21.11.2024

STEIN Industry Report 2020 / Construction chemicals – Part 1

Building design

Stonetec may have been postponed, but the STEIN editorial team has been asking around and has been bringing you lots of news from the materials, construction chemicals, tools & more and art foundries sectors in the 06/2020 print issue since the end of May. This news is now also appearing online – today the first part of construction chemicals: AKEMI At the specialist chemical-technical factory Akemi, […]

Stonetec may have been postponed, but the STEIN editorial team has been asking around and has been bringing you lots of news from the materials, construction chemicals, tools & more and art foundries sectors in the 06/2020 print edition since the end of May. This news is now also published online – today the first part of the construction chemicals section:

Two new products were to be presented at Stonetec 2020 by the specialist chemical-technical factory Akemi:
– The Transformer Max impregnation with extremely fast and strong color deepening as a further development of the earlier Transformer. Higher coverage: 30 -50 m²/l (for polished surfaces), food-safe and weather-resistant, can be used indoors and outdoors. Particularly suitable for color matching machined (light) edges and draining surfaces to resin-coated (dark) surfaces of worktops. Fields of application: Natural stone, terrazzo, cast stone and quartz composite. Stone surfaces can be brushed, satin-finished, finely ground or polished.
– Professional application accessories to perfectly apply the care products for natural stone, quartz composite and ceramic, such as several types of mops and pads for different applications, matching mop and pad holders, buckets, telescopic poles, spray heads and outlet taps. Akemi claims to have selected these accessories for their high quality, durability and ease of use. Because these aids prevent application errors, the high-quality construction chemicals can develop their full effectiveness.
www.akemi.de

CODEX

Codex has recently expanded its range of accessories: The new professional levelling systems are called codex LS 1 and LS 2 and are primarily designed to quickly and safely compensate for height differences between individual elements when laying large-format tiles and slabs in order to achieve a perfectly leveled tiled surface. LS 1 consists of pull tabs and wedges as well as robust metal pliers (covering thickness range from 6 – 12 mm), LS 2 with threaded tabs and ergonomic pulling hoods requires no additional tools (suitable for coverings from 3 – 20 mm). Thanks to the particularly smooth-running pulling hoods, over-tightening is virtually impossible and the open design is easy to clean to remove adhesive residue. Lugs are available for several joint widths, for joints of 1.5 or 2.0 mm in the codex LS 2 pulling hood system and 1.0 mm as a third option in the codex LS 1 wedge system. Both tab variants can simply be placed under the tile. This also creates an edge protection that offers a high level of safety when laying the adjacent tile. By slightly tightening the wedges or pulling hoods used, the tile surface can be effortlessly and precisely flattened and overcuts avoided. Once the tile adhesive has hardened, pulling hoods and wedges can be removed by lightly tapping them off, e.g. with your feet, and can be reused several times.
https://de.codex-x.com/

Originally, Fila ‘s new, particularly strong stain protection MP90Eco Xtreme would have been the center of attention at Stonetec 2020. Features: According to the manufacturer, it is extremely powerful and hardly comparable with the protective agents currently available on the market, as it is easy to apply even if there is residual moisture and can be walked on after just two hours. The UV-resistant protection is particularly suitable for areas subject to heavy wear and tear from washing, traffic and foot traffic. Spurred on by the drastic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Italian construction chemicals experts have now launched two new disinfectant cleaners on the market that not only disinfect but also clean. Both products, Rapidsan and Sanifast, are suitable for all surfaces and are specifically designed for natural stone, engineered stone and porcelain stoneware. Fila emphasizes that the cleaning, protection and care phases are always interlinked, also in terms of hygiene: “Disinfecting a dirty and damaged surface is pointless as it only has a short-term effect. The two new disinfectant cleaners are suitable for surfaces in practically any location, from the home to schools and work environments to medical facilities. The biodegradable Sanifast with lemon scent is available in a liter canister (box of six, yield 100 m2 at a dilution of 1:10, 1,000 m2 at a dilution of 1:100), it removes up to 99.9 percent of germs from floor coverings, tiled walls, stairs and sanitary areas. Rapidsan comes ready to use in a 750 ml spray bottle (also in a box of 6), is particularly environmentally friendly, contains tea tree oil and is suitable for a wide range of surfaces in addition to stone and ceramics, for example ovens, refrigerators, cars, telephones, office furniture, toys, door handles and stainless steel fittings. Both products are also suitable for rooms where animals live. They also have an odor-removing and air-freshening effect.
www.filasolutions.com/deu/

This year’s highlight for Lithofin is the new website, which went live after a 13-month project period. Managing Director Garvin Stingel is delighted with the steady increase in visitor numbers since then. “A website relaunch was urgently needed as our ‘old’ website no longer met the latest standards,” says the company boss, who is the third generation to run the company. “The fact that the site is also adapted to mobile devices and offers the best possible usability for our users was a particular focus. Features such as the ‘Lithofinder’ product database and a dealer search function are still available. These have been adapted in terms of design and handling.” The project was mainly implemented by the company’s own marketing team in collaboration with an agency from Baden-Württemberg. In addition to the optimization of the Lithofinder online product database and the dealer search application, the integration of care instructions and FAQs, which make the cleaning situation easier for users and provide them with important basics in stone care, was also of great importance.
www.lithofin.de

27.12.2024

Franken-Schotter takes over the BIM planning office Pronag

Building design

a cultural and congress center in Feldkirch in Vorarlberg, Austria

The natural stone dealer already offers BIM services and intends to expand this area with the acquisition.Franken-Schotter took over Pronag on July 1, 2018 as part of an asset deal and transfer of operations. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Pronag is regarded as a leading German BIM planning office for natural stone work. The reference list is long and includes, for example, the 3D BIM […]

The natural stone dealer already offers BIM services and intends to expand this area with the acquisition.

The Montforthaus, a cultural and congress center in Feldkirch in Vorarlberg, Austria, was planned with BIM and clad with Dietfurt limestone gala. Photo: Franken-Schotter

Marc Aßmann, Managing Director of Pronag (left) and Dr. Torsten Zech, Managing Director of Franken-Schotter. Photo: Franken-Schotter

Franken-Schotter acquired Pronag on July 1, 2018 as part of an asset deal and transfer of operations. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Pronag is regarded as a leading German BIM planning office for natural stone works. The reference list is long and includes, for example, the 3D BIM planning of the Berlin State Library and the redesign of the Rhine promenade in Basel – the latter a collaboration with Franken-Schotter.

Dr. Torsten Zech, Managing Director of Franken-Schotter, comments on the acquisition: “With this takeover, we are addressing the Building Information Modeling megatrend, which will fundamentally and sustainably change the construction industry in the coming years. We are already seeing strong demand, particularly from the English-speaking world. In addition, BIM will provide us with massive support in the digitalization of internal processes and production workflows.”

In a 2017 study , management consultants Roland Berger found that BIM is increasingly becoming the standard for the entire construction industry. And will mark a turning point in the construction industry. Marc Aßmann, master stonemason and Managing Director of Pronag Bauherren, said in an interview in STEIN S02/2018 that BIM should be used as early as possible in the planning process, as the higher the added value. Franken-Schotter is planning to do just that and wants to “be a role model within the industry with our integrated and resource-efficient value chain”. The Pronag brand will be retained and Franken-Schotter will continue to offer external natural stone planning services from its Dresden site.

21.11.2024

Trend analysis – The museum 3.0

Building design

to show the artist's working processes or to reveal unrecognizable layers of paint. Photo: Clair Obscur.

Art museums are breaking out of the building walls – into the digital space. Apps and online tours are now part of the permanent repertoire of art education. A survey of German consumers shows how this trend is reflected in the public. Advertorial Article Parallax Article On the website of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, almost every exhibit can be viewed zoomed in on in full-screen mode. […]

Art museums are breaking out of the building walls – into the digital space. Apps and online tours are now part of the permanent repertoire of art education. A survey of German consumers shows how this trend is reflected in the public.





 
				Projection technology makes it possible, for example, to show the artist's work processes or to reveal unrecognizable layers of paint. Photo: Clair Obscur.

On the website of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, almost every exhibit can be viewed zoomed in on in full-screen mode. Johannes Vermeer’s Milkmaid from 1660 gazes absorbedly at the high-resolution beam of milk-white bliss. One pupil movement further on, a field with a red background vies for attention: this painting has been “liked” 10,806 times. Next to it, a scissor symbol encourages reproductive complicity: “Get creative”, “Download this work”!

Digital surfaces – apps on tablets and smartphones that wander through the halls in visitors’ hands – have also long been a familiar feature of museum spaces. In fact, this trend is closely linked to the exponential growth in visitor numbers at many art museums. The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart counted 375,694 tickets sold in 2015: an increase of 70 percent compared to the previous year, confirms Director Christiane Lange. New technologies – keyword “augmented reality” – are already on the rise. But can this trend, which focuses on the virtual, be sustained?

A survey conducted by the market research institute Promio on behalf of the media technology company fröbus among 1068 German consumers illustrates the reactions that different digital mediation methods evoke in visitors:

Proximity or distance to the object

The results of the survey show that the digital trend is currently moving back towards the object. Instead of keeping the works seemingly close but at a distance by clicking on a screen at home or integrated into the exhibition, the information conveyed by 3D visualization or projection directly on the object is gaining attention.

This impression is also confirmed by a cross-section of the current start-up scene in museum technology. Light choreography, turntables, 3D prints. The focus is on the work of art in all its facets: Details, reverse sides, as well as reconstructions of the original state are to be made accessible to visitors to the Museum 3.0 (replacing the digital-virtual 2.0). The Berlin start-up Clair Obscur, for example, has developed a new projection technology that can reveal the artist’s working process or hidden layers of paint directly on the painting. “It is important to us,” explains Lene Fischer, co-founder of Clair Obscur, “to create a closeness to the work, to tell the story of an object.”

interactive scape, who specialize in so-called multi-touch tables, choose a different way of communication. These release digital information when they are touched with a specially created haptic object. “Above all, a visit to a museum should be an experience – a tactile experience,” says Marcel Graf from interactive scape, describing their objective. This is particularly relevant in our digital age: “Our mediation concepts focus on a museum you can touch. An experience that you can’t have at home in front of a screen.”