Earthquakes such as the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the 1933 Long Beach earthquake revealed the weaknesses of brick masonry in earthquake-prone areas.
Kolumbijski arhitekt Rogelio Salmona je opozoril na široko uporabo rdeče opeke v njegovih stavbah ter uporabo naravnih oblik, kot so spirale, radialna geometrija in krivulje pri oblikovanju.