03.11.2024

Stonemasons in charge

Building design

CSR – a term that has become an integral part of today’s corporate world. It stands for corporate activities that go beyond day-to-day business. STEIN shows how stonemasonry companies can implement this in their corporate culture. What does CSR stand for? CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and refers to responsible corporate management with – fair business practices,Advertorial Article Parallax Article – employee-oriented personnel policy, […]

CSR – a term that has become an integral part of today’s corporate world. It stands for corporate activities that go beyond day-to-day business. STEIN shows how stonemasonry companies can implement this in their corporate culture.

CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and refers to responsible corporate management with

– fair business practices,

– employee-oriented personnel policy,

– economical use of natural resources,

– protection of the climate and environment,

– social commitment and

– acceptance of responsibility across the entire supply chain

Source: Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

CSR in small companies

The “CSR in one-person companies” guide from the “InnoTrain CSR” compendium at www.csr-training.eu offers a simple guide to implementing CSR based on five steps:

Step 1: Decide what the company should stand for.
Which personal, societal, ecological and social values should be used strategically in the company and can be implemented operationally.

Step 2: Gather relevant information.
The introduction of CSR is based on a comprehensive analysis of the internal and external fields of action in the areas of company/employees, market, environment and society

Step 3: Set goals.
The goals for a change of direction towards CSR should also focus on strengths within the company without losing sight of minimizing weaknesses.

Step 4: Implement measures.
Consistency and communication as well as a certain staying power ensure the sustainability and credibility of CSR measures and prevent well-intentioned actionism.

Step 5: Review results and communicate commitment.
Communicating the successes at the end of a CSR process means that CSR can take effect. However, strategic communication is also useful during the implementation of a “CSR policy of small steps”.

CSR guidelines: You can adhere to these
The European Commission lists five principles and guidelines that companies should adhere to:

1) The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are a set of voluntary recommendations for responsible business conduct and include labor relations, human rights, environmental protection, information disclosure, anti-corruption and consumer protection.

2) The ten principles of the “Global Compact” advocate, among other things, compliance with human rights and certain labor standards, such as the prohibition of forced and child labor, consideration of environmental protection and the fight against corruption.

3) The ISO 26000 standard explains CSR principles such as accountability, transparency and networking and provides recommendations on how companies should behave in order to be accepted by society

4) The tripartite Declaration of Principles of the International Labor Office (ILO) on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy refers to the employment of employees, their training, their working and living conditions and labor relations. It includes aspects such as equal opportunities, occupational health and safety and freedom of association.

5) The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights aim to ensure respect for human rights worldwide.

Examples from practice

If you search for keywords in search engines on the homepages, you will find statements from stonemasonry companies on social responsibility or environmental commitment. Here is a selection:

– 30-year-old master stonemason and sculptor Sebastian Harich from Neunkirchen is the 2012 Best Master Stonemason and Stone Sculptor of the Year. He set up his own business in 2013. On his homepage www.steinmetz.nrw, he is quoted in the “Best Master Portrait” menu with regard to his responsibility for people and nature:
“I generally use local materials. In this way, transport routes can be minimized, our environment protected and local jobs preserved. I also take great care to ensure that the stone I source bears seals of approval that meet recognized social and ecological standards. STEIN sourced from India or China always carry the risk that they were mined and processed using child labor or wage slavery. I do not tolerate that.” He also emphasizes this on his homepage, where the point “social and environmental compatibility” is next to “uniqueness” and “best quality craftsmanship from a master craftsman”.

– Master stonemason and stone sculptor and state-certified designer Gregor Schulte and sculptor Kerstin Schulte from Möhnesee-Büecke write on their homepage www.gregor-schulte.com in the menu item “About us” under the heading “Ecological & social responsibility”:
“In our dealings with wood and natural stone, we use local materials wherever possible. This protects our environment thanks to short transportation routes and environmentally friendly extraction and production methods. We can also guarantee fair working conditions in this way. If you require a material that does not come from our region, we will be happy to source certified products.”

– Master stonemason and stone sculptor Jochen Herzog from Kirchheim unter Teck has been self-employed for over 20 years and has had his own workshop since 2001. Sustainability is important to him, as a tab in the menu bar on his homepage www.stein-gestalten.de shows.
Under “Material” , it says: “The work from our workshop is made from local or European materials. In this way, we keep transport routes as short as possible and have largely personal insight into the quarries and working and production methods (including fair wages, no child labor, compliance with environmental regulations) of our suppliers. We can rework old gravestones on request. This honors a piece of family history and preserves and reuses valuable raw materials.”

On the subject of “energy”, the following can be read: “We purchase the sustainably generated electricity for our production and our business premises from Elektrizitätswerke Schönau out of conviction.”

– Master stonemason and stone sculptor Georg Staubes from Solingen is a member of the “Handwerk mit Verantwortung” association. He writes on the homepage of his website www.georg-staubes.de:

“Natural stone design with local and regional materials: the individual design of gravestones focuses on handcrafted stonework, lettering design, ornamentation, sculptural work and the use of local and regional natural stones.”

Find out more about CSR activities:

www.csrforum.eu
www.csrgermany.de
www.csr-in-deutschland.de
www.csr-preis-bund.de
www.csr-mittelstand.de
www.csr-unternehmen.de
www.csr-wissen-mittelstand.net

30.10.2024

Industry news

Giotto’s frescoes are now shown to even better advantage

Building design

Cultural asset, International

Inauguration of the new lighting in the Capella degli Scrovegni in Padua. Photo: Iguzzini

Of Giotto’s surviving works, the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua remains the most famous to this day. It has now been newly illuminated by Iguzzini, the Italian manufacturer of architectural lighting. An undertaking that has paid off. It is a highlight of art history: the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua. The aristocratic banker and entrepreneur Enrico Scrovegni had it […]

It is a highlight of art history: the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua. The aristocratic banker and entrepreneur Enrico Scrovegni had it built in 1300 on the ruins of a Roman amphitheater (arena). The Florentine master Giotto di Bondone created the frescoes of the now world-famous chapel between 1302 and 1305 in just under 860 days. The artist was not even 40 years old at the time. He depicted scenes from the Old and New Testaments over an area of 1,000 square meters – revolutionizing painting in the process.

At the beginning of September, the new lighting was presented in a festive setting on the premises of the Musei Civici with a major international press conference followed by a tour of the chapel. The Italian company Iguzzini, which specializes in lighting, has long since made a name for itself in the field of museum lighting technology and developed outstanding solutions for the Leonardo Supper in Milan and in the theater in Taormina. For their latest coup in Padua, the lighting experts worked closely with the Commissione Interdisciplinare per la Conservazione ed il Restauro della Cappella degli Scrovegni and the Sezione di Fotometria dell’Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro in Padua.

Read more in the current issue of RESTAURO 7/2017, www.restauro.de/shop

Here are some impressions from Padua:

Video 1

Video 2

22.12.2024

Hotel

On the road at the Volkshaus Basel

Building design

Basel, Herzog & de Meuron

The Basel Volkshaus from 1925 had little original substance to show for itself due to extensive renovations. Herzog & de Meuron have reinvented the history of the building in their renovation and created an impressively harmonious atmosphere between yesterday and today.

Since 1846, Underberg in the Lower Rhine region has been brewing a herbal digestif according to the secret recipe Semper Idem – but always something new. It is therefore fitting that two of the small bottles, wrapped in brown paper, are on offer in the hotel rooms of the Volkshaus. Tidied up in the Vitra toolbox, together with a book from the Swiss Diogenes publishing house, glasses, sewing kit and the remote control for the TV, which is conveniently hidden behind a curtain.

Semper Idem – but the Volkshaus itself is always new: Founded in the 14th century as a bailiwick, the place was transformed into a brewery and inn in 1845, and a beer and concert hall was added in 1874. Architect Henri Baur won the competition to build the new political, social and cultural meeting place in a prime location, which belonged to the city of Basel at the time. In 1925, the stately new Volkshaus was completed and expanded to include additional halls, a library and a hotel. A hybrid, one would say today, a city within the city, was the name of the game at the time. Demolition was averted in the 1970s, but the building was not treated with care.

When Basel architects Herzog & de Meuron were commissioned to renovate the Volkshaus in 2011, they found nothing of architectural significance, apart from the windows. Work began on the event halls, the bar and the brasserie. Suspended LED lights with thick-walled, hand-blown glass bodies replaced the chandeliers, and 255 bentwood chairs were commissioned from Horgenglarus. The design corresponds to the original from 1925, but the new backrests are all individually and visibly numbered. Today, as then, pewter covers the bar counter and tables. The mosaic fans on the floor were laid by hand. Etchings from the 17th century, enlarged on strips of wallpaper, adorn the washrooms as well as the walls of the 45 rooms and suites, which were completed at the end of 2020.

At least the architects found plans of the old staff bedrooms under the roof. They offered simple space for a bed, wardrobe and washbasin. The rooms are simple and beautiful, with furniture designed by the architects. They are entered through a wall unit, just as the meeting and office rooms used to be. It not only accommodates the checkroom, shower and toilet – the washbasin is free-standing, as in many historic Swiss hotels – but also gives rhythm to the corridor, as the shower has more depth. Incidentally, the Underberg does not replace the minibar: water, tea, coffee and apples are available on every floor. And the bitters are just as unnecessary. It’s really hard to find a hotel as wholesome and wellbeing-promoting as the Volkshaus.

Address:
Volkshaus Basel
Rebgasse 12-14
4058 Basel
Basel Switzerland
www.volkshaus-basel.ch

Would you rather go to Zurich than Basel? The architects at E2A have created an uncompromisingly modern ambience in the Hotel Placid.