Clinker Brick

Clinker bricks are bricks used in the construction of buildings. There were originally discarded because they were discolored or distorted. In early brick firing kilns, those wet bricks too close to the fire changed into the volcanic textures and darker/purplish colors of clinker bricks. Modern brickmaking techniques produce a more consistent, if boring, product. Around 1900, these bricks were discovered by architects to be usable, distinctive and charming in architectual detailing, adding the earthy quality favored by Arts & Crafts style designers. Clinker bricks were made famous by the Pasadena, California, architecture firm Greene & Greene who used them (often in combination with native rocks) in walls, foundations, and chimneys. The name "clinker brick" is said to come from the sound that they would make when banged together, being heavier than regular bricks, however this term is also used for the hardened residue of coal fires, that can have a similar texture.

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