Goetheanum
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The Goetheanum, located in Dornach (near Basel), Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement. Named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the center includes a 1,000 seat performance hall and administrative spaces for the Anthroposophical Society's Board; neighboring buildings house the Society's research and educational facilities. Conferences focusing on themes of general interest occur several times a year. Specialist conferences for teachers, farmers, doctors, therapists, and many other professions are held regularly, as well.
The Goetheanum is open for visitors seven days a week and offers tours several times daily.
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[edit] First Goetheanum
The First Goetheanum, a wooden structure designed by Rudolf Steiner,[1][2], was one of seventeen buildings Steiner designed and supervised between 1908 and 1925.[3] It was intended as a Gesamtkunstwerk (the synthesis of diverse artistic media and sensory effects), infused with spiritual significance.[4] Built initially between 1913 and 1919 to house the annual summer theater events of the Anthroposophical Society,[5] it became the center of a small colony of spiritual seekers located in Dornach and based around Rudolf Steiner. The creation of the building involved numerous visual artists: stained glass windows added color into the space, painters decorated the ceiling with motifs depicting the whole of human evolution, sculptors carved huge column bases, capitals, and architraves with images of metamorphoses,[6] and architects created the unusual double-dome wooden structure over a curving concrete base.[3] Already during the construction, musicians, actors and movement artists began performing a wide variety of pieces in a neighboring workshop. When the Goetheanum hall was completed, these performances moved onto the stage located under the Goetheanum's smaller cupola. The auditorium was located under the larger cupola.
This building was destroyed by arson on New Year's Eve, 1922.[6]
[edit] Second Goetheanum
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In the course of 1923, Steiner designed a building to replace the original. This building, now known as the Second Goetheanum, was wholly built of cast concrete. Begun in 1924, the building was not completed until 1928, [5] after the architect's death. It represents a pioneering use of visible concrete in architecture[7] and has been granted protected status as a Swiss national monument.[8] Art critic Michael Brennan has called the building a "true masterpiece of 20th-century expressionist architecture".[9]
The present Goetheanum houses a 1000-seat auditorium, now the center of an active artistic community incorporating performances of its in-house theater and eurythmy troupes as well as visiting performers from around the world. Full remodelings of the central auditorium took place in the mid-1950s and again in the first years of the twenty-first century. The stained glass windows in the present building stem from Steiner's time; the painted ceiling and sculptural columns are contemporary replications or reinterpretations of those in the First Goetheanum.
[edit] Architectural principles
Steiner's architecture is characterized by a liberation from traditional architectural constraints, especially through the departure from the right-angle as a basis for the building plan. For the first Goetheanum he achieved this in wood by employing boat builders to construct its rounded forms; for the second Goetheanum, in concrete, achieving sculptural shapes on an architectural scale.[10] The use of concrete to achieve organically expressive forms was an innovation for the times; in both buildings, Steiner sought to create forms that were spiritually expressive.[11]
Steiner designed approximately 12-13 other built structures, principally residences in and around Dornach.[11]
Modern architects who have visited and praised the Goetheanum's architecture include Henry van de Velde, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hans Scharoun and Frank Gehry.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ Patrice Goulet, "Les Temps Modernes?", L'Architecture D'Aujourd'hui, Dec. 1982, pp. 8-17.
- ^ Goetheanum I in The Great Buildings Collection, compiled by ArchitectureWeek. Great buildings online listing
- ^ a b David Adams, "Rudolf Steiner's First Goetheanum as an Illustration of Organic Functionalism", The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 51(2), 182-204, June 1992. Abstract
- ^ Eugene Santomasso, Origins and Aims of German Expressionist Architecture: An essay into the expressionist frame of mind in Germany, especially as typified in the work of Rudolf Steiner, Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1973, AAT 7616368. Dissertation extract
- ^ a b Beate Steinberg, Sculptural Architecture: Rudolf Steiner's Goetheanum at Dornach, from wood to concrete, Master's thesis, California State University, 1976, AAT 1308149.
- ^ a b Bernadette (Becky) Schwarz, A Study of Rudolf Steiner's First Goetheanum, M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, 1983.
- ^ "Dornach", Historical Lexicon of Switzerland
- ^ Hans Hasler, "A sculptural expression of harmony", Architects' Journal , S9(3), March 4, 1999.
- ^ Michael Brennan, "Rudolf Steiner", review in artnet Magazine, 3/18/98. Artnet review
- ^ Richard Reid, The book of buildings: Ancient, medieval, Renaissance & modern architecture of North America & Europe, ISBN 0442278055. Chapter title "Modern Architecture", subsection "Switzerland".
- ^ a b Werner Blaser, Nature in Buildings: Rudolf Steiner in Dornach 1913-1925, ISBN 3764365412
- ^ Reinhold Johann Fäth, Rudolf Steiner Design – Spiritueller Funktionalismus Kunst, Diss. University of Konstanz (2004) (as PDF)
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Goetheanum 3D VRML Models by Horst Kiechle
- The First Goetheanum at the Great buildings online website
- My Switzerland: Goetheanum
