Why do Indians build with bricks?

icetea

Does anyone have any inkling of why do Indians use mostly bricks for constructions, instead of prefabs? Brick building are notoriously warmer than prefab ones. In a sub-tropical climate, why would anyone stick to bricks? At home, in the summer, my house will always be cooler than the outside temperature..but in India the interiors will always be suffocating, to say the least.

Any idea? Or is it that the prevalence of fans prevented Indians from trying anything else to keep their homes cooler! :-))

babuchand

what are those prefabs????

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vinatara

prefab - Pre Fabricated structures

nirola

may be bacause we need everthing STRONG

milk ghee for our bodies


and bricks for our strong houses




any way good Q so like to have good answers from IM architects here

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gautam_n_

I am assuming a large number of prefabs are plastic or wood - the consequences or implication of just using these to build houses are largely bad. And considering that we don't generally have house insurance we expect it to stand the test of time for at least a 7-8 decades.

Secondly I suggest we start building the houses with rock again. Do you know how cool it can get within a rock structure - its truly amazing.

Something for you to read
http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/s..._not_wise.html

And the plus point - we atleast have work for majority of the people to make some kind of livelihood. And plus I have always enjoyed my house/houses I have been in in India. No problems there.

cyberhippie

I find the latarite blocks that Goan houses are built with, do keep the house cool in the heat!!

Largely the building of houses out of brick will just be down to traditional building methods. Prefbricated concrete or poured concrete will come eventually!

Digital Drifter

actually, it's already known about RTP concrete but it's the traffic which causes the delay in pouring. By the time they bring the ready-to-pour concrete from the place where it's made (mixer truck delivers it) to the place where the house is built, the 45m-1hr window is up. & the workers arent there, site is not up, and add a whole bunch of reasons.

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rohan5577

Not to mention the millions of casual labourers who get eployment in the construction industry...if we were to switch to pre-fabs I wonder what would become of the livelihood of all these people

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cyberhippie

They lay floors this way though, I mean with concrete pours but then I guess the concrete is mixed on site!!

Indojingai

Cost - primary. And as someone else mentioned ... employment for the poor - secondary.

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iwanttogoback

brick is a traditional building material in india.
in hot, dry climates you want building mass and, preferably, density to keep the heat out. additionally, some of these places get very cold in winter, so you would again want mass to keep any heat generated in. in hot, humid climates you would want lightweight (which i think is what the OP means) open structures to let breezes in.

kashi

brick buildings are not necessarily warmer than prefabricated structure.

climactic performance of brick houses would depend on many other factors like orientation, ventilation etc. thick brick walls imply a larger time lag in thermal conduction. hence thick brick wall houses will be cooler during the day but warmer during the night. this is why in many hot-dry and composite regions of india, people sleep on terraces during the day.

a thin concrete prefabricated structure would be better during the evenings and nights, but would be much worse during the day. some innovative prefabricated low cost housing systems have been built in india (using masscon prefab systems) but they are living furnaces.

eventually, it is the design of the house that is more important than the material used. a unshaded south west facing brick wall would be worse than a north facing thin prefabricated concrete wall.

prefabricated systems are available in india, but due to poor labour remunerations, wet (in-situ) construction systems are still cheaper than pre-fabricated mass produced systems. prefabricated systems seem to be cost effective only in large scale projects.

kashi

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iwanttogoback

exactly. it's somewhat more complicated than i suggested, but i just wanted to make the point that it is not unreasonable (if you design well) to use heavy mass materials in some hot climates.

edwardseco

Brick and sand and so very little cement is a seismic disaster waiting to happen..

crvlvr

Because its CHEAPER.