Fire and Clay

How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago

Will Quam

$44.95

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

University of Chicago Press
30 April 2026

Art & design styles: Modernist design & Bauhaus; History of architecture; History of the Americas; Bricklaying & plastering; Local history

Series: Chicago Visions and Revisions

A remarkable exploration of Chicago’s architectural history through the humble brick.

By the late 1920s, at its peak of brick making and consumption, Chicago was making over a billion bricks a year for its buildings and importing almost another billion nicer face bricks for their front facades. Throughout Chicago’s history, brick dramatically transformed from a simple fireproof building material into an integral piece of architectural design. And no one knows the hidden details and stories of this fascinating history like Chicago’s foremost brick aficionado, Will Quam.

In Fire and Clay, Quam takes us on journeys to experience the beauty and mystery of Chicago’s buildings. He also explores how developers, architects, and masons followed changing fashions as they designed and built the city, creating connections across disparate neighborhoods. The red bricks that make up Lincoln Park mansions, for example, are the same as those found on Pullman row homes and Pilsen workers’ cottages, just as Rogers Park’s colorful bricks can also be found far across the city in South Shore. Known for his popular walking tours, Quam has built his life around the appreciation, study, and evangelizing of this most humble building block’s many wonders. Here, he pours all his knowledge into the first book of its kind, beautifully illustrated with more than one hundred of his own full-color photographs.

More than just an investigation into brick, Fire and Clay gives readers a fresh lens through which to explore the city anew and find clear connections across its different neighborhoods. By the end of this lively tour through Chicago’s history, readers will never look at a brick building the same way again.

By: Will Quam
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 203mm,
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780226828107
ISBN 10: 0226828107
Series: Chicago Visions and Revisions
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 30 April 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Will Quam is an architecture historian and photographer. Since 2016, he’s shared Chicago’s architecture and history through his project Brick of Chicago, also leading award-winning walking tours for thousands across the city. His photographs and expertise have been featured by PBS Chicago, The Chicago Tribune, Block Club Chicago, McSweeney’s, and more. You can find him at @brickofchicago on Instagram.

Reviews for Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago

“After reading Fire and Clay, you’ll never walk down a street the same way again. Thanks to Quam’s passion and masterful writing, you’ll recognize how burly bricklayers and artistic architects wove patterns and colors together to build the story of Chicago.” * Geoffrey Baer, WTTW * “This book is a love affair with brick—smart, beautiful, and deeply human, revealing the soul of the city it shapes.” * Carol Ross Barney, design principal and founder of Ross Barney Architects * “Quam’s book—like his fascinating tours—is a clever and generous act of obsession, transforming Chicago’s most ubiquitous building material into a beautiful way of understanding the city, the people who built it, and those who live in it today.” * Stewart Hicks, architectural designer and educator * “With stunning photographs, intriguing facts, and a lively narrative, Fire and Clay is a very valuable addition to the Chicago canon.” * Laurie Petersen, editor of AIA Guide to Chicago * “Quam uses the brick to fashion a fascinating story of Chicago’s people and history, while shining an overdue spotlight on the craftspeople whose work turned this lowly material into architectural gold.” * Lee Bey, author of Southern Exposure *