Goetheanum II: Masterpiece of Organic Architecture by Rudolf Steiner

John Paull
Additional contact information
John Paull: University of Tasmania, Australia

European Journal of Architecture and Urban Planning, 2022, vol. 1, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: The Goetheanum is one of the masterpieces of Twentieth Century architecture. The present building is the second iteration of Dr Rudolf Steiner’s ideas of organic architecture for the site on a hill overlooking the Swiss village of Dornach. The Goetheanum was intended as a theatre and the global headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society. Goetheanum I was a quaint all timber structure, opened on 26 September 1920. In 1921, Rudolf Steiner considered that a rebuild would be quite different. On 31 December 1922, Goetheanum I was destroyed by fire. By July 1923, funds were guaranteed for a new build. Shortly after the Christmas Conference of 1923, Rudolf Steiner presented a 1:100 scale clay model of Goetheanum II. In June 1924, the building application was submitted, and in November approved. Site work began in Rudolf Steiner's lifetime, but he died on 30 March 1925. On 29 September 1928, Goetheanum II was officially opened with plays, lectures and Eurythmy performances. This was a building, unlike any other, a grand sculpture in reinforced concrete. The furbishing of the interior proceeded over the following decades. The present paper relates the story of Goetheanum II, citing contemporary sources and illustrated with historical and present-day images.

Keywords: Anthroposophy; Anthroposophical Society; Dornach; reinforced concrete; Switzerland; Spiritual Science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://eu-opensci.org/index.php/arch/article/view/609 Abstract page (text/html)
https://eu-opensci.org/index.php/arch/article/download/609/233 Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:epw:arch00:v:1:y:2022:i:4:id:609

DOI: 10.24018/ejarch.2022.1.4.9

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in European Journal of Architecture and Urban Planning from European Open Science Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Support ().