Tgv symposium Historical Masonry in Haarlem Better firing and more effective forming were the major upheavals that occurred around 1870 when industrialization penetrated traditional brick production. A distinction emerged in brick construction between cladding brick and "backers" and the emphasis shifted to a role as a cladding material. Clay use, firing process, types and sizes and constructions are the prelude in this book, including developments in the brick industry and the shift of production centers. Better bricks became part of masonry mosaics of red, yellow and black rendered stone characteristic of the Neo-Renaissance. In addition, glazed profile bricks helped shape the image of neo-Gothic. Described is how the hitherto unprecedented technical possibilities allowed brick to be increasingly incorporated into the fashion of architecture. Close relatives such as terracotta, tiles and roof tiles are not left out of the book, nor is sand-lime brick. After World War I, expressive brick with expressive texture became popular. Since then, the texture variations of brick have followed architectural fashion: smooth, roughened or in rough hand-formed brick. After World War II, the emphasis was on rationalization and new products such as hollow brick floors appeared on the market. At the end of the book, it appears that this very innovation granted brick production a renaissance.