Brick and Clinker. From Ostracism to Rediscovery

The article outlines the state of the art in the use of brick in contemporary architecture. It deals with its capacity to reflect a less consumer-oriented identity of building and with the ostracism against architects such as Höger, who rejected the approach of the most radical masters of Modernism and privileged the use of the load-bearing brick wall. The text introduces some representative works: the Central library in Groningen, by Giorgio Grassi; the Spandauer-See bridge in Berlin, by Walter Noebel; a residential complex in Pontedera, by Massimo Carmassi; a school complex in Ostfildern, by Arno Lederer; a civic-art gallery in Marktoberdorf, by Bearth & Deplazes and the Gymnasium at the Lévi-Strauss Grammar school in Berlin-Köpenick, by Christoph Mäckler.