5000 Years Later Here’s Why This Material Is Still as Relevant as Ever

For centuries, brick has been the cornerstone of Indian architecture—literally and metaphorically. From the baked bricks of the Indus Valley to Mughal-era detailing and modern institutions like Le Corbusier’s Sanskar Kendra museum at Ahmedabad and the Government Museum and Art Gallery at Chandigarh, brick has shaped our built landscape with resilience. Its appeal lies in its strength, versatility, and how deeply it is tied to India’s geography, craft traditions, and climatic sensibilities. Easy to make, thermally efficient, and sourced locally, brick was once the obvious choice. Today, it’s a deliberate one! 

In an era of fast construction and fleeting trends, brick continues to offer something elemental, an honesty of material, a connection to place, and a certain timelessness that resists obsolescence. For us at Team 3, brick is a way to design structures that feel grounded, embedded in context, and open to reinterpretation. Whether through form, façade, or texture, its use becomes both an architectural response and an emotional one. 

Material with Memory

There’s something inherently familiar about brick. For decades, it has defined India’s most respected institutions, from Louis Kahn’s IIM Ahmedabad to BV Doshi’s CEPT University, symbolizing permanence, structure, and climatic relevance. At the JIM Boys Hostel in Noida, the use of exposed brick ties the building to other buildings on the campus and evokes a subtle sense of belonging, proving that even in contemporary settings, brick remains a material of meaning, memory, and relevance.

Versatility of the Brick 

Few materials hold the kind of tactile memory and visual warmth that brick does. Its ability to be both structural and expressive allows it to ground a space while adapting to different uses across time.

At the JIM Boys Hostel, brick plays this adaptable role, appearing across the structure, façade, and finishes. The exposed fly-ash brick in the exterior and interior echoes the language of the older campus buildings, ensuring visual continuity while lowering maintenance and reducing environmental impact. Inside, its presence is softer. This layered use of brick allows the building to feel cohesive and expressive and reinforces performance goals from better thermal comfort to reduced lifecycle maintenance.

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Brick as a Sustainable Choice

Beyond its beauty, brick is inherently sustainable. Locally sourced and low-maintenance, it offers thermal mass, breathability, and durability. In India’s varied climate, brick naturally supports passive design strategies, helping buildings stay cool in summer and insulated in winter. Its longevity means less need for repair or replacement, making it a practical, long-term choice. 

Modernity and Brick: Breaking the Cliché

While brick often carries connotations of the traditional, its potential in contemporary design is vast. Today, architects can pair it with concrete, steel, and glass to create rich, hybrid material palettes. Brick is no longer confined to the vernacular; rather, it’s being abstracted, sculpted, and even branded. Used strategically, it brings rhythm to façades, identity to buildings, and depth to minimalist forms. 

At the D-14 Residence in Rohtak, tradition meets modernity through exposed bricks sourced just 50 km away. Brick jaalis animate the façade, balancing privacy and light, while minimalist details, like slender steel railings and Kota stone floors, lend a subtle refinement. With its wide verandahs and landscaped edges, the home feels both grounded and contemporary—a modern take on Indian living, expressed through the timeless language of brick.

Even after 5000 years, brick remains one of India’s most produced and relied-upon building materials, accounting for over 10% of the country’s construction industry. Advances in manufacturing, such as mechanised kilns and eco-friendly brick types like fly ash, are expanding their usability while reducing environmental impact.

For us at Team 3, working with brick is a way to craft buildings that respond to their physical, social, and cultural contexts. Its ability to work structurally and aesthetically, while offering long-term performance, makes it a reliable material in both institutional and residential projects.