Abstract

8 lectures plus extracts and notes (CW 286) This collection introduces Rudolf Steiner's vision of architecture as a culmination of the arts. Such architecture unites sculpture, painting, and engraving as well as drama, music and dance--a vital synthesis of all the arts working in cooperation through the common ideal of awakening us to our individuality and task in life. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Steiner's ideas did not remain abstract. Within his lifetime he was able to design and construct a number of buildings, including his architectural masterpiece, the Goetheanum--a center for culture and arts near Basle, Switzerland. In these lectures Steiner describes, with reference to the Goetheanum, the importance of an architecturally coherent and integrated community, and how this in turn affects social unity and harmony. These lectures offer a panorama of the development of architecture in parallel with the emerging human soul in human evolution. This is a valuable collection for all students of architecture, the arts, social science, and those looking for a deeper spiritual understanding of the art of architecture. Includes eight color plates and 30 black & white illustrations. CONTENTS: Part One: The Temple Is the Human Being An Art & Architecture that Reveal the Underlying Wholeness of Creation The Task of Modern Art & Architecture Proposals for the Architecture of a Model Anthroposophical Community at Dornach Part Two: Ways to a New Style of Architecture True Artistic Creation Art As the Creation of Organs through which the Gods Speak to Us A New Concept of Architecture The Aesthetic Laws of Form The Creative World of Color Appendix: The Evolution of Architecture at the Turn of Each New Millennium Notes & Color Plates Architecture as a Synthesis of the Arts is a translation from German of Wege zu einem neuen Baustil. "Und der Bau wird Mensch"