Terracotta bricks have been known since ancient times as one of the main materials to be used in buildings. This material offers lot of advantages such as fire resistant, easily found in Indonesia, lightweight, does not require specific adhesive, cheap, and has a distinctive character especially from their color and texture. Other materials have also been used widely in Indonesia. Many are used due to the architectural trends. Thus they don’t last long and disappear or become outdated as time goes by. On the other hand terracotta bricks offer a timeless look to a building not only because they have been used for so long, but also because their natural look that brings out the local spirits. In Bali terracotta bricks are used to build temples and traditional houses. With the advancement of building and construction technology, nowadays terracotta bricks are mostly used for decoration on walls or landscape elements.

Below are some inspirations of terracotta bricks applications on buildings as decorative elements:

1. Terracotta bricks as feature walls

Terracotta brick walls will most likely stand out from other building elements around it. Thus terracotta bricks are often used for feature walls. Its vibrant color and massiveness creates a strong character on the walls. The patterns of the bricks are something that architects like to explore as they create attractive and dynamic look.

2. Terracotta bricks as accents for the interior

Because of its bright and vibrant color, terracotta brick is suitable to be used as an accent for interior space that is mostly dominated by neutral colors like white and grey. It breaks the monotonous of white color walls.

3. Terracotta rosters (vent blocks) as partition wall

Terracotta rosters have been widely used as an alternative for partition walls. Its porosity has the advantage of penetrating the air so that the flow of air circulation in the room is maintained or improved. Terracotta rosters have some unique and distinctive shapes and they also come in different patterns that can be customized too.

4. Terracotta bricks as building facades

If you are looking into creating an attractive and contemporary-looking dwelling’s facade, you can consider to use the terracotta bricks as the main material for the facades. It could be used for the façade wall itself or as secondary skin (screen) to cover the main façade walls. This material will make the building facade look artistic, unique, and timeless.