“...and if you think of Brick, for instance, and you say to Brick, What do you want brick? And Brick says to you, "I like an arch.” And if you say to Brick, "Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lentil over you. What do you think of that Brick?” Brick says:”… I like an Arch.” - Louis I. Kahn, American Architect.
There is a reason why the brick wants to be an arch. It is for instance, a rather stubborn material. It doesn't want help from concrete, nor does it need help. Roman arches still exist today, despite barbarians, mother nature, and the impact of modern civilization. There is not so much ingenuity in the concept of a single building material for an entire construction of a building. Where as a lentil would be cheaper and easier to build, how many lentils do you know that will last over 2000 years? In fact, how much of today's structures will last for another century?
An arch seems more visually appropriate because we can see how it works. Arches work to bricks best quality, compression. The weight from above pushes down on the bricks in the arch. But because the radius of the inside of the arch is smaller than the outside, the bricks press on each other, where as in a lintel, the load is taken not by the concrete, but of the steel bars inside of it that takes the load in tension rather than compression. Concrete, similar to brick, is not a tensile material, and would crumble without its hidden supporter. These buildings still stand not because steel and concrete are inferior materials, because they are not, they stand because brick works best on its own. In its most functional use, brick is perhaps one of the sturdiest, most effective building materials we have. Why then is it used as a veneer, a curtain covering steel and concrete, not the least bit structural, and without support, would be blown over in a mildly windy day. Because we know brick has feelings and needs, we should feel bad for brick, not too bad however, because in time, the faux wall will fail and brick will show it was meant for something else.
The humanistic quality of 'want' is something architects give to a lot of materials and shapes. We say "the metal panel wants to be extruded away from the brick so that it returns back into the brick instead of having an awkward flat transition." It is this method of characterization that we find a balance of design and functionality. Few modern architects ever really mastered what building materials want to be. No architect ever does earlier in their career. It takes years of learning and mistakes before you can understand what the limits are, regardless of teaching.
