“Local 9, Pittsburgh.”

“Local 1, Washington D.C.”

“Local 4, San Jose.”

 

Introductions came like clockwork—firm voices, proud stances, numbers reeled off like secret codes to my ears. It was the first evening at Masonry Camp, and we gathered in the dining hall to introduce ourselves. Everyone seemed to know exactly what this was—the ritual of stating your “Local.” I nodded along, smiling politely, but truthfully, I was completely lost.

 

Deep down, I could sense these numbers carried meaning far beyond geography. They weren’t just place names. They were declarations of identity and legacy. Each Local represented a chapter in a nationwide brotherhood built through generations of American labor.

 

I come from Burma, where trade unions were banned for decades and remain heavily suppressed under military rule. The idea of workers standing together, united and empowered through organizations like these, was something I had only read about and never witnessed in person.

 

And now, here I am, surrounded by it.

 

Training Floor

 

 

Warm-Up

 

We arrived to find a massive training floor filled with pallets of masonry materials, toolkits, and half-finished mock-ups from past exercises. The air smelled of mortar, and the space buzzed with anticipation. The International Masonry Institute hosts this camp every two years, bringing together apprentice craftworkers from the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers along with architects and contractors from across the country. Over the course of a week, participants confront real issues in the built environment through experimentation and hands-on collaboration.

 

To kick things off, we were split into mixed teams and given our first challenge: build the tallest and strongest freestanding structure using only foam bricks. Though playful in material, the exercise quickly became a test of communication, structural thinking, and teamwork. My group spent nearly half the time deep in discussion; by the time we were ready to build, others were already halfway in the air. Fortunately, the extra time spent brainstorming paid off—our structure stood the tallest and most stable by the end. The proof was in the pudding: communication and planning mattered more than speed. The evening ended with laughter, a lesson in balance and gravity, and a growing sense of camaraderie that would carry us through the rest of the week.

 

Foam Brick Challenge

 

 

Training Floor

 

Mornings began early, with a hot breakfast and a lecture to get our minds moving before our hands took over. Topics ranged from material science and construction detailing to masonry fundamentals. After the lecture, we’d head straight to the training floor. The floor buzzed with energy and hums with the echoes of trowels scraping and saw-cutting across half-built walls. It felt alive, like a work site caught mid-motion. Our group moved from station to station, each led by instructors who had flown in from across the country. With decades of experience, the instructors were not only highly knowledgeable but also genuinely passionate about sharing their trades.

 

At the bricklaying station, we were handed trowels and shown how to butter a brick just right—how much mortar to load, how to angle the tool, and how to tap the trowel to set the mortar so that it spread nicely along the edge. It looks easy until you attempt it.

 

Over at the tiling station, we learned to cut and set tiles with precision. The instructor reminded us again and again: “Everything depends on the substrate. If that’s not level, nothing will be.” It made me reflect: on a computer screen, a perfectly straight line is effortless. On-site, that same line demands careful preparation and skilled hands.

 

Tiling Station (Left)

Demonstration of Cutting Large Format Tiles (Right)

 

My favorite part of the hands-on activity was stone repair. I’d never done anything like it before. The work felt closer to sculpture than construction. Using fine tools, we carefully curved and reshaped damaged edges, smoothing out imperfections as if I were restoring a sculpture by Bernini. It required a steady hand, sharp eye, and a lot of patience.

 

Building the masonry arch was fun, too. For many of us, including some of the bricklayers, it was our first time. We stood around a wooden form and a stack of bricks, figuring out how each course should align into the curve. As we worked, bricklayers mentioned how rare it was to speak with architects on-site. Here, they showed us how to lay bricks properly, while we explained the differences between Romanesque and Gothic arches. These exchanges began to dissolve the assumptions we held. Designers learned to embrace the unpredictable nature of real materials; craftworkers gained insight into our design philosophies.

 

Waterproofing & Flashing Workshop (Left)

Building Masonry Arch (Right)

 

 

Design-Build Challenge

 

This year’s design-build challenge asked participants to envision a Material Research Incubator Hub, a resilient and adaptable facility embedded within an urban setting. The prompt emphasized sustainable strategies that prioritize adaptive reuse over new construction. Seven urban sites across the U.S. served as project contexts, each requiring designs that responded to local climate, orientation, and the surrounding built environment. The task challenged us to design a new masonry structure that integrated with an existing building on site.

 

What made the process especially engaging was the full integration of designers and craftworkers from the beginning. We worked side-by-side sketching, modeling, debating, and refining ideas together. Craftworkers helped ground our designs in real-world constructability, while we shared approaches to spatial thinking and conceptual development. Together, we transformed ideas into scaled mock-ups, testing cavity walls, seismic joints, and material assemblies directly on the training floor.

 

Craftworkers were not just builders, they became co-designers. Roles blurred as designers spent time building mock-ups, while craftworkers contributed sketches and concepts. The close proximity of the construction floor to the studio encouraged constant experimentation, making the feedback loop and coordination more immediate and productive. Watching how other groups tackled the same brief with entirely different outcomes reminded me how vital adaptability and creative collaboration really are.

 

Design-Build Challenge Mock Up

 

 

Hospitality and People

 

The hospitality at the camp was just as impressive as the training. From buffet-style breakfasts to chef-prepared lunches and dinners, every meal was thoughtfully prepared. The menu was generous with soups, grilled dishes, gourmet entrées, and snacks that were available throughout the day to keep our energy up. But more than sustenance, mealtimes offered a chance to slow down and connect.

 

I sat with people from different states and even a few from abroad, each with their own path into the trade or design world. I met a father who used to be a gym instructor and had recently become a journeyman bricklayer. One dinner, I shared a table with an architecture graduate raised in a household of architects, who found his calling not at a desk but as a contractor out in the field. Then there was a university professor who had learned to play table tennis during summers spent in an Amish community—and proved his skill by dominating the rec room later that night. One of the younger bricklayers proudly shared how he had followed in his father’s footsteps and recently won a national bricklaying competition.

 

I also met an architect from Chicago who teaches and shares about masonry through his popular LinkedIn page. One of the most inspiring stories came from an immigrant single mother who fell in love with tile-setting after her first project. She now works on large-scale commercial interiors, including casino projects in Las Vegas.

 

The camp’s facility itself added to the sense of community. After training hours, you could find people relaxing over a game of pool or table tennis, gathered around video games, or even lifting weights in the gym. It was clear this wasn’t just a place of education, it was a place people genuinely enjoyed being in. Many of the union members told me they love coming back here not just to learn, but to unwind and recharge.

 

Midweek, we took a special tour of the National Cathedral in D.C. We walked above the vaulted ceilings and onto the roof for a rare, close-up view of the masonry that holds this Gothic landmark together. The tour was led by a headstone mason who has devoted his entire career to the cathedral—first helping complete its final phases in the late 1980s, and later painstakingly restoring each stone damaged in the 2011 earthquake. His indefatigable dedication and quiet pride left a lasting impression.

 

Team Building Mock Up 

 

 

More than Masonry

 

In the end, what made Masonry Camp meaningful wasn’t just the technical training or design challenges—it was the people. Their stories, backgrounds, and ways of thinking brought a depth to the experience that no classroom or textbook could offer. The lines between architect and craftworker blurred not only on the training floor, but over shared meals and in the collective effort to do something well together. When I first heard those “Local” introductions, I didn’t yet understand what they meant. Now I know they represent pride, solidarity, and a deep-rooted sense of community within the trade. That spirit—of showing up, working side by side, and embracing interdisciplinary collaboration—is what I’ll carry forward in my career.

 

Team Yellow

 

Group Photo