Brian Trimble

📉🏗️ Not all concrete products perform the same when it comes to embodied carbon. New industry data is helping architects make clearer comparisons and more confident material choices. Explore what updated EPDs reveal for concrete masonry. 👉 Read more: bit.ly/4c7RSHS #EmbodiedCarbon #SustainableDesign #Architecture #ZondaMediaIntel #Sponsored #ConcreteMasonryCheckoff

The new @BuffaloBills stadium is rising fast thanks to the elite skill of BAC craftworkers. See how they’re building a state-of-the-art home for #BillsMafia: shorturl.at/deQJ8 #WorksiteWednesday #SkilledTrades #BestHandsInTheBusiness

@UrbanCourtyard One way to make social housing desirable is to use more masonry. Fiber cement and other cheap claddings require too much maintenance. Look at the work of @DattnerArch and their use of masonry for ideas.

Here are four new social housing projects in Paris that look better than 99% of market rate apartments in North America

BACNJ Launches Immersive Virtual Reality Training Program to Prepare Next Generation of Bricklayers - go.shr.lc/41q9j1w This is why the masonry trade is becoming so attractive to people looking for a stable career that is also forward looking.

@ScottFarbman @AFeinhandler @rhett_carlson They're not still using the Chicago wall are they (brick and block composite wall)? Energy codes and just common sense says to build a cavity wall (Lstiburek's perfect wall). C'mon, get with it!

@AFeinhandler @rhett_carlson They don’t build that way in Chicago brick goes right up against the CMU.

Chicago’s next great technological export to the country should be the CMU block infill condo building

@BlairKamin C'mon Blair, you're an architecture critic. A "splash of color" does not make good architecture. The problem starts with cheap construction and cladding. Color may be the only way to make it better, which isn't saying much. Masonry looks good when used on any facade.

The back of a building is often an ugly blank wall. Not so at a John Ronan-designed building at 4024 N. Elston that combines public housing with a Chicago Public Library branch. Its splashes of color brighten the cityscape and break down institutional monotony.

@PITairport and @JetBlue unfortunately, baggage claim on a Sunday night is no faster than the old landslide terminal #fail is there just one person working???

@chrisbriem Newer types of cement in the concrete are changing the normal ways of finishing concrete.

I hate to just plain kvetch, but as someone who grew up in Bloomfield amongst a whole neighborhood of concrete artisans, it saddens me that this is very newly installed concrete in Friendship Park.

@__iffff This is cool, but probably overkill with all the steel. Brick and mortar bond together and don't always need so much rebar. #efficiency

These only look decorative until you see the rebar.

@BrilliantMaps @StatisticUrban And this is a major reason for high home costs, not things like onerous bldg codes which save lives, energy, etc.

Average Home Size In US States vs Western European Countries For size in sq Meters see: brilliantmaps.com/home-size-us-e… credit: @StatisticUrban

IMI Masonry and Tile hands-on Days, 3/4 & 3/5 in Buffalo and Rochester: info.imiweb.org/ny-masonry-days Updating Your Masonry & Tile Details, Specs & Notes along with hands-on sessions. Vendors will be there to showcase new (and current) products. Don't miss out! #masonry #tile

The flexibility of brick! A Week at the Knees, London: brick.org.uk/brick-bulletin… @BricksUK

Sustainable Architecture is more needed than ever: architecturaldigest.com/story/sustaina… "Common characteristics of sustainable architecture: Thermal mass regulates indoor temperatures naturally, reducing operating energy and improving comfort by moderating daily heat fluctuations."

@wrathofgnon The Guastavino tile vaults of the Michigan Central Terminal were restored by @IUBAC craftworkers with training by @imiweb: info.imiweb.org/blog/bac-local…; it's no longer a lost trade #union masonry

Since I became interested in gustavino vaulting and other forms of structural terracotta a couple of decades ago the world has gone from "we lost the knowledge of how to do these amazing single tile load bearing vaults" to "MIT is currently studying how to replicate them" to "Please visit our two day training course to learn how to do gustavino vaulting yourself." Very neat.

When we hear the words "architectural terracotta" we think of decorations, fancy classical or art deco statuary or strong and durable yet mass produced weather proof wall claddings, but there is also structural terracotta: most famously used in vaulting or as stairs. Thin terracotta tiles are set on brackets or vertical load bearing walls with fast curing gypsum plaster (exactly that which you used as a kid to cast little statues), where it can nearly instantly bear its own weight. Builders work fast right out in the air with at most simple guiding forms or lines but usually freehand, until they have completed the vault. Almost simultaneously another layer of tiles are set in cement or lime mortar on top of the first, and then usually a third. Now the vault is strong enough to carry itself, a stair, or insulation etc. In the US this is often called Gustavino Vaulting.

@FCSI_COF There will be a Celebration of Life for Gregg on April 25. 2026 in North Beach, MD.

The CSI College of Fellows regrets to announce that Gregg Borchelt, FCSI, Class of 1990, passed away on 28 September 2025.

CSI Pittsburgh Design Intent to Design Deliverable, 2/10 Come learn about changing PA state requirements for "systems-based design descriptions". Learn what that means and how to comply. David Stutzman of @conspectusinc will lead us in this discussion: bit.ly/4rrbJYq

@NoContextHumans Trained craftworkers using the right tools will reduce the risk of failure @IUBAC #ACT certificatation

large tile installation is a very risky job

@mwmoedinger @CohenSite It's not more widely adopted because it doesn't always work for every type of project. Mod. constr requires more exacting tolerances that aren't easily achieved. In some cases, mod. constr is still more exp. bec. of transportation $, etc. Bathrooms/int rooms seem best for now.

Lots of talk about prefab construction around here this week! I've built modular (with these two hands!) and wrote my master's thesis on panelized construction. I've since consulted w/ prefab startups. Prefab sounds like a no-brainer - so why isn't it more widely adopted? 🧵

Flat Iron Building in New York, the Wrigley Building in Chicago, the Arctic Club Building in Seattle, the Natural History Museum in London: cheap mass produced terracotta cladding. We can do this again, anytime we want to.

So very few people today build solid homes that are supposed to last indefinitely. @1000yearhouse instagram.com/p/B_dDinsjlY3/