02.01.2025

Kiesel expands its technology and training center

Building design

The construction chemicals manufacturer is expanding its research department to include a special climate room. Photo: Kiesel Bauchemie GmbH

The construction chemicals manufacturer expands its research department with a special climate room and enlarges the training rooms.Kiesel Bauchemie, whose production and administration have been based in Esslingen-Berkheim since 1963, has been using the former production halls for its research department and application technology since the early 1990s. The department, which also includes the training center, is called the “DenkFabrik” by the family business. By fall 2019, it will be significantly […]

The construction chemicals manufacturer is expanding its research department with a special climate room and enlarging the training rooms.

The construction chemicals manufacturer is expanding its research department to include a special climatic room. Photo: Kiesel Bauchemie GmbH

Managing Directors Wolfgang Kiesel and Beatrice Kiesel-Luik are delighted with the expansion of the “DenkFabrik”. Photo: Kiesel Bauchemie GmbH

Kiesel Bauchemie, whose production and administration have been based in Esslingen-Berkheim since 1963, has been using the former production halls for its research department and application technology since the early 1990s. The department, which also includes the training center, is called the “DenkFabrik” by the family business. It is set to grow significantly by fall 2019.

Owner Wolfgang Kiesel says that personal contact with customers plays a crucial role. The expansion means that training courses and consultations can also be held as webinars in future.

The company is also expanding the test and office space for application technology and adapting the laboratory space to the new conditions. The research department will have a special climate-controlled room. It enables the climatic conditions of those regions of the world in which Kiesel is active to be reproduced. The products are thus adapted to local requirements and tested under authentic conditions.

Kiesel Bauchemie develops, produces and sells levelling compounds, dispersion adhesives for laying resilient and textile floor coverings, materials for laying parquet flooring and fine mortar for laying ceramic tiles, slabs and natural stone. The company employs 160 people. In addition to its headquarters in Esslingen, it has a branch in Tangermünde. It also has subsidiaries in the Benelux countries, France, the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland as well as numerous consulting and sales centers.

02.12.2024

Opportunities

Stonematters

Building design

Limestone is used almost exclusively as a decorative material in Palestine – which means that know-how in the construction industry is being lost. This is why the AAU Anastas architecture firm is devoting itself to the use of limestone as a structural material: the recently constructed “Stonematters” pavilion in Jericho is a self-supporting vault. The project name is intended to imply that it is an important […]

Limestone is used almost exclusively as a decorative material in Palestine – which means that know-how in the construction industry is being lost. This is why the AAU Anastas architecture firm is focusing on the use of limestone as a structural material: the recently constructed “Stonematters” pavilion in Jericho is a self-supporting vault.

The project name is intended to imply that this is an important topic – but also to show how innovative techniques can be applied to the traditional material.

The architects from Palestine draw on the ancient principle of stereotomy: stone is used as the load-bearing building material, with the elements supporting each other. The concept goes back to the origins of construction.

The Stonematters vault has a span of seven meters and covers an area of 60 square meters. The structural elements are only twelve centimeters thick. In total, the vault consists of 300 individual parts.

Scales” research institute

AAU Anastas is conducting research into three-dimensional and parametric vaults with its “Scales” research institute together with the GSA Lab of ENSA Paris-Malaquais. The findings of the study will be used for the construction of a residential complex: “El-atlal” will be built as accommodation for artists and writers in Jericho. Stonematters is therefore a first test – and will serve as one of the roofs of the complex.

The research work also aims to ensure that limestone is used again in contemporary architecture in Palestine. The study deals with computer simulations and fabrication techniques. The aim is to use contemporary construction techniques to reflect a local and global architectural language.

Computer simulations were used to determine the loads in the construction. This made it possible to determine how best to transfer them and calculate the optimal shape of the STEIN.

The entire project was developed with the expertise of people from the Jericho region. Various companies were commissioned and knowledge was gathered. The building blocks were sawn out of the raw blocks by one company – and transported to another for the carving work.

Styrofoam elements were attached to a scaffold for assembly. They form the underside of the vault. During the step-by-step dismantling of the scaffolding, attention was paid to movements or subsidence in the vault.

Aims of the project

After completion, many residents of Jericho and other parts of Palestine came to see the pavilion. The architects wanted to create a link between the country’s historical sites and urban morphologies – and also between the latest manufacturing processes and local factories. The basic idea behind the project is simple: limestone is a material that is available in large quantities in Palestine.

06.01.2025

KUNST AUF LAGER – Video about the funding project

Building design

The KUNST AUF LAGER alliance is dedicated to all those objects that usually end up in depots but not in exhibition spaces because museums lack the financial means. The aim is to open up, research and secure valuable cultural assets that are hidden in storage. To mark the halfway point of the Alliance, the representatives and […]

The KUNST AUF LAGER alliance is dedicated to all those objects that usually end up in depots but not in exhibition spaces because museums lack the financial means. The aim is to open up, research and secure valuable cultural assets that are hidden in storage. The representatives and partners met at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich to discuss the halfway point of the alliance. One of the funded projects was also presented here, a tapestry measuring 32 square meters and made before 1563 according to designs by the Flemish Renaissance artist Pieter Coecke van Aelst. The project was made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Foundation.

KUNST AUF LAGER takes stock at the halfway point – read the article in the upcoming issue of RESTAURO, available from September 9. Further examples of KUNST AUF LAGER funding can be found on the alliance’s website and in our RESTAURO issues from 01/2015 – in the regularly featured “Funded by” section on page 10.

A comprehensive technical article on the restoration of the tapestry will be published in the special issue of the next RESTAURO. You can find out more here.