Like most visitors to Kathmandu, Norwegian professor Vigo Brunn was fascinated by what the people of Kathmandu take for granted: the use of bricks for building construction in the Valley. Wherever Brunn turned, there were “bricks, bricks and more bricks’: in the houses, walls, palaces, temples, wells and waterways, darbar squares. The professor’s curiosity was piqued when he found out that he couldn’t find any literature on how bricks were made. Thus started a decade long research into brick-making in Kathmandu Valley, and the book, Fired Earth which was released in July by Himal Books.
Those outraged by the daily sight of brick baking: the gouging out of the fertile topsoil of Kathmandu Valley, the black smoke from the kiln chimneys, the horrendous exploitation of bricklayers and their families, child labour, the mistreatment of animals will be disappointed by Brunn’s dispassionate, dry academic style. The book is the result of meticulous research into the brick business. It goes into the technicalities of the various types of kilns from the bull trench to forced draught to the Hoffman chimney. It looks at the socio-economic background of the workers, the management styles of the owners. This is a qualitative study, not a quantitative one, so there are no charts with breakdowns and percentages. Brunn also personalises it with extensive interviews with workers and owners. The result is a book that has just about everything you wanted to know about brick-making but couldn't be bothered. After reading this, you will not look at a brick the same way again.
