There are wrought iron “stars” all over the facades of older brick buildings in the Carolinas, that people assume are purely decorative, and they did design them to be decorative. But, the primary purpose served was to keep the brick walls from collapsing into the streets as they did in 1886 during the Charleston quake.
I just saw a movie where the entire brick building was covered with something similar and I figured it was just for decoration. Of course I had to google it after your comment about the chimneys.
I couldn’t figure out how to copy the link, but the following came up on my search. Looks like an interesting college thesis:
Ties That Bind: The Emergence of Iron Tie Rod. Reinforcement in Load Bearing Masonry Buildings of Charleston, S.C.. Jamie Lynn Wiedman. Clemson University