“Spaces On Fire”. Architecture, Colours, Theosophy.

The concept of Gesamkunstwerk appeared for the first time in 1827, in Germany, in an essay by Trahndorff. The term spread thanks to the “explosion” of the wagnerscher Phänomen in the last years of the XIX century and was extended to visual arts as well. Those years were unique in terms of experimentation on scenic and architectonic space thanks to the projects and works by August Endell, Rudolf Steiner, Hans Poelzig. This is the time for an authentic figurative explosion, where creative drives express, inspired in the idea to reform not so much the national destinies as the life of individuals and masses, regardless of egalitarianism or class struggle. In this concept focused a social criticism seen “from right” avulsed from economic reasons as more originated by the wish of ego liberation from the forces conditioning the being. From this perspective art is the purest token of the ideal accomplishment of individual freedom. The “colour-light” appears as creative power of universal forces [1]. Reformative ideas of Theosophie and Irrationalism movements embody the culturalphilosophic radicalization of a quarrel having strong generational and ageist traits. This will result in pacifist ideals as well as in totalitarian ideologies. A general disenchantment wrapped up in themselves the young born in Germany after the Gründerzeit, vast Bismarck’s imperial re-foundation. Intellectuals, writers, artists, architects and designers are willing to assert the spirit of the rising century through innovative forms and expressions. The theatre is the perfect form where art and life come to a synthesis. The first performances of H. Ibsen and G. Hauptmann’s realism are expression of a genuine rebellion towards Wilhelmian ideals and nevertheless they are welcomed in Germany with growing favour.