Project Description

The Project LASI

Through the case study of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore in the second half of the 14th century, the project LASI - Labour, accountability and social impact of public buildings in premodern times aims to outline a model of public work organisation capable of having a positive impact on building objectives and on the city's social fabric, and representative of a set of good practices capable of responding with resilience to the crises produced by epidemics, wars and famines.
The analysis of past experiences that were able to overcome harsh economic, demographic and social criticalities intends to contribute to the reflection on decision-making options for today's policy makers, on corporate social responsibility and on the adaptability required of employers and workers.
The project aims to identify the elements that enabled the Opera, despite the difficulties, to complete the works entrusted to it, among which the cathedral stands out; and it intends to verify the hypothesis that the reasons for this success lay in the system of work and labour management, the constituent elements of which can be traced back to the mid 14th century.
The objective will be achieved by setting up a reference scheme that considers: the organisation of the workers; labour relations and their reporting; administrative practices of planning and control; social responsibility and ante litteram welfare policies; the accountability and transparency required in the management of public resources; the involvement of the territory's socio-economic actors, with the consequent social impact.
These potential good practices will be discussed from a historical and corporate perspective in order to draw 'lessons from the past', useful in the exceptional period we are currently experiencing to suggest approaches and solutions to the crisis.

 

Work packages

WP 1 (months 1-3): Research planning and database structuring

WP 2 (months 4-13):  Data entry and analysis of the workforce

WP 3 (months 11-20): Analysis of the prodromes of accountability and resilience

WP 4 (months 14-24): Scientific production and dissemination

 

This project is funded by the University of Florence (via DM 737 Ministry of University - Next Generation EU) and by the Fondazione Cassa Risparmio di Firenze, within the programme "Bando di Ateneo per il finanziamento di progetti competitivi per Ricercatori a Tempo Determinato (RTD) dell’Università di Firenze 2022-2023"