Brick is having a moment, and not just in straight lines. A freeyork roundup highlights eight projects around the world that use flowing brick forms, textured patterns, and sculptural details to make architecture feel more human and more tactile.
In Longyou County, China, HCCH Studio designed the Twisted Brick Shell Library as a pavilion made of two interconnected hemispheres. It sits on semicircular brick bases and includes a twisting section of perforated steel and concrete that creates a shell-like form for reading and taking in farmland views.
In Maharashtra, India, Kaushal Tatiya Architects shaped a residence called The Anthill, using curving brick balconies to shade the interiors. Textured, perforated brick bands add ventilation and create strong light-and-shadow effects. In Seoul, the W-Mission Headquarters features a cloth-inspired red-brick wall by Behet Bondzio Lin Architekten and BCHO Architects, with a rippling facade wrapping seven floors of offices and three stories of public space, including a cafe and exhibition area.
London shows up twice. In Kensington Gardens, Lanza Atelier’s A Serpentine references traditional crinkle-crankle walls with a brick structure built without mortar and stabilized with steel plates. Corstorphine & Wright’s The Scoop uses white bricks and a gouged facade to add a modern extension alongside a Grade II-listed church.
Other standouts include One Plus Partnership’s Haikou Gaoxingli Insun Cinema lobby in China, where sweeping red-brick features become sculptural furniture and hide utilities, and Sthapotik’s Shah Muhammad Mohshin Khan Mausoleum in Bangladesh, defined by cylindrical skylights and brick turrets. In Ghent, Belgium, BLAF Architecten used reclaimed bricks to form curving walls for the GjG House while preserving existing trees.
For mason contractors, the takeaway is clear: custom brickwork is not a niche detail anymore. These projects reward crews that plan for complex geometry, coordinate early when brick interfaces with steel or concrete, and treat reclaimed brick selection as a front-end scope item, not a last-minute swap.
Read the full, original article from freeyork here.