Brick Ceilings Create New Architectural Possibilities

Cuisine, culture, sightseeing, and engaging with the locals are all reasons people like to travel. The common factor that draws us to explore new places, however, is simply the chance to experience cities and landscapes unlike our own familiar surroundings. For example, when Chinese tourists can again visit Copenhagen, they may admire the waterside capital’s winding bike paths, lush green parks, and the Scandinavian brick traditions on display in Nyhavn. Likewise, a Danish tourist would surely be blown away by the breathtaking scale of Beijing, with it’s 9 million+ bicycles and the display of ancient Chinese culture juxtaposed with modern society. The key ingredient at play here is atmosphere: the relationship between individuals and surroundings that creates a certain mood. The German philosopher Hermann Schmitz probably described it best, that atmospheres are emotions poured out spatially. An emotionally driven approach to the forming of spaces, deeper than just materials, is what creates atmosphere. For Randers Tegl, Scandinavian supplier of bricks to the European market, one atmospheric trend has begun to gain a foothold: brick ceilings. In this editorial we’ll explore different brick ceiling applications across Europe and the new architectural possibilities they convey.