The history :
Today, we are going to focus on one of the most distinctive features of Toulouse : its brick !!!.
Indeed, Toulouse is rare case in France of a large city built with bricks , as the country has historically preferred ashlar and white Stone .
But using stone was impossible in Toulouse built , on a site far from any stone quarries .
The Romans, great builders, had the solution : brick.
When they founded Toulouse 2000 years ago, they the first city in Gaul where fired brick was used .
Nowdays :
Today, the brick of Toulouse is called " brique foraine " , its name is thought to come from latin " foraneus " , meaning " from another place " .
In the Middle Ages, the term " Foraine " referred to bricks made in a brickyard, which were of better quality than those usual produced directly on construction sites .
It before came from a different place than the construction site.
Originally referring to a brick of higher quality than common bricks the name " brique foraine " has become more generic today and now refers to all bricks in the Toulouse format, regardless of their quality.
Be carreful not to confuse Toulouse bricks with those from northern France :
The " brique foraine " has a shape that can be assembled like the ancient Roman bricks.
Its format is what distinguished the " brique foraine " from other types of bricks.
As the medieval descendant of Roman brick, it is large and flat, with the particularity that its width is two-thirds of its length .
And this is indeed the main difference with what is called, at least in Toulouse, the " brique du Nord " , like in the city of Lille, whose width is half of its length .
From the 12th. century on wards, this " brique du Nord " conquered most of the brick region in France and Europe because it was likely more practical :
Easy to lay .
Its format also allows for the creation of decorative geometric patterns.
The Toulouse brick is much more expensive to install .
For example, for its ornamentation, " the brique foraine " like in Toulouse, relies on costly brick layers specialized in cutting bricks that are already laid on the wall .
They were called upon to create moldings, pilasters , and other architectural decorations !!!.
Facade of Malbork Castle, Poland, 13th. century. ( Northern's bricks ) .
Church of the Jacobins, Toulouse, 13th. century. ( wall in brique foraine of Toulouse ) .
The Evolution of the brique foraine of Toulouse :
Portal with a decorative brick design, Tripière Street 31 000 Toulouse .
The brick that are heirs to the Roman format , like our " brique foraine of Toulouse " , have thus been marginalized and have survived only in a few regions that have preserved ancient construction traditions, particularly in Sapin, central Italy, and the Toulouse region .
In the Middle Ages, in a city built mainly of wood only monuments and the houses of wealthy owners were constructed with bricks, as brick was an expensive material.
The fires, particularly the great fire in 1463 that devastated Toulouse , prompted the " Capitouls " , the city"s administrators, to issue edicts that gradually led to the widespread use of brick in more common constructions .
Consequently, while in the Middle Ages the brick was always well-fired and sturdy , from the Renaissance on wards, lower-quality bricks became acceptable, as larger brick kilns produced both well-fired bricks and those were under fired.
The Toulouse brick was thus actually made up of a range of materials, from well-fired bricks, which were expensive, to under fired bricks, which were, inexpensive, along with intermediate qualities .
When under fired brick was used on facade, it had to be protected by paints or coatings of reddish-brown sometimes retraced to entrance the imitation of brick .
The Curse of the Toulouse brick :
Coating with false joints imitating and protecting the true brick !!! .
But fashion changes .
In the last third of the 18th. century, the desire to imitate the architecture of Parian stone buildings became prevalent in Toulouse.
The brick, which was once a valued material, temporary becomes unflavored .
From then on, the city is repainted white, and the brick walls are sometimes carved with deep grooves to imitate cut stone .
Traces of this can still be seen on some Toulouse facades, but generally, this white paint was removed .
Starting in the late 19th. century.
Only the grooves carved into the brick remain from this white period !!! .
In other periods, it was not stone that people sought to imitate but the " northern's brick " .
Indeed, the vertical joints of the walls made of " northern's brick " perfectly over lap every other vow, whereas those of " brique foraine " consists of horizontal courses, in which there is traditionally on concern for alignment with the vertical joints of the walls .
Subject to an increasingly strong Parisian influence and wanting to correct what was then seen as a flaw, the people of Toulouse began to repaint certain facades to rectify them .
Have you noticed that the beautiful facade of the Capitole has been touched up in this way ?
Almost invisible from a distance, this brick of engraving false joints and masking the real joints to achieve a " trompe-l'oeil " uniformity of the brickwork becomes apparent when one gets close enough to the facade .
Facade of Capitole seen up close !!! .
Another sing of external influence in the development of yellow brick in Toulouse starting in 1840, which began to replace while paint in the imitation of Parisian architecture.
It gives a very Parisian tone to the grand Haussmannien avenues of Toulouse .
The yellow brick is particularly found on Haussmannien style buildings like the one above on Alsace-Lorraine Street .
Thus , throughout its history, torn between the desire to assert its traditional particularities and the pressure to imitate Parisian models, the architecture of Toulouse bricks is surely one the most original in Europe : That of a city of Roman bricks in a country of city of stone or " northern's bricks " .
Welcome in Toulouse.
The blog from Toulouse.
Greetings , Franck .
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