As with the outfield wall at the Chicago Cub’s Wrigley Field, ivy growing on brick structures seems to carry with it an air of tradition and history. Many agree that ivy on brick is a dignified and classic design choice.

But we’re not going to debate the design merits of brick and ivy here. Rather, let’s discuss whether that ivy is good for the brick structure itself.

The Filigree House is a rarity within Philadelphia’s Graduate Hospital Neighborhood. Unlike most buildings in this neighborhood it sits on a double-wide lot, which gave the design team a prominent canvas with which to contribute a bold statement to the streetscape, but with the challenge of staying within the confines of the existing neighborhood’s fabric. Making the most of the opportunity called for brick, of course!

As with any residence, privacy was a must for this 5,000-square-foot home. To provide that privacy, the Moto Designshop team created a four-layer brick screen at the front of the Filigree home. This delicately articulated screen rests on a series of curved steel support frames that artfully conceals the home’s interior.

While a solid brick wall would have delivered ultimate privacy, brick’s unmatched design flexibility was called upon to playfully engage the streetscape with a translucence that is more veil than mask, letting in natural light and hinting at the home’s interior design. The brick screen allows for selective views of ornamental features inside, including a beautiful helical staircase, and gives those within the home a chance to gaze out into the neighborhood.

Phase II of the General Academic and Music Building is an ambitious expansion of the Music Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas. The project joins Phase 1 in further defining and delineating the western edge of the central quadrangle with a porous boundary of interconnected courtyards, covered passages, loggias, and intimate exterior seating areas.

Designers from Richter Architects broke with the monolithic character of typical campus buildings by proposing four parallel sculptured brick masses that slip and slide past each other along a north-south axis. On the ground level, an exterior promenade along this axis defines courtyards, shaded meeting spaces and open-air performance areas. Multilevel glass bridges span above, connecting these staggered brick islands almost as stepping stones in a stream, creating spaces for interaction and perches for enjoying the view below.

While the idea of a block-long brick façade may seem dull to some, the creative use of brick at Gansevoort Row emphatically dispels that notion. The design team at BKSK Architects, made full use of brick’s unmatched design flexibility as it set out to revive the exterior appearance of a commercial block in Manhattan’s Gansevoort Market Historic District.

Darkly colored brick brings automatic elegance and a bit of attitude to building designs. Contrasting light-colored mortars make for a James-Bond-in-a-tuxedo look, while mortars tinted to match black or dark gray brick deliver an exotic, monolithic Bond-villain feel. Both mixes can be applied to many styles, but contemporary designs tend be where black and dark gray brick really shine.