ABSTRACT
Earthen structures have been part of human history and civilization ever since the first formation of agricultural human societies. During medieval ages, earth was used all over Central Europe, while nowadays, one third of the world’s population, dwells in earthen structures. Due to the beneficial role of earthen materials in social, financial and environmental terms, clay has been reconsidered as a building material in modern structures. In the present paper the physical and mechanical characteristics of old clay mortars have been analyzed through different research works. The aim was to understand their behavior as to produce new compatible repair mortars. Moving on a step further, the vulnerability of clay mortars to humidity was approached by using new materials based on nanotechnology. The behavior of the new produced mortars was tested through different durability tests. The results are encouraging for the improvement of genuine weakness of clay mortars.
