Light Shadow Scale

Proportion Harmony Material

Acoustics

Spirituality in
Architecture
 Buland Darwaza - Taj Mahal

Scale, Proportion, Rhythm Material

How does Architecture play a role in

creating the spiritual spirit of a place?

How do human senses perceive

Architecture and its elements ?

Spirituality: an experience of being sacred,

Transcendent or simply a deep sense of
being alive or conscious
Bahai Temple - New Delhi

Bhool Bhulaiya - Lucknow

Axis

Light

Shadow

Acoustics
 Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861[1] – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist,
social reformer, architect, esotericist,[9][10] and claimed clairvoyant.[11][12] Steiner gained initial
recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including
The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric
spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy.

Steiner, a truly "Renaissance man," developed a way of thinking that he applied to different
aspects of what it means to be human. Over a period of 40 years, he formulated and taught a
path of inner development or spiritual research he called, "anthroposophy." From what he
learned, he gave practical indications for nearly every field of human endeavor. Art, architecture,
drama, science, education, agriculture, medicine, economics, religion, care of the dying, social
organization - there is almost no field he did not touch.

Anthroposophy

“Knowledge produced by the higher self in man”

“Synthesis between Science and Spirituality”

Moral
Study
growth
Anthroposophy was articulated by Austrian scientist, philosopher, (thinking)
(Feeling)
and visionary Rudolf Steiner across the span of a life devoted to
teaching, writing, and social innovation. Steiner (1861-1925) first
attracted notice as a brilliant young scholar of German philosophy
and natural science; this led to him being appointed editor of a Practice /
new edition of the scientific works of Goethe. Later, his work as a Meditation
magazine editor and teacher in Berlin’s Free Workers’ University (will)
bolstered Steiner’s reputation as a fierce advocate for universal
education and self-improvement as a route to constructive social
change.
 Waldorf Education Architectural Interpretation

Pedagogy and Space

It is not about the separate elements but about a The classrooms need to be open
holistic approach to education. It adopts a holistic plan to allows space to be
approach to education to create individuals and their modified into different activity
round all development. zones by the teacher.

(i) Part to Whole Relationship : Head, heart and Hand

The curriculum in a Waldorf

School is designed so that the
students can engage on more
than one level Rudolph steiner
considered there ot be three
fundamental forces within
children that need to be
explored in education.

The same idea applies to the entire school. Each space serves a particular
purpose but must be integrated and related to the building as a whole.

Designed around a
central unifying space
that each structure
relates to Each zone is
distinguishable but also
unified through the use of
common materials

East Bay Waldorf School Masterplan

 (ii) Role of the teacher Architectural Interpretation
The most distinguished feature of Waldorf school is the relationship that develops
Each classroom must have some unique qualities that separate iy from
between the teacher and student in elementary education.
the rest of the classroom. Just as one community is not the same as
another. This allows each classroom to have space they can claim as
From 1st grade to 8th grade, student will be instructed by the same teacher for
theirs. DIFFERENT SHAPE is one of the ways to distinguish each classrooms
most of their courses,
from one another.
The location of the instructor class changes from year to year but the teacher
remain same.

The benefits for maintaining the same teacher is that one year is the time it takes
to properly know all the students. Over a span of 8 years, the teacher can better
cater to the needs of all the students as a class. A sense of deep trust and
community is fostered.

Central organization better suited than linear organization in this

case

Fostering a deep sense of

COLOR is another way to achieve individual character. Steiner had
belongingness and community
strong convictions about meanings of different colors and their
application in spaces. He saw red as being more active and blue as
being more passive. Each grade actively loses active color as they
(iii) Sense of community in CLASSROOM mature

By maintaining the same students and teachers in each class, the group
becomes their own communities. The children begin to know each other very
well, to the point where they know each other’s strengths and weakness.
The school never desires to have multiple classes of students at the same age so
that all are able to share a common experience. This approach also helps in
limiting space required to operate a school and may also limit the revenue
required each year to cooperate the school.
 Architectural Interpretation

LANDSCAPING

Centre of the community is a

naturalised landscape creating a
gathering and focal point

(iv) Importance of ART and NATURE

Inclusion of Art is an important aspect of Waldorf schooling. It is infused with nearly BRING NATURE INTO THE BUILDING
everything the children do. Art gets the children emotionally involved in their education - LAYOUT
Children are also taught how to represent their thoughts in a visual manner
Any time the children leave any
Having the children interact with Nature is an important aspect of the curriculum. People space, they are directly in
are becoming more and more disconnected with the natural world and a lack of true contact with an element of
appreciation for what it provides. Children find it easier to relate to plants and animals in nature.
their environments .

Students experience how a crop is grown, harvested, milled and used. Steiner stressed
that the natural world should be taught by establishing a relationship between Nature
and children’s understanding of themselves.

Students are also exposed to farm animals starting around 4th grade. Direct exposure
is always stressed over showing pictures or videos. Nothing can truly capture the
actual experience of being in Nature.
BRING NATURE INTO THE BUILDING - LAYOUT
The building wraps around several existing trees on site.
Punctures are made in the structure allowing the trees to
directly tower over the school
Use of natural materials is also reflective of the principles
of Steiner curriculum. Children can look at these materials
and realise how humans utilise natural materials
BRINGING NATURAL LIGHT INTO THE BUILDING
Natural lighting is a crucial factor in waldorf
school. The design must be able to be
supported by Natural lighting to the greatest
extent possible. The dynamic qualities of
natural light are far more pleasing than the
static nature of electric light fixtures.
 Free Waldorf School, Cologne
Architect: Peter Heubner

Year 1997

Project location: Cologne, Germany

SIte Area- 12000 sqm

Built up Area - 6150 sqm

Total number of students: 180

Grades - Playgroup - 8

Average students per class - 25

School Typology - Atrium

The school was built in 1997 pn a tight budget, as it was community run
and built. The building exhibits holistic nature of Steiner ethos
characteristic of Waldorf School.

The school comprises of 2 buildings - one is the school complex and

located across the landscaped stretch adjacent to the school is the
sports hall. The school building will be the primary focus of the case
study.
BUILDING COMPONENTS

Educational

Classrooms, manual workrooms, orchestra room, eurhythmy room. Physics,

chemistry. Biology labs, art room, book binding and painting room

Recreational

Auditorium

Service

Toilets, disabled toilets, stores, refrigeration

The building mimics the form of a with a central tree type support for the
ATRIUM.

The building breaks rhythm, symmetry, order - untamed free spirit of Children

Classroom - 68 sqm
Auditorium - 350 sqm
 TRANSLATION OF PEDAGOGY

Each classroom as a unique entity with a different form - unified with other classrooms on
the whole through the triple height atrium space.

Many workshops and outdoor terraces have been created in addition to the central
landscaped atrium to take care of the development of head and heart.

Connection to Nature - organic forms of the building mimicking a rose with petals The
central support of the atrium mimics a tree trunk and the secondary support its branches.
The landscaped atrium provides a literal connect

Response to Climate - introvert

atrium typology suitable for
Cologne, Germany
 Development of Steiner’s Philosophy Post World War I catastrophic
effects

● Formulated in OPPOSITION to Steiner held a lecture in a

cigarette factory in Stuttgart

School opened in 1919 with 256

pupils in 8 grades

By 1926. 1000 pupils in 26

classes

Steiner held a course for

teachers in his final visit to Britain

Formal German Education Exclusivity of german System

By 1938. Schools were founded
in US, UK, Switzerland's,
Netherlands, Norway, Austria

● Steiner’s Pedagogy:

No interference from Government or

economic sources

Designed School as a 12 years old Teachers as primary

School open to all kinds of students Co-Educational
program governors
Waldorf Education Philosophy
Early Childhood
Elementary Education
Secondary Education
Early Childhood
Imitation of practical activities
- experimental play (0-7 yrs)
Free play
Artistic work
Rhythms, repetitive patterns
Use of natural materials
Discourage electronic media
The structure of Waldorf education follows a
theory of childhood development devised by
Rudolf Steiner, utilizing distinct learning
strategies for each of three developmental
stages or "epochs"
Elementary Education Secondary Education
Learn through rhythms, images Abstract thinking, conceptual
and visual storytelling (7-14 yrs) thoughts, ethical thinking (14< yrs))
Visual arts Free morally responsible creative beings
Drama
Movement
Rhythm
Core subjects - History. Mythology.
Mineralogy. Geography etc
Four Temperaments

Choleric Sanguine

● Steiner also believed that teachers must

Risk Takers Take things lightly
consider their own temperament and be
prepared to work with it positively in the
classroom that temperament is emergent in
children,and that most people express a
combination of temperaments rather than a
pure single type
Melancholic Phlegmatic
● Today, Waldorf teachers may work with these
pseudoscientific "temperaments" to design
instruction for each student. Seating Sensitive / introverted Take things calmly
arrangements and class activities may take
into account the supposed temperaments of
students but this is often not described to
parents, students, or observers
Literature Study

The Goetheanum II
Can Architecture manifest spiritual beliefs?

Architect Built in
Rudolf Steiner 1924-1928
Structural Engineer Remodeled in
Ole Falk Ebbell 1950, 1990
Designed in Location
1923-1924 Dornach, Basel, Switzerland

1913, construction for Goetheanum I

began as a wooden structure

It opened in 1920 and was destroyed by

fire on New Year’s Eve 1922-1923

In 1924 Rudolf Steiner presented his model

for a second Goetheanum building, this
reinforced concrete.

Building completed in 1928

Steiner, founder of anthroposophy, a movement dedicated to man’s relationship with the spiritual world, the
first building associated with the idealism of the early. According to the architect, the second building was
not only the result of mourning for the former, but also document the progress of the movement from the time
of its foundation.
The center has two auditoriums, 1,500 seats of which 1000 correspond to the main gallery,
conference space, library, bookstore and administrative offices of the Anthroposophical
Society. Neighboring buildings house educational facilities, research and maintenance.

● The use of concrete for organically expressive forms was an innovation for the time

● The Second Goetheanum Rudolf Steiner, is the largest building that was built in the
German expressionist architecture movement.

● Steiner buildings having an axis of symmetry according to ” the principle of organic

forms.”

● No sculptural motif

● A visual idea

The Goetheanum was intended as a theatre and the global

headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society. Goetheanum I was
a quaint all timber structure, opened on 26 September 1920.
● Steiner chose the shape of the skull - metamorphosis of the image of a man

● Intersection of 2 domes - union of spirit and matte

● demonstration of human essence through images of the frontal and parietal lobes of
the brain, the somatosensory and somatomotor corticesr
● The basic structure with an area of 3200 square
meters extends for 90 m in the east-west direction
and over 85 m in the north-south direction. The
building measuring 72 m by 64 m rises to 37 m in
height. The internal space is 110,000 cubic meters,
with 15,000 cubic meters of concrete and 990 tons of
reinforcement steel.

● However, the massiveness of the building is only

illusory.

● The building is built of delicate, uninsulated concrete

frame structure (separate rooms are insulated from
the inside).

● Reinforced concrete columns and beams are

placed with large spacing and concrete slabs 8 cm
thick. The walls of the first floor in the west side of the
building have a solid thickness of 50 cm.

● Despite its filigree nature, the load-bearing structure,

which is also the skeleton of the building, is extremely
strong.

Shape of the human skull by placement of

Evolution of the human skull
vertical supports
STEINER TAUGHT THAT
ANTHROPOSOPHICAL BUILDINGS
SHOULD REPLICATE THE HUMAN FORM, Skull covering
ESCHEWING STRAIGHT LINES, RIGHT
ANGLES AND THE TRADITIONAL
LIMITATIONS OF BUILDINGS WHEREVER
Mann at first horizontal
POSSIBLE, IN FAVOUR OF SWOOPING
CURVES AND ORGANIC, ROUNDED Etheric legs
SHAPES.
Will

Earth
On the subject of architecture, Steiner taught that
anthroposophical buildings should replicate the human
form, eschewing straight lines, right angles and the
traditional limitations of buildings wherever possible, in
favour of swooping curves and organic, rounded shapes.

He also designed bespoke furniture for the Goetheanum

and other anthroposophical buildings in a style that
adhered to the curving forms of the architecture. The
furniture, sculpted purely from wood with no decoration,
appears almost crystalline, as if it were formed naturally
beneath layers of rock.

The style is also known as Dornach design, and lies

somewhere between the exaggerated forms of Antoni
Gaudí and the humble motives of the Arts and Crafts
movement.

In the Goetheanum, desks, chairs, wardrobes, staircases,

and an upright piano appear in this style.
Steiner’s work also touched upon the visual arts: he gave several lectures on the
subject of colour, edited an edition of Goethe’s Theory of Colours, and
encouraged artists to adopt a specific painting style of ‘floating colour’.

The Goetheanum includes examples of this style: at the centre of the building is a
1000-seat auditorium for concerts and lectures, where a psychedelic fresco along
the ceiling illustrates the story of human evolution.

In one of the main staircases, a huge blood-red stained-glass panel dyes the light
and the surrounding concrete walls and stairs.
 Site Introduction
The site is located in the nettigere village off the NH 948 which connects Site Location: Nettigere, bangalore South
Bangalore city to Coimbatore.
Site Area - 4.05 acres
JUSTIFICATION FOR THE SITE-
Survey no. - 160
-Chosen in Bangalore
-Site owned by an educational institution Site owned by Sri Kumaran Children’s Home
-Former proximity to Waldorf School
-Presence of natural landscape to respond to in Anthroposophic Architecture Current Land USe - Agricultural
-Quiet environment to enhance experience in built environment
-Connected to Bangalore city via Kanakapura Road
Site Context

NETTIGERE VILLAGE

BANGALORE CITY
ELIMS RESORT
SITE
NETTIGERE PIPELINE WOODS RESORT
ROAD
d
kpur R
Kana
 Site PLAN
727

728

729

730

The site slopes upwards from North edge

to the middle towards South by 4m and
then further to the South East corner by 731
3m.

2
73

3
73

4
73
6

5
73

73
Site Documentation

Elim’s Resort

Primary vegetation as seen in and around

the site - Coconut trees, Banyan trees and
Mango trees with nearby banana
plantation

Nandi temple
 A

Site Sections

B
SECTION AA

SECTION BB
PROGRAM
Components

Administrative

This area includes spaces for Principal, administrative and

teaching staff and conference rooms for meetings

Kindergarten ( 3-5 yrs) Realm of willing

Free play
Imitation
No Academics at this stage
Rhythm, Repetition, Reverence

Specialised function space:

Dance and music rooms
Outdoor Play areas
Indoor Play Area
Dining room
Classroom - oral storytelling /
puppetry
Program

Grade School ( 7-14 yrs) Real of feeling

Subjects such as English, Mathematics,

Science, History, Geography and language
arts are taught in Main Lesson Blocks of two
hours per day, with each Block lasting from
three to five weeks

In addition to these, Hindi, Kannada,

Painting, Music, Form Drawing, Handwork,
Games, Woodwork, Gardening and practice
are covered after the Main Lesson over the
course of the week.

Specialised function space:

Classrooms
Common learning space
Study spaces
Labs
Workshops
Outdoor gathering spaces
Music and Dance spaces
Program

Sports and Common facilities

Gymnasium
Playground
Swimming Pool
Dining Hall
Library