Goetheanum

The new Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, was cast in concrete between 1924-28 on the site of the original wooden Goetheanum, which burned down on New Year’s Eve in 1922. The core of the building consists of a hall for one thousand viewers with a large stage. At the ceremonial opening in 1928, the building was far from completed. The Goetheanum was gradually finished by 1998. It was declared a national cultural monument five years before completion. The Goetheanum is still true to its original mission: supporting alternative education, schooling, and culture.

The First Goetheanum – was a wooden building designed by Rudolf Steiner in Dornach as one of seventeen buildings created there between 1908-25. The Goetheanum was intended as a gesamtkunstwerk (a synthesis of various artistic media and sensory effects) imbued with spiritual significance. It was constructed between 1913-19 and was originally meant to host the regular summer theatrical festivals of the Anthroposophical Society. It soon became the center of a small community of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. People gathered in Dornach around the charismatic figure of Rudolf Steiner. Many artists were involved in the construction: stained glass provided color to the space, painters decorated the ceiling with motifs of human evolution, sculptors carved enormous bases and capitals for the columns, and the architraves create a transition between the unusually designed wooden double dome and the curved concrete base. Even during the construction, musicians, actors, and dancers began to perform their shows in the nearby rehearsal space. When the main hall was completed, these performances moved to the stage under the smaller dome. The audience area was located under the larger dome. The wooden Goetheanum was destroyed by an arsonist during New Year’s Eve night in 1922.

The Second Goetheanum – was built on the same site and replaced the original burned structure. The project, constructed entirely of poured concrete, was developed according to Steiner’s plans from 1923. Construction began a year later, and the building was completed only after the architect's death. The structure represents a completely innovative use of exposed concrete in architecture. In 1993, the Goetheanum was granted the status of a Swiss national monument. Art critic Michael Brennan called the building “a true masterpiece of 20th-century expressionist architecture.”
The current Goetheanum houses a hall for 1,000 viewers, serving as the center for the artistic society for performances by the local theater and eurythmy company as well as guest artists from around the world. The reconstruction of the main hall took place in the mid-1950s and at the beginning of this century. The stained glass in the current building dates back to Steiner’s time; the ceiling painting and sculpturally shaped columns are contemporary replicas or interpretations of original elements from the first Goetheanum.
Architectural Foundations – Steiner's architecture is characterized by the effort to free itself from traditional architectural constraints, especially abandoning the right angle as the cornerstone of most construction projects. In the first Goetheanum, he succeeded in creating rounded forms by employing shipbuilders; in the second Goetheanum, he achieved a sculptural effect in architectural scale using concrete. The use of concrete to create distinctive organic forms was innovative for its time; in both buildings, Steiner aimed to create mentally impressive forms.