Second Goetheanum

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Rudolf Steiner , Austria

During the night of New Year’s Eve 1922 the first Goetheanum burnt down to its concrete base. One year later Steiner presented the sketch drawing for the second Goetheanum. This time he chose reinforced concrete as building material. It was important for him to find a suitable expressive form for this relatively new material. The clay model he built a few months later illustrates his sculptural approach. Particularly noticeable is the polarity between front and back. The rear is static and enclosed while the front seems to display a strong movement and differentiation. The rhythmically fashioned side facades become the connecting link between these formative polarities.

What is also new is the relationship to the surrounding landscape, whose morphology finds its counterpart in the gesture of the building.