Opus reticulatum

Opus reticulatum is a form of brickwork that uses diamond-shaped bricks of tufa that are placed around a core of opus caementicium.^[1] The diamond-shaped tufa blocks are placed with the pointed ends into the cement core at roughly π/4, so the square bases form a diagonal pattern, and the pattern of mortar lines resembles a net. Reticulatum is the Latin term for net, and opus, the term for a work of art, thus the term literally translates to "net work."

This construction technique was used from the beginning of the first century BCE was very common until opus latericium, a different form of brickwork, became more common.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning (First ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 222. ISBN 0-06-430158-3.

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[roth-1] Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning (First ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 222. ISBN 0-06-430158-3.

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