In 2005 the last three Singaporean brickworks were demolished leaving no tangible trace of a craft that had shaped the city. In research, two aspects of brick production have been reviewed so far. One focuses on underlying power relations of colonial brick-making, the other on the productivity of the labour intensive craft in post-independence production. Surprisingly missing is a perspective that relates brick production to the internationalisation of building knowledge. The material arrived in Singapore in the course of colonisation when the brick-making craft had gained momentum through evolving industries in Britain. However, the imported frost resistant British bricks were without benefit for the tropical climate. On the contrary, while vernacular structures of timber and attap had long provided breathable buildings, the solid, heavy bricks blocked natural ventilation. Never the less, bricks became the dominating building material. This paper aims to trace the imposition of bricks for the Singaporean urban development till the beginning of the 19th century. A research approach was chosen that used a simplified model of action and reaction. For the British part of actors, imported machines and experts, measurements of implementations like regulations, taxes and training were identified and analysed. Also, colonial search for an alternative, equally fire resistant material was investigated. The process of reaction was traced to understand whether the various stakeholder groups with their respective brick-making traditions considered an adapted material in terms of size, weight and composition that responded better to the tropical environment.

As a result, the paper found that bricks indeed rendered the Western influence physically visible, but were manufactured in a broad range of techniques imported from Europe, India, China and the two Straits Settlements equally. In the manufacture process adjustments to local conditions of supply and craft knowledge were found. Adaptions of the bricks to local climate could not be verified, the process was instead shifted to the development of building typologies. An imposition of the material remains however indisputable.

Throughout the developed world, bricks largely lost their significance for the construction sector. Mechanisms of the building industry still lead to large imports of inadequate building materials that continuously add to the Singaporean cityscape of high rise glass towers. As the story seams to repeat itself the understanding of the driving forces gains relevance.