Chicago Common bricks are iconic. Seen throughout our city, on the sides and backs of vernacular architecture, they are seemingly infinite but are actually finite. The rough and multi-color bricks ceased to be made in the early 1980s due to EPA regulations and technology in building materials. These ghost bricks, monuments to a disappearing object of our culture, are molded from a found Chicago Common and cast in white porcelain—a clay opposite from the mud used in the original bricks. Mined from the clay deposits under our feet, it was full of lime, iron, and particulate. Each slip-cast brick is poured by hand and may have slight variations.
Dimensions: 6.75 x 2 x 3"
Materials: Glazed porcelain
Over All
(Budlong Woods)
The Over All is the surface and pattern design studio founded by artist Cassie Tompkins. She specializes in textiles for the home celebrating individual style, color, and the handmade.