The Goetheanum: A Guided Tour Through the Building, Its Surroundings, and History

I first saw the Goetheanum as a fifteen-year-old through binoculars. I was fascinated and wanted to know more about this incredible building. What am I seeing? Why these forms? What happens in this building?' Hans Hasler

The Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, was conceived as a visible expression of Rudolf Steiner's spiritual philosophy - a living experience of anthroposophy in the form of art. Whilst Steiner conveyed his ideas and concepts in many books and lectures, the Goetheanum - with its pioneering concrete forms built in the 1920s - is a manifestation of spirituality in architecture, painting and sculpture.

This essential handbook, packed with colour photos and illustrations, gives a broad background to Rudolf Steiner's architectural masterpiece and the work that goes on within it. Hasler explains how the present Goetheanum was built, and describes its recently remodelled great hall and stage, with its painted ceiling and sculpted walls. He details the building's context and landscape design, the other significant structures in its vicinity, and gives a description of the first, wooden, Goetheanum and its destruction by fire.

Today the Goetheanum's remarkable external contours house theatres and studios, laboratories, offices, bookshops and libraries. Apart from its major stages for drama and eurythmy, it serves as the headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society and the School of Spiritual Science, with the latter's sections for medicine, agriculture, education, the arts, science, and so on. The Goetheanum is also home to numerous conferences, meetings and events. This book provides a marvellous visual and textual guide to one of the most original buildings of our time.

HANS HASLER, born in Switzerland in 1942, studied Slavonic languages, history and education, before becoming a school teacher. His encounter with anthroposophy led him to the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, where he was responsible for social therapy and education for special needs. After working in a Camphill home in Finland, he managed the Goetheanum Building Administration, where he oversaw major projects, including redesign of the main auditorium. The present book is based on his profound knowledge of the building and its surroundings, as well as his many encounters through leading guided tours over the years.