ACCIDENTAL ARCHITECTURE • JAMES STOKOE

The photographs presented here were taken in St. Louis in 1976 as part of an architectural thesis and ultimately a book published in 1982 by Dover Publications as “Decorative and Ornamental Brickwork”. The photographs explore the use of brick for the decoration of architecture. Specifically, it focuses on an often overlooked era of brick making in the years after the Civil War that was shaped by advances in industrial technology and the 19^th century interest in ornament. It was the heyday of dry press brick making when brick made from naturally dried surface clay was pressed in to shapes in brass molds. They were characterized by a precision and uniformity approaching cut stone. This allowed for the production of intricate designs that were marketed to builders and masons in catalogs with a large inventory of shapes and motifs. This chapter of brick making was also an unprecedented empowerment of masons and builders that at times drew the criticism of the trained eyes of architecture profession. The photographs attempt to capture some of the energy and creative decision making that was unleashed during a period of a few decades. It is also a very good example of the richness and variation that can flow from a finite set of parts designed to worked together based on a defined dimensional module. Taste changed in the new century and an interest in texture and color supplanted the demand for dry press decorative brick making. Some examples are included. They illustrate how St. Louis continued its tradition of spirited and creative brickwork.