Rudolf Steiner – Towards an organic architecture
The field of organic architecture is broad, with a heritage going back to megalithic times. There are diverse interpretations of what constitutes an organic approach to architecture and the most beautiful examples are often sacred sites and ceremonial architecture. In general architecture serves to protect ourselves against the natural environment, but the finer examples go beyond protection and actually integrate ourselves more fully in the environment. This drive towards greater re-integration and connectedness to the natural world has rekindled the interest in organic architecture.
Today’s rationalised worldview looks at contemporary architecture mainly from a functional point of view, with an emphasis on efficiency. But some clients and architects view the integration of human needs within the natural environment as a broader function and purpose of human existence. The attempt to articulate and build a more symbiotic relationship with the environment can lead us into the field of organic design, where there is a whole canon of form principles, geometric relationships, processes towards the use of local and natural materials, including cascading and circular resource cycles, all closely derived from nature and bio-mimicry.
At the turn of the 20th century, organic architecture was a much-discussed topic in many stylistic streams, from the Arts and Crafts movement to the modernists. Similar tensions exist today, with the debate ranging from social ecology, to sustainability and carbon neutral living for the 21st century.
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), a prolific philosopher of the early 20th century, continues to find interest amongst those concerned with a holistic approach to design and sustainable living. His teachings touch an almost all areas of life and have found widespread application in biodynamic agriculture, homeopathic medicine, Steiner Waldorf Schools and innumerable Anthroposophical organisations.
Not so well known are his thoughts on the arts and architecture, as a synthesis of the arts. Due to the philosophical nature of the subject, little scientific research has been undertaken to explore his architectural indications more systematically.
A German publication by Espen Tharaldsen “die verwandlung des alltags” (Verlag Freies Geistesleben, 2012) gives a very good synopsis of Steiner’s architectural impulse and its interpretations internationally. It contextualises the way his thoughts on art and architecture have been applied over the course of the 20th century and illustrates the possibilities and limitations of Steiner’s architectural legacy for the 21st century.
It clarifies, there is no such thing as Anthroposophical or Steiner architecture as a historic style. But there are examples of organic architecture created by individuals, who work out of Steiner’s philosophy and appreciate the world as ‘wholeness’, a unity of physical needs and cultural evolution, encompassing even metaphysical dimensions. Buildings designed from that level of consciousness reflect in their forms, functions and conception the idea of wholeness, expressed through the means of their time. This search for a unifying interconnectedness informs the approach for organic or biophilic design in our practice.
Steiner emphasises to express not just the functions (form follows function), but also the quality of relationships through architecture, adding a profoundly human dimension that imbues architecture with our personal and collective humanity. Architecture appears then less as a stylistic object, but as an ordering principle for social integration and productivity.
This approach resonate strongly with co-housing and life sharing communities, who understand architecture primarily as a community building tool, not as investment vehicle, adding a whole layer of social value and purpose to the actual built environment. In this context the conception of the social architecture precedes the physical architecture. The strength of our practice has been to facilitate design processes that help clients to do both, develop their social ecology and their built environment simultaneously.
In the UK there has been a small forum for members and friends of the IFMA (Internationales Forum Mensch und Architektur) for anyone interested in the subject. Since 2012 the so called ‘Architecture Steiner’ group has organised and facilitated numerous seminars, workshops, study trips and international exhibitions dedicated to the evolving dialogue around organic architecture inspired by Steiner’s ideas.
For further information see also IFMA magazine: https://m-arc.org/de/