‘Breeze Block’ Breakthrough

Imagine a row of decorative 'breeze blocks' standing outside your home—either as a simple decorative partition or an entire wall—casting eye-catching geometric shadows as they filter out the summer sun.

Now imagine Tesselle, a Southern California-based manufacturer of these masonry blocks—also known as screen blocks or 'brise soleil'—standing tall and proud behind their belief that 'breeze block is back.'

Breeze blocks are not for everyone. But for so many mid-century modern homes, they offer an attractive design element like no other. Their pleasing patterns lend themselves to a feeling of security and openness that is appealing to contemporary architects who see an opportunity to reinterpret them in the 21st century, and make something old new again.

Breeze blocks also offer privacy and ventilation, and double as shade against the sun's intense rays, minimizing heat gain, especially during the hot summer months.

Though forever intertwined with the mid-century look in residential and commercial buildings, breeze blocks have been in use throughout history, and were extremely popular during the building boom of the postwar.

Well, thanks to their resurgence in recent years, breeze blocks are indeed back. Just ask Karin Jeske, Tesselle's designer and founder. With a background studying textile design in college, Jeske launched Tesselle in 2012 with a line of cement tile—"12 modern designs I designed myself while using century-old techniques of manufacturing hand-print tiles."

Her initial line of breeze blocks followed in 2018. Over the following six years, Jeske's company, headquartered in Riverside, has grown into a full-time operation with more than 120 patterns for the two products.

Historically, breeze blocks were made in local markets. "But those companies are either gone now, or not interested in making [as few as] 140 blocks for a homeowner, so it's a nice little niche for us," says Jeske.

This is inviting news for owners of mid-century modern homes, who tend to buy smaller quantities.

"Breeze blocks have become an important part of our business, in addition to the tile," Jeske said upon her return from Tesselle's March '24 exhibit at the National Builders Show in Las Vegas.

"We get people [from] all over the country—California being our biggest state, with Florida second," she says. "I try to design things for people who like modern to contemporary design."

Jeske is excited about an upcoming collaboration with designer Trina Turk, who recently announced a tile partnership with Tesselle that is expected to launch mid-to-late summer 2024.