. When we talk about brick laying techniques, we refer to the process of using bricks and mortar to build up structures such as walls, chimneys, etc. These techniques depend of the bond, which refers to how the individual mansory units interlock or tie together into a single structural unit and the pattern formed by these mansory units and mortar joint on the face of the wall. For example: =


 * 1) =__The Common or American Bond:__ It has one row of headers to five of stretchers. The number of stretcher courses may vary from that in practice. =
 * 2) =__The English Bond:__ It has two alternating courses of stretchers and headers, which are centereed on the stretchers and each alternative row vertically aligned. =

=Some of the advantages of brick are that it's very cheap, the processing is quite simple in many cases and, as the stone, it's a long-lasting material. But among its disadvantages, we find that starting the twentieth century the use of brick declined in many areas because of earthquakes. It's not a very resistant material and a lot of buildings made of bricks have collapsed during earthquakes and, also, during some other extreme weather conditions since they cause degradation of mansory wall surfaces due to frost damage. =

=__ **INTERVIEW: ** __= = = = **Valentina: Hey Karla! How was your summer? ** =

= **Karla: Valentina! It's so good to see you. I went to the soccer camp I told you about and had a great time with the girls, how about yours? Did you finally go to Italy? ** =

= **Valentina: Yes I did! I stayed at my cousin's house in Tuscany and, believe me, Italy has a lot more to offer than just pizzas and ice cream... ** =

= **Karla: No kidding! What do you mean? Too many cute guys?! ** =

= **Valentina: Yes, but not just that... Siena was incredible, guess what impressed me the most! ** =

= **Karla: I'm not sure, you tell me. ** =

= **Valentina: Well... Do you remember that famous public space we studied in class? It's located in the center of Siena... ** =

= **Karla: I can't believe it, you went to Piazza del Campo?! ** =

= **Valentina: That's right! It's such a lovely place, I went there in my first night in Italy and had a late night snack with live music! But I didn't realized how beautiful place it is until the next morning... ** =

= **Karla: Really? What did you do the next morning? ** =

= **Valentina: Well, I went back to have breakfast and there were a lot of people hanging around and sitting around the fontaine, have you seen the pictures I uploaded in facebook? ** =

= **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Karla: No, I haven't! Actually, I don't quite remember the look of that public place, could you give me a clue? ** =

= **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Valentina: I'll give you a clue that will help you to picture the whole thing: imagine a shell-shaped public square with a paving made of red bricks. This paving is divided into nine sections delimited by white stones. I met an italian boy who lived in that zone and he told me the paving process started in 1327 and ended twenty years later! Isn't that amazing? Those bricks have been there all this time and the place still looks great! Brick must be a long-lasting material... ** =

= **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Karla: That's unbelievable. I'm watching the photographs you posted on facebook right now from my blackberry. The square's design is unique! ** =

= **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Valentina: Yes, it is. Well Karla, I'm going to class, let's have lunch this weekend and I'll tell you more about my trip! ** =

= **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Karla: I'd love that! See you then Val! ** = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">**For listening, click the next link:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">media type="file" key="Piazza del Campo.wma"