Clay is everywhere! Isn't it? Both in our country and in those climatic areas where clay is not of the highest quality, you can find buildings made of it.
It is unknown when the first buildings made of it appeared. In Turkmenistan and Iraq, archaeologists are finding the remains of ancient huts that are more than 10,000 years old.
The most famous earthwork structure in Russia is the Prioratsky Palace in Gatchina, which is the only monument of earthwork construction of the late 18th century in Russia.
The Prioratsky Palace has been standing for 200 years on the shore of the artificial Black Lake. Time has spared the palace, and the choice of material has contributed significantly to this. In the days of World War II there were fierce battles here. Even the massive stone buildings collapsed from the shells and bombs, but the earthen palace survived. N.А. Lvov selected such a composition of soil mass that it still rivals the strength of reinforced concrete.
The Great Wall of China, the greatest construction of mankind, is made of clay and only in a few places reinforced with stones.
Today, some parts are ruined because of the old brick trade. It is used to build new houses for the poor. In contrast, in Japan, clay is still considered to be the material best suited to climate and aesthetic requirements and is used in tea ceremony houses. Japanese craftsmen know how to decorate clay, this knowledge is also remembered in the Himalayas and India.
The houses are also built at an altitude of 3,600 meters, their thick walls keep the heat in and keep out the cold, as for example the former residence of the Dalai Lama in the city of Lhasa.
The structures radiate dignity, they are not residential, they are for the soul. Today, after decades of Chinese domination, the residences can barely survive. An impressive earthen structure was the fortress in the Iranian city of Bam. Together with a large part of the city, it was destroyed by an earthquake in December 2003.
For more than two thousand years, this castle stood on a hill. Distantly, a notable evidence of the Persian Empire's architectural culture. Now construction workers are looking for a way to build earthquake-resistant structures.
In the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen's distinctive culture of clay nine-storey houses, which are five hundred years old, was spotted.
Thanks to it, the fabulous city of Sana'a owes its nickname of the most beautiful Arab city in the world. It is often called "the oldest city of skyscrapers in the world" or "Manhattan of the desert". The ancient construction techniques seem to meet the current requirements of building construction.