Traditional manufacturing of clay brick used in the historical buildings of Diyarbakir (Turkey)

Abstract

Clay brick is the most common construction material used in the historical buildings of Diyarbakır (Turkey). Many clay brick manufacturing workshops and numerous brick masters have emerged. Diyarbakir currently has two clay brick workshops that face the problem of being closed down. Therefore,manufacturing of clay brick by traditional methods may be forgotten in Diyarbakir. This study investigates the manufacturing phases of traditional clay bricks in Diyarbakir's local workshops, which have not been documented.

The manufacturing phases of the clay bricks in Diyarbakır were examined for the first time based on in-situ observations, investigations, and interviews. The research indicated the general phases of claybrick manufacturing. Raw materials are first prepared, formed, and dried. The firing of clay bricks is then performed through hacking, heating, burning, cooling, and de-hacking. The clay bricks are finally packaged and dispatched. The traditional manufacturing of clay brick methods in Diyarbakır is similar in many regions of the world. The clay bricks are currently and extensively used in the restoration of historic structures. Therefore, their production must be continuous.

Keywords

Clay brick / Diyarbakır / Historical structures / Traditional construction techniques / Traditionalmaterial

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2017 Higher Education Press Limited Company. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).