In 2024, a number of designers across the globe are transforming bricks—one of the world’s oldest building materials—into innovative high-end furniture and design pieces. This trend reflects both a desire for sustainable reuse of construction waste and a search for fresh creative expression grounded in local materials and cultural heritage.

Brazilian designer Victor Huggo Xavier and Danish designer Søren Hallberg Søndergaard of Asimply have embraced this approach by turning crushed bricks into sleek furniture collections. After years of producing brightly colored pieces, the duo shifted focus to earthier tones and textures, utilizing abundant Brazilian materials. Their NU collection, which debuted in São Paulo’s Mercado Arte Design in June, combines brick powder, fragments of Bahia marble, and glass crystals into geometric tables and stools. Their more recent Dominó series incorporates crushed construction debris and discarded ceramics gathered from the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

This reinvention is not isolated. In Belgium, Aurélien Veyrat repurposes brick fragments leftover from his sculptural work into furniture under the aglomeRa series. By embedding the fragments in colorful mortar-like substrates and casting them in molds with plaster, concrete, or lime, Veyrat creates pieces featuring intricate, lace-like patterns once hidden within the brick material. His AGF_02 coffre—a trunk clad in recycled brick—won the Contemporary Design Prize at PAD Paris earlier this year.

In the Netherlands, Paco Böckelmann, co-founder of Studio ThusThat, employs crushed bricks as pigments in cement tiles inspired by Islamic geometric motifs. These tiles convey the architectural diversity of Cairo, the city where Böckelmann worked on a project led by local firm Megawra. He describes the designs as reflecting the resilience and rich cultural tapestry of the area.

Meanwhile, Italian designers Gianmaria Della Ratta and Giorgio Gasco from Rotterdam’s Groovido have partnered with brick manufacturer Rodruza to digitally print patterns onto clay bricks. Their project, showcased at deTour 2025 in Hong Kong, features a games table decorated with animal symbols and Chinese chess motifs. They aim to offer new perspectives on bricks as a material that evokes warmth, permanence, and home.

Swiss studio Kueng Caputo co-founder Lovis Caputo emphasizes the transformation of bricks into high-quality art objects. Their Roman Molds collection, created for a Fendi exhibit at Design Miami, used glazed and fired Swiss industrial terracotta bricks. Elements from this collection are currently on display at the Bricks Reloaded exhibition in Winterthur, Switzerland, running through November.

Bram Vanderbeke of Ghent draws on childhood memories of building brick houses in his grandfather’s garden to craft furniture pieces such as benches and chairs arranged in patterned brickwork. His outdoor installations have attracted insects like ants and bees, which Vanderbeke views positively, suggesting the furniture “continues living” and gains character over time.

The resurgence of brick as a material for design and furniture reflects a broader interest in sustainability and creative reuse. Brick production remains significant—such as in the UK, where about 2 billion bricks are made annually but only 70 percent are utilized due to defects and over-ordering—highlighting opportunities to reduce waste through such inventive treatments. As designers worldwide explore brick’s aesthetic and material potential, they underscore both its historical significance and contemporary relevance.