In researching the history of breeze blocks, we found that their story is less of a straight line and more of a shared architectural idea that appeared in different places, climates, and over time.
Long before the modern concrete breeze block, many cultures around the world, particularly in hot climates, would strive to find decorative ways to incorporate sun shading into architecture using screens, lattices, and perforated walls made from wood, clay and other materials to manage light, air, privacy, and heat.
Cobogó became the Brazilian name for a “void brick,” a perforated masonry block developed in Recife, Brazil, and patented in 1929. Created for tropical climates, it allowed buildings to receive natural light and ventilation while maintaining privacy.
The name "Cobogó" combines parts of the surnames of its three inventors: Amadeu Oliveira Coimbra, who was Portuguese; Ernest August Boeckmann, who was German; and Antônio de Góis, who was Brazilian.
Cobogós became part of the language of modern Brazilian design, finding their place in homes and public buildings.
Frank Lloyd Wright was experimenting with decorative concrete “textile block” systems, seen in private homes such as the Storer House in Los Angeles, completed in 1924. These blocks were usually solid and richly patterned, but Wright’s system also included perforated versions that allowed light and air to pass through, making them early relatives of the modern screen block.
In 1930, The Arizona Biltmore, designed by Albert Chase McArthur, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, incorporated large textile block installations, both indoors and outdoors, including some that had openings.
Breeze Blocks are said to have first appeared in Vietnam in the 1930s, being produced in small factories.
In 1939, the Brazilian Pavilion by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer introduced Brazilian modernism to an international audience at the New York World Fair. Its elevated form, sweeping ramp, tropical planting, and perforated façade combined modern design with practical responses to climate. The breeze-block-like screen filtered sunlight, created privacy and shadow, and pointed toward the later importance of Cobogós and brise-soleil in Brazilian architecture. The Cobogó also became more than a functional building element. In Brazilian modern architecture, it was used for its visual rhythm, shadow, and sculptural quality. 
Located prominently on the Praça dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Square) in Maputo, Mozambique, the Prédio Abreu, Santos e Rocha stands as a striking testament to mid-century modern architectural innovation. Completed in 1956 directly across from the city's historic railway station, this landmark building was designed by the visionary, Portuguese-born modernist architect Amancio Guedes (Pancho Guedes).
True to Guedes’ eclectic and expressive style, the building seamlessly blends functionalist modernism with bold artistic flair. Its most defining feature is the captivating facade on the left, which displays intricate geometric grids that create a dynamic interplay of light, shadow, and texture—evoking the spirit of traditional decorative screen walls while remaining firmly rooted in avant-garde 1950s design.
Architect Edward Durell Stone’s American Embassy in New Delhi, which opened in 1959, and won him a spot on the cover of Time Magazine, is an important reference in the history of decorative screen walls. Stone used patterned concrete screen elements, which he called Empress Blocks, to filter the intense sun while giving the building a ceremonial presence. The façade shows how a screen wall could be both climate-responsive and highly architectural, becoming not just a shading device but a defining part of the building’s identity, and was described as a type of brise-soleil. With this commission, Stone is credited with bringing breeze blocks in their current form, to the world stage.
Stone received a patent for his ornamental wall block in 1959, but by then similar screen blocks had already become widely popular and were being produced by other manufacturers. With the idea already broadly copied, Stone chose not to pursue litigation and never enforced the patent.
While the U.S. Embassy was being built, Stone updated his personal residence, a traditional New York City brownstone, with a facade of Empress Blocks, which won him both praise and criticism.
Breeze Blocks immediately exploded in popularity and manufacturers around the world started producing them to sell in their local markets. Advertisements were found in newspapers, magazines and trade journals.
Completed in 1961 by architects Pereira & Luckman, Welton Becket, and Paul R. Williams, the iconic Space Age Theme Building at LAX uses an expansive installation of breeze blocks as a vital design anchor. The prominent decorative concrete screen walls surround the futuristic structure, balancing its soaring, flying-saucer curves with regional mid-century texture. By casting sharp geometric shadows across the pavilion, these breeze blocks ground the dramatic architecture, serving as a masterclass in how functional sunscreens were elevated into a defining aesthetic of postwar American modernism.
By the turn of the 1960s, what began as a functional mid-century sun-shading solution rapidly evolved from a niche architectural accent into a global design phenomenon. Production and pattern variations exploded as breeze blocks transitioned from residential privacy walls into the mainstream, dominating the facades of trendy restaurants and nightclubs, sprawling retail strips, corporate offices, and new educational and government campuses. Beyond their structural utility, these intricate screen walls caught the eye of the commercial world, regularly serving as striking, high-contrast backdrops for fashion shoots and advertising campaigns. While this architectural boom swept across the postwar landscape, it found its true creative epicenters in Palm Springs and Miami. In these sun-drenched hubs, designers fully embraced the material's ability to filter intense light, transforming the humble concrete block into an iconic symbol of tropical glamour and desert modernism.
By the late 1970s, breeze blocks had largely fallen out of fashion. The manufacturers that once produced decorative screen blocks either went out of business or shifted their attention to more standard masonry products. Over time, many of the walls that had helped define the look of midcentury resorts, storefronts, apartments, and civic buildings were neglected, altered, or demolished.
In places like Las Vegas, where reinvention often meant erasure, large breeze block installations were especially vulnerable. What had once symbolized glamour, leisure, and modern design could later be seen as outdated, inexpensive, or expendable. By the 1990s, many of these walls were coming down along with the buildings they had helped make memorable.
Fast forward 30 years, and breeze blocks are back in a big way. Advances in manufacturing have made it possible to produce more tailored designs, while improved logistics allow heavy masonry products to be shipped farther and more efficiently. Patterns that were popular in the midcentury era have been brought back, and a new generation of designers is creating original blocks for today’s homes, hotels, restaurants, offices, and outdoor spaces.
This revival is not just nostalgia. Breeze blocks still solve practical problems: they filter sun, create privacy, allow airflow, and add architectural pattern without closing off a space. What once appeared on resort façades and suburban patios is now being reimagined for contemporary design.
There is also a growing appreciation for the original blocks that survived. When midcentury buildings are razed today, decorative elements are often salvaged, preserved, and lovingly repurposed in new buildings. Breeze blocks that might once have been discarded are now recognized as part of a broader design story, linking contemporary architecture back to the optimism, experimentation, and craft of the midcentury era.
Sources:
Cobogós, textile-block ou módulo?
Cobogós: breve história e usos
Cobogó Wikipedia Page
Cobogó and the Coloniality of the Brise-Soleil
Concrete Screen Block by Ron and Barbara Marshall
Edward Durell Stone Wikipedia Page
Hoa Gio: The Development of Modern Vietnamese Architectural Element Beyond the Ventilation Block
Time Magazine Archives
Please note: Historical photos, real buildings, and AI-generated images were used to tell this story.