Ecological aspects of the traditional brick making process in pedurungan kidul, central Java

Traditional building materials play an important role in the construction of sustainable built environment. Clay bricks as traditional materials have been made with traditional techniques handed down across generation in many countries. The traditional process has become an integral part of the social and cultural life of the local society which forms the ecological relations between architecture and its context. The presence of the traditional process of brick making is currently challenged by the more modern industrial brick production. Some concerns have been raised regarding various environmental and health hazards from the brick making process. On the other hand, as a production process that has been handed down across generation, the brick making process is embedded with various ecological values that are attached to the environmental and cultural context where the production is performed and where the material resources are originated. This paper attempts to review ecological aspects that are involved in the traditional brick making production. In particular, this paper presents a preliminary analysis to identify the ecological aspects in brick making process in Pedurungan Kidul, Central Java, Indonesia. The findings suggest the need to consider the traditional brick making process as a comprehensive ecological system and therefore several research agendas are proposed for further investigation.