ABSTRACT
Historical buildings often require drastic interventions, performed with techniques that make extensive use of the new products. The tests conducted are often limited to determining their ultimate strength, disregarding their durability and their interaction with pre-existing materials. Unfortunately, where technical, conceptual and cultural aspects are concerned, there is not much clarity yet about the use of modern materials in ancient constructions. In many instances, restoration works are performed according to the criteria of modern technologies, with newly-developed materials, modelling the buildings according to resisting schemes that are not appropriate to structures created in stages at different times, thereby giving rise to hybrid forms of behaviour that cannot be readily foreseen (Binda & Saisi 2002). As a result, it proves virtually impossible to verify their efficacy and durability.
