Bricklaying Inspiration and Pattern For Backyard Pizza Oven - January 2024

A few days ago, I posted a look at a couple of locations for my (hopefully) wood-fired oven to be placed in our backyard.  In that post, I mentioned that I was going after a brick facade and gable roof structure.  But, besides the notion of brick, I haven't - until just now - given much thought into the type of brick and the pattern of brick.  Why am I thinking about that now?  Well...

Recently, I saw this TikTok from Hans Lorei Design (here's the Hans Lorei Design Instagram Handle where he posted the same video) about brickwork *used to be so much better* and with the modern way we are building things, the real *art* has been lost and replaced with brick faces on buildings being laid in a field pattern.   It is embedded below.  Click play, and turn on the volume.  

@hansloreidesign

Our brick work & buildings could be so much better if we embraced more patterns & detail #homedesign #architecture #architecturaldesign #interiordesign #oldbuilding

♬ original sound - Hans Lorei Design

He shows a number of really lovely examples of unique patterns and, frankly...brick art that we as a society have moved-on from due to (likely) a couple of things:  cost and skills.  Costs are always going up.  And, masonry skills are probably dying out.  (That's probably something for Mike Rowe to talk about, not me.)

I'm sure you saw the examples that Hans Lorei Design included and liked some more than others.  The one that jumped out to me is screenshot below.   It is brick set in a field pattern, but features both white and a brown/orange set of bricks that are used in multiple ways.

The framing of the window in this example is something that I can draw inspiration from for the face of the oven and framing around the oven opening.  This example shows a three-course surround with white brick in the most-interior ring.

But, it also shows that pattern of using the white bricks in a sort-of 'plus sign' laid into the field pattern. I mean...come on.  How, how, how?!?  can you not be romantic about brick-laying after you see that white plus-sign pattern installed? 

It sure breaks up the wall - which is a concern I had about my 7-to-8-foot-tall walls on the brick oven:  seeing a big mass of flat bricks.  This certainly helps solve that.  

File it away as the first finish piece of the oven.  Done and done.  In 2024.