Goetheanum - Architectural Principles

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 by using concrete to achieve sculptural shapes on an architectural scale. 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.

Steiner suggested that he had derived the sculptural forms of the first Goetheanum from the spiritual world, rather than by imitating forms of the physical world or through abstract theorizing.