Anthroposophy, Architecture, and Design

This lovely photo is of the Waldorf school I attended, the Pine Hill Campus at High Mowing School in Wilton New Hampshire.

When I was young I often wondered why our school was in such a unique building.  As children my friends and I would joke about how it had "no right angles", which isn't actually true. However the unique angles in the building have certainly sparked me to wonder, "why?".

I loved hosting the lovely Elizabeth Seward as my guest in this episode. She has 35 years of experience in the Waldorf classroom. The insight she has on the topic of anthroposophy and design was perfect for this episode.

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There are three main principals of anthroposophical architecture that we discussed. Balance, symmetry/asymmetry, and metamorphosis. Although I first thought these qualities seemed so abstract in relation to architecture and design, Elizabeth did an incredible job of giving examples that one can understand. She related these qualities to the human being, which was perfect as this was Steiner's perspective. He thought that architecture should reflect the human being. More important than these three qualities, we made a point to discuss that Steiner's indications on architecture and design are just that. They're indications. There are no hard rules. When resources are lacking it's important to remember that it's really the special care and intentionality that can make the biggest difference in a space. That's the same whether it's a classroom, home, or community space.

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Resources:

Elizabeth’s book, "Teaching through stories: Jane and Jeremy learn to knit “ is available in hardback, paperback, e-book available online, at 'brick and mortar' stores and through her website ElizabethSewardAuthor.com.

To connect with Elizabeth on Instagram click here.

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