German schmear is a faux-antique brick look that I’ve noticed in some new LDS meetinghouses. It seems to be less about trying to look old as it is trying to add vibrancy to the brickwork. It has a particularly energetic appearance here in the backdoor to the meetinghouse.
This 2010 Herriman chapel is a beautiful addition to the standard model, with pointed gothic arches and brickwork suggestive of medieval flying buttresses. It’s the only recent LDS meetinghouse I’ve seen using gothic motifs. I’ve also seen medieval English churches with exactly this kind of brickwork in their walls, presumably as a way of reinforcing a load-bearing wall.
12220 S 5600 W, Herriman, UT 84096
LDS Meetinghouse Architecture 