This thesis is the search for clarity in the relationship between essence and appearance, construction and form, necessity and possibility, object and subject. It is a reflection on the question of the nature of building. I cannot tell you that something is beautiful. I can only explain why I do what I do, and how I do it. I have tried to limit the text to a minimum, because architecture is not about words. Text is added to clarify an idea. The project is a bank made with brick in Old Town Alexandria. / Master of Architecture

The main purpose of the study is to determine strategies for retaining valuable current customers and acquiring attractive new customers for Corobrik; therefore, the problem to be investigated is the reason for Corobrik’s inability to gain significant market share in the brick market over the last five years. Although there has been tremendous growth in the building industry, Corobrik has not been able to fully capitalise on the situation despite increasing its own capacity. A competitive-strength evaluation will form the basis of this study in order to determine customer preferences, as well as competitor performance relating to these preferences. The study will be limited to the Gauteng Province owing to the enormous number of customers in South Africa as well as to time constraints. The market in Gauteng is substantial enough to yield a fair representation of what is to be achieved with the study. A questionnaire will be distributed to Architects, Contractors and Distributors, which represent the different market segments, and the data will be collected by means of telephonic interviews. McDonald & Dunbar (2004) expounded on a method of competitive-strength evaluation, entailing a method of understanding the customers’ preferences and understanding their views of competitor performance in relation to the customers' own preferences. Based on this method, a questionnaire was drafted which will be distributed to role players in the market in order to collect the required data. This research study can be seen as exploratory, since future research tasks could be discovered during the study. This study will be a ‘snapshot in time’ because of time constraints, and could possibly yield different results if repeated at any other time. The questionnaire is such that the data could be analysed and certain propositions could be compared with the ratings. Therefore, a semi-quantitative study is possible, i.e. people’s perceptions can be measured. It is important that the study be done in a ‘field setting’ to reflect what would occur under actual conditions. In addition, exactly the same questionnaire was used for all respondents, minimising the possibility of the respondents or the researcher manipulating the ratings reflected in the survey. The main findings revealed that sales to Distributors and Contractors constitute approximately 85 per cent of the total product sales of Corobrik and that Distributors and Contractors perceived Corobrik as expensive, Price being rated as their most important DBC. Architects rated Quality and Aesthetics as the most important DBCs and they rated Corobrik the best performer in these categories. This finding implies that Corobrik manages to satisfy Architects’ most important needs; however, Price was also Corobrik’s worst performing DBC in terms of the Architect ratings. Corobrik does satisfy the needs of Architects fairly well; however, this study was limited to the brick industry and did not attempt to compare face bricks with rival materials such as glass, aluminium, wood, plaster and paint and others. Consequently, Corobrik’s performance was not compared with that of the manufacturers of these rival products with regard to the relevant DBCs. It is, therefore, recommended that such a study be conducted in order to determine how well Corobrik performs in comparison with the rival companies. In addition, Corobrik should consider a marketing objective of developing new products for existing market segments (Architects), i.e. products that are able to compete with glass, aluminium and other rival materials, or that could even be used to compliment one another. This initiative could lead to increased market share, not only in the brick market but also in the bigger construction market. It appears that Corobrik has to date followed the marketing strategy of supplying existing products to new segments such as the residential market, and the researcher’s impression is that this new segment does not really want the product because of its affordability. Therefore, Corobrik needs to consider developing new products for the relatively new residential market, but with the emphasis on affordability. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.

No description available.

Os lodos provenientes de estação de tratamento de água brasileira são, frequentemente, dispostos e lançados diretamente nos corpos d\'água, causando um impacto negativo no meio ambiente. Também, cinzas de carvão são produzidas pela queima de carvão em usinas termelétricas e é o resíduo sólido industrial mais gerado no sul do Brasil: cerca de 4 milhões ton/ano. A disposição eficiente das cinzas de carvão é um problema devido ao seu volume maciço e aos riscos nocivos para o ambiente. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a viabilidade da incorporação desses dois resíduos industriais em uma massa utilizada na fabricação de tijolos ecológicos. As amostras de cinzas leve do filtro ciclone da usina termelétrica localizada no Município de Figueira, Estado do Paraná, Brasil e o lodo de estação de tratamento de água localizada no município de Terra Preta, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, foram utilizados no estudo. Tijolos de cinzas leve-lodo e cinzas leve-lodo-solo-cimento foram moldados e testados de acordo com padrões brasileiros. Os materiais foram caracterizados por análises físico-químicas, difração de raios X, análise térmica, análise morfológica, espectroscopia no infravermelho com transformada de Fourier e análise granulométrica. Os resultados indicaram que o lodo de estação de tratamento de água e as cinzas de carvão podem ser usados na manufatura de tijolos prensados solo-cimento de acordo com a Norma Brasileira NBR 10836/94. / Sludge from treatment water Brazilian plant station are, frequently, disposed and launched directly in the water bodies, causing a negative impact in the environment. Also, coal ashes is produced by burning of coal in coal-fired power stations and is the industrial solid waste most generated in southern Brazil: approximately 4 million tons/y. The efficient disposal of coal ashes is an issue due to its massive volume and harmful risks to the environment. The aim of this work was study the feasibility of incorporating these two industrial wastes in a mass used in the manufacture of ecological bricks. Samples of fly ashes from a cyclone filter from a coal-fired power plant located at Figueira County in Paraná State, Brazil and waterworks sludge of Terra Preta County in São Paulo State, Brazil, were used in the study. Fly ash-sludge and fly ash-sludge-soil-cement bricks were molded and tested, according to the Brazilians Standards. The materials were characterized by physical-chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, morphological analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and granulometric analysis. The results indicate that the waterworks sludge and coal ashes have potential to be used on manufacturing soil-cement pressed bricks according to the of Brazilians Standards NBR 10836/94.

Relatam-se atividades e resultados obtidos durante uma tentativa de \"mostrar que o estudo e adaptação de métodos clássicos de avaliação de pavimentos flexíveis pode identificar conceitos e informações que contribuam para desenvolver um arcabouço de métodos, conceitos e processos adequados para avaliar pavimentos cujo revestimento é construído com uso de tijolos\". Para isso: estudaram-se e analisaram-se métodos clássicos para avaliação de pavimentos, caracterizou-se um ambiente onde se usa pavimentos revestidos com tijolo cerâmico, Rio Branco, no Estado do Acre, Brasil, identificaram-se e caracterizaram-se defeitos físicos da superfície de pavimentos revestidos com tijolos que interferissem na qualidade de tráfego de veículos, estudaram-se processos de atribuição de notas a pavimentos por técnicos, motoristas e passageiros treinados para análise de qualidade de viagens pela superfície do pavimentos. A análise de regressão linear múltipla foi o procedimento usado para identificar relações entre notas atribuídas por avaliadores e distribuições de defeitos na superfície de pavimentos revestidos com tijolos. / lt was reported activities and results obtained when trying to show that the study and fitness of classical methods to evaluate flexible pavements should be good to identify information and concepts to contribute in developing method and processes to evaluate brick pavements. To do this: a) classical pavement evaluation was analyzed, b) an environment where brick pavements are constructed was described, the city of Rio Branco, State of Acre, Brazil, c) pavement surface defects were related to vehicle ride quality, d) Scores evaluation processes from drivers and passengers were studied. Linear multiple regression analysis was the method used to identify relationships among scores from evaluators and distributions of defects in brick pavement surface.

Relatam-se atividades e resultados obtidos durante uma tentativa de \"mostrar que o estudo e adaptação de métodos clássicos de avaliação de pavimentos flexíveis pode identificar conceitos e informações que contribuam para desenvolver um arcabouço de métodos, conceitos e processos adequados para avaliar pavimentos cujo revestimento é construído com uso de tijolos\". Para isso: estudaram-se e analisaram-se métodos clássicos para avaliação de pavimentos, caracterizou-se um ambiente onde se usa pavimentos revestidos com tijolo cerâmico, Rio Branco, no Estado do Acre, Brasil, identificaram-se e caracterizaram-se defeitos físicos da superfície de pavimentos revestidos com tijolos que interferissem na qualidade de tráfego de veículos, estudaram-se processos de atribuição de notas a pavimentos por técnicos, motoristas e passageiros treinados para análise de qualidade de viagens pela superfície do pavimentos. A análise de regressão linear múltipla foi o procedimento usado para identificar relações entre notas atribuídas por avaliadores e distribuições de defeitos na superfície de pavimentos revestidos com tijolos. / lt was reported activities and results obtained when trying to show that the study and fitness of classical methods to evaluate flexible pavements should be good to identify information and concepts to contribute in developing method and processes to evaluate brick pavements. To do this: a) classical pavement evaluation was analyzed, b) an environment where brick pavements are constructed was described, the city of Rio Branco, State of Acre, Brazil, c) pavement surface defects were related to vehicle ride quality, d) Scores evaluation processes from drivers and passengers were studied. Linear multiple regression analysis was the method used to identify relationships among scores from evaluators and distributions of defects in brick pavement surface.

This thesis examines a much neglected area of Scottish building and construction history, brickwork. It will be conclusively shown that brick has seen far more widespread use in Scottish buildings than has been appreciated to date. This is true not just in terms of the range of building types which have been found to incorporate brick into their construction but also when the geographical spread of these buildings is considered. It will also be shown that in the period the research covers, 1700-1900, brickwork in Scotland underwent a series of technical developments. This saw brick transformed from a material used in a limited capacity for specific purposes such as garden wall construction and ice houses in the early 18th century to one which, by 1900, saw extensive use in the construction of housing, industrial buildings and engineered structures. Specific technical developments within areas of brick construction have also emerged. This can be seen in areas as diverse as bond, the height to which four courses of brickwork rise, arch construction and cavity walling. The technical developments within Scottish brickwork are considerable and this thesis represents the first comprehensive analysis of these. In addition to demonstrating the extent of the use of the material and the considerable technical developments there within, this thesis will present substantial evidence in support of the view that Scotland developed specific craft practices in using brick which are not reflected in contemporary technical reference works. This is most significant in the bonding of brickwork with a specifically Scottish bond being dominant in the 19th century. Survey work of surviving buildings will also show that there was a specifically Scottish gauge of brickwork when measuring the height to which four courses rose. Other differences in craft practice can be seen when the construction of brickwork at an angle other than 90 degrees and arch construction are examined to give but two examples. This thesis will also present evidence for a number of areas. When brick making is considered new evidence is presented to both the extent of the industry in Scotland which can be seen to be more extensive both in the 18th and 19th centuries than has previously been appreciated, and also for specific Scottish developments in kilns and brick making machines. The influence which developments in manufacturing had on the use of brick will also be demonstrated. Finally, it will be shown that, whilst Scottish brickwork often served functional requirements, this was never entirely true and the use of brick in this country can be shown to have a decorative as well as functional element to it. As the first comprehensive examination of brickwork in Scotland this thesis presents a wide ranging view of both the extent of the use of the material and the developments therein. By so doing, brick can begin to receive the level of analysis and understanding that has hitherto been lacking and be rightfully considered an integral part of Scottish construction between 1700-1900.

The flavor, quality and composition of market brick cheese varies greatly. Its moisture content often ranges from 37 to 43 per cent. The flavor may be similar to Limburger or it may even resemble that of Cheddar. Such a great variation in a specific food product tends toward disappointment for the consumer. It is believed that a more uniform standard of quality for this product is needed to materially increase its consumption. Therefore, a detailed study of some of the factors involved in the manufacture of brick cheese may help to improve the quality and aid in determining a satisfactory standard.

Thesis--Copenhagen. / Illustration on cover. "Tysk resumé" in German: p. [195]-209. "Noter og henvisninger": p. [181]-194.

Traditionally, architectural and construction development in Hong Kong relies on load bearing bricks for structural support. In the modern age after World War II, the common application of reinforced concrete structure in high-rise construction has seen a change in the use of brick as an infill material for reinforced concrete frame construction. Because load bearing brick cannot meet the structural requirement of high-rise buildings, it is no longer common used in construction, and brick buildings that have been built are gradually demolished for redevelopment. For surviving brick buildings in Hong Kong, the ones built with red facing bricks are generally Western style buildings mostly located in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. For buildings built of Chinese grey brick, they are usually Chinese vernacular buildings, such as ancestral halls and temples, located in New Territories. However, with the common availability of modern paint for redecoration as well as weather protection, some brick heritage buildings have been plastered with rendering and painted. The reason for this is that a smooth painted surface gives a neater appearance and the impression of being easier to maintain and clean. Of course, there are also some traditional Chinese vernacular brick buildings, particularly Hakka houses (客家屋), which have a tradition of having brick surfaces painted with white wash covered with lime plaster (Tsang Tai Uk at Shatin and Poon Uk at Yuen Long are examples). With heritage conservation becoming more important, there are now more and more restoration work carried out on historical brick buildings. These projects are usually led by the Antiquities and Monuments Office and executed by the Architectural Services Department. One of the restoration problems faced in these projects is the removal of paint so that the original brick surface will be revealed. This dissertation aims to concentrate on the common methods used in Hong Kong to restore painted brick surfaces and to evaluate these paint removal methods through case studies that involves buildings of red engineering facing brick and Chinese grey brick. Through this dissertation, it will be demonstrated that restoring a brick surface is not straight forward technical work, but a process that must have a systematic conservation approach and planning. The dissertation will examine case studies of conservation projects involving paint removal work, and use the lesson learned to establish guidelines for paint removal in a planned and systematic way. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation