Out of concern that we may be focusing our brick-o-vision too tightly on the construction process, today’s episode will belong completely to the star of our Mall: the brick.
The word ‘brick’ refers to any block-like construction material made from mud that has been dried (sorry, Lego lovers). Bricks, like bricklovers, come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. There are usually only three sources of variance in brick DNA , however: the mud mixture, the shaping technique, and the drying method.
Bricks have been in use for over 5,000 years, with the earliest bricks found in Babylon by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These bricks were sun-dried, though our species quickly learned how to kiln dry, making our bricks more resilient and longer lasting.
The bricks being used on the Downtown Mall are 4" by 12" bricks made by Old Virginia Brick out of Salem. When it’s all said and done, 265,938 of these brand new baby bricks will go down on the Mall.
