Bricks are quite common in Europe, at least for buildings up to a certain height. The resulting buildings here (in Germany) offer higher living quality with better thermal and acoustic insulation than a typical North American beams + drywalls building. That's just an observation though and maybe the general construction method is not the cause - maybe it's just because our windows and doors are much more solid.
Also... what does "much more solid" windows mean exactly? Like, are you saying European window glass is... thicker or something? Which wouldn't make any sense, and I'm not even sure what a benefit would be?
Unless someone has some actual comparative statistics, the idea that European windows are somehow more "solid" than North American ones isn't at all obvious. I've spent years living on both continents and never noticed a huge difference. What matters the most is simply the age of and investment in the building, not which continent you're on.
[1] https://www.dwmmag.com/survey-multi-pane-windows-now-on-59-p...
Even 80-90 years ago, brick housing in wester Europe was made with walls of two layers with an air/insulation cavity inbetween. Current practices usually don't use clay bricks but aerated concrete [1] which has great thermal insulation, plus insulation layers on top.
> what does "much more solid" windows mean exactly
Triple-glazed windows with well-insulated frames, rather than single-pane push-up windows that leak heat like a sieve. Massive difference in thermal and acoustic insulation.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoclaved_aerated_concrete
A standard two-cell "cinder block" in the US weighs around 17.5kg and costs around $2.00 at home depot [1]. I suspect they'll be much cheaper in bulk. Maybe $1.50 if you buy thousands?
The same thing costs ₹65 INR in India [2]. Or about $0.89 (₹73 INR = $1 USD). Not sure if they would accept orders for a single block at that site.
So, more expensive in the US. But not extremely so.
[1] https://www.homedepot.com/p/16-in-x-8-in-x-8-in-Normal-Weigh... [2] https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/concrete-hollow-blocks-...
Bricklaying requires much more labor than wooden frame construction. And it requires more skill which most contractors do not have.
It's more expensive for these basic economic reasons.
https://theconstructor.org/construction/masonry/load-bearing...
In the first world, brick construction is extremely expensive and you're right -- modern residences are often built with structural beams (whether wood or steel), and the brick is usually just a veneer.
But in the third world, variants of brick (e.g. cinder block) are often the norm, and are structurally load-bearing, and work fine for two to three stories. And they're very easy and cheap to build with.
The US has a ton of cheap lumber so load-bearing wood frames are common. Many countries don't have forests like that so bricks/blocks are the way to go.