Crystal

The Interpretation of the Glass Dream-Expressionist Architecture and the History of the
Crystal Metaphor
Author(s): Rosemarie Haag Bletter
Source: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Mar., 1981), pp. 20-
43
Published by: Society of Architectural Historians
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/989612
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The Interpretationof the GlassDream-
ExpressionistArchitectureand the History
of the CrystalMetaphor
R O S E M A R I E H A A G B L E TTE R Department of Art History, Columbia University
German Expressionist architecturaldesign is generally noted for Most Expressionist projects were produced after World War
its free, frenetic forms, for design that left behind all conventions. One by a group of architects belonging to the circle around
The futuristic Expressionist glass projects in both amorphous Bruno Taut and the Arbeitsratfur Kunst (Work Council for the
and crystallinearrangementscan be seen as an expression of the Arts), loosely based on the workers' soviets active in Germany
utopian expectations for a new society after the German Revolu- during the November Revolution of I9I8. Members of the
tion of 19 8. Expressionist manifestoes and literature, on the Arbeitsrat had welcomed the overthrow of the PrussianEmpire.
other hand, reveal a thoroughgoing interest in a literary-archi- And although few architectural commissions were to be had
tectural convention associated with glass and crystal, an icono- during the immediate post-war years because of a disastrous
graphic theme that stretches from King Solomon, Jewish and economy, these architects were euphoric about architectural
Arabic legends, medieval stories of the Holy Grail, through the experimentation possible under the new regime. At the inception
mystical Rosicrucian and Symbolist tradition down to Expres- of the Weimar Republic both its supporters and detractors as-
sionism. Expressionistarchitects,familiarwith the various earlier sumed that a full-fledged socialist revolution had taken place,
conventions, in a highly eclectic fashion reinterpretedthe mean- one that at the time seemed comparable in its impact to the
ing of the glass-crystal symbolism as a metaphor of transforma- Russian Revolution of the previous year. The architects' fervent
tion to signify a changed society. This article, though it begins belief in a new society at a time when they were without mean-
and ends with a discussion of Expressionist design, deals pri- ingful work led to a paradoxical union of intense optimism
marily with the sources and changes of this iconographic tradi- coupled with a feeling of impotence. The result can be seen in the
tion. uninhibited, free-form sketches produced by both the Arbeitsrat
and by members of the GlaserneKette (Glass Chain), an offshoot
EXPRESSIONIST ARCHITECTURE is well known for its lack of the formergroup. These sketches show a freneticattempt both
of constraints and its freedom from traditional norms. In Ex- to challenge and conquer at once. The style of these drawings is
pressionist design the basic orthogonal system that underlies not easily categorized: precisely because traditional norms had
most of Western Architecture is mainly ignored. Like Wassily been abandoned and the general preference for abstraction did
Kandinsky's introduction of abstract forms in painting, Expres- not allow for the establishmentof new rules, Expressionistdesign
sionism brought to architecture a nonobjective approach. But does not seem to have a characteristicallyconsistent language of
just as we know today that Kandinsky's presumed abstractions forms. Soft, amorphous shapes, as in Hermann Finsterlin's "In-
retained a variety of allusions to representational art, so too in terior" (Fig. i), can be found alongside raw, jagged sketches, as
Expressionist architectural design it can be shown that ancient in Hans Scharoun's "Glass House" (Fig. 2). Or, even within the
images lurk beneath the surface impression of totally revolu- work of one architect, Taut (in two designs for a "CrystalHouse
tionary forms.' in the Mountains"), the building is expressed on the one hand in
gentle, arcuated forms (Fig. 3), and, on the other, it has sharp,
i. The basicoutlineof this paperwas firstpresentedin a talk to the faceted excrescences (Fig. 4). The best one can say in defining the
New Yorkchapterof theSocietyof Architectural Historiansin February
I968. In its currentform it is an abbreviatedand adaptedversionof
Expressionist style in terms of its forms is that no inhibiting
Chapter IV of my dissertation on Bruno Taut and Paul Scheerbart's principles seem to have been adopted. It appears to be the first
Vision--Utopian Aspects of German Expressionist Architecture, Co- style without at least a few rules. This freedom-or what some
lumbiaUniversity,I973. ForhelpwiththedissertationI amindebtedto
might characterize as lawlessness-in Expressionism is conven-
GeorgeR. Collins,EdgarKaufmann,Jr., my sponsors,and Theodore
Reff. For helpful advise on the presentmanuscriptI wish to thank tionally assumed to be an indication of extreme self-expression.
RichardBrilliantandFrancoisBucher. The variety of forms found in both Expressionist painting and
20
BLETTER: EXPRESSIONIST ARCHITECTURE AND THE CRYSTAL METAPHOR 21
Fig. i. Hermann Finsterlin, "Interior" (Friihlicht,No. z, Winter I925/

zz, 34).
architectureare ascribedto a kind of artistic self-indulgence,as it

were.2
A definition of style, however, cannot simply be made on the
basis of characteristicforms, but must include shared attitudes
and common intentions. An iconographic analysis of Expres-
sionist design reveals a widespread adoption of specific symbolic
images that belies its formal open-endedness and abstraction.
Many Expressionist projects have in common the use of glass or
crystal as proposed construction material.The fact that glass is a
viscous material that can be molded into any desired shape may
lead us to assume that it might have been chosen as the perfect Fig. z. Hans Scharoun, "Three by Three Dimensional Glass House"
embodiment of Expressionism's idiosyncratic forms. Concrete, (Stadtbaukunst-Friihlicht,No. o1, I9z0, 58).
however, could also have been used to do the same job. Hence
another property of glass, aside from its malleability, must have
been the reason for its frequent use. A recurringmotive in many
of these designs (in addition to glass and crystal as material) is
transparencyand flexibility. Such projects, had they been built,
would have produced a rich, shimmering, and illusory world of
reflections.This extraordinarilyunstable conception of architec-
ture would have further enhanced the incomprehensible and
'
- SCM . MY
3 -^^S^ ^.
abstract quality of Expressionist design. But behind such inten-

tionally disorienting and novel forms lies an extended, if not <- -
always continuous history of glass and crystal symbolism. Bruno

Taut's statement "The Gothic cathedral is the prelude to glass
?:ij
architecture" and one of the couplets written by the poet Paul
Scheerbart for Taut's Glass House of 1914, "Light seeks to
penetrate the whole cosmos / And is alive in crystal",3 give a
z. Suchan attitudeis impliedin W.Pehnt,Expressionist

Architecture,
trans.J. A. UnderwoodandE. Kiistner,New York,1973. Seemyreview
of this book in JSAH, xxxvII, 1978, 13 I-I 33.
3. B. Taut, Glashaus-Werkbund-Ausstellung C6ln 1914, Berlin Fig. 3. Bruno Taut, "Crystal House in the Mountains" (Alpine Archi-
(1914), motto for drawing of Glass House (Fig. 7). Scheerbart's aph- tektur, Hagen i.W., 1919, 3).
Z2 JSAH, XL:1, MARCH 1981
2
zoth-centuryreincarnation, with only a few changes,of an an-
cientandspecificiconography.Ifwe lookat theExpressionists in
isolation,theirpreferencefor glassand crystaldoes indeedap-
pearmerelyas a vaguemotive,like the preferencefor the "S"
curve in Art Nouveau, for example.But it is only when we
examinecloselythe checkeredhistoryof thissymbolthatwe can
understandits exactsignificancein Expressionism.
Isolatedfragmentsof this iconographictraditionare known

frommedievalandMoslemarchitecture. PaulFranklin his The
Gothic-Literary Sources and InterpretationsthroughEight
Centuriescitesnumerouslegendscontainingdescriptionsof fan-
tasticglassbuildings,buthe discussesthemonlyin relationto the
use of Gothic form and stainedglass.5ConcerningMoslem
architecture,FrederickP.Bargebuhr in TheAlhambra-A Cycle
of Studies on the EleventhCenturyin MoorishSpaincitesmany
Arabicmythsthatalludeto mysteriousandpowerfulglassstruc-
turesthat mighthavebeenan inspirationfor the firstAlhambra
palace.6NeitherFranklnor Bargebuhr attemptto dealwith the
of
meaning glass imageryoutside their own areas of special
interest.The significanceof this iconographyhas never been
looked at in a wider historicalcontext. Such a comparative
analysisis a necessaryfirst step in proposinglinks between
culturesandepochs.Itismeantto besuggestive,notexhaustive.
One of the main reasonswhy the iconographyof glass and
Fig. 4. Bruno Taut, "CrystalHouse in the Mountains" (Die Auflosung crystalhas not been traced before is that its most frequent
derStadte, Hagen i.W., 920z, z6).
manifestationby far has occurredin architecturalfantasies,
largelyas writtenproposals.Theseproposalsrepresentedideal
constructs.Andbecauseof thepreciousnessof glassin preindus-
clearer indication than the designs themselves of the mystical trialperiods,coupledwithits structuralweakness,suchprojects
tradition behind this imagery. That the wild, exuberant Expres-
usuallyremainedin the realmof wishfulthinking.Diaphanous
sionist projects quite consciously allude to a traditional, if eso-
structuresso easilyconjuredupin a literaryformatdid,neverthe-
teric, iconography is remarkablefor a style whose formal frame- less,eventuallyaffectbuiltform.Inanycase,architectural draw-
work seems so rebellious.
ings and even executed can
buildings speak to us onlyindirectly
Wolfgang Pehnt in his Expressionist Architecture of 1973 throughtheir forms,while myths concerningarchitectureare
writes correctly that the use of crystalline imagery is a charac-
oftenmoreexplicit.
teristic motive of Expressionism. He even cites several sources
The sourcefor the earliestknownversionsof the glassmeta-
for this iconography, but then obscures its meaning by saying
phor is in the Old Testament,specificallyin the personof that
that Taut used crystal in a "vague, ecstatic sense."4 Numerous
greatmainstayof arcanewisdom,KingSolomon.The biblical
statements by Expressionist architects, artists, and writers make
descriptionof Solomon'sconstructionof his GreatTemplewas
it clear that the Expressionistcrystal-glassmetaphor representsa
to becomethenucleusof laterfancifulJewishandArabiclegends
concerninghisarchitectural feats.TheOldTestamentstorydoes
not actuallyincludea buildingof glass,butthematerialsthatare
mentioned,gold and water,will be found in close association
orismsfor the GlassHouse appearin a letterto Taut of io February
with the laterglasssymbolism,forminga kindof iconographic
I914, whichis reprintedin "Glashausbriefe,"
Friihlicht,supplementof
StadtbaukunstAlter und Neuer Zeit, No. 3, 1920, 45-48.
4. Pehnt, Expressionist Architecture, 37-4 i. The Song of Songs, cited
by him as a source, does not contain any reference to this imagery. 5. P. Frankl, The Gothic-Literary Sources and Interpretations
Thoughhe mentionsErnstToller'splay Die Wandlung(The Trans- through Eight Centuries, Princeton, I960.
formation), he overlooks the clue to the meaning of the crystal iconog- 6. F.P.Bargebuhr,
TheAlhambra-ACycleof Studieson theEleventh
raphy contained in its very title. Centuryin MoorishSpain,Berlin,I968.
constellation.Possiblythe reflectivequalitiesof gold and water an underwaterdome of glass and an aerialpalaceor city of
led in the laterapocryphato their beingmisinterpreted as, or crystal.The following account by Abu Mansurwas written
intentionallymagnifiedinto,translucentbuildingsof glass. approximately in the Ioth century:
Accordingto I Kings6:30, the originalinspirationformostof Solomonseesrisingfromthe bottomof the sea a pavilion,tent,
the subsequentarchitectural glass fantasies,the whole floor of tabernacle,or tower, vaultedlike a dome, which is made of
Solomon'sTemplewas overlaidwithgold. InI Kings7:23-25 a crystalandis beatenbythewaves.... Theaerialcityis erectedby
round"moltensea"(a font)of brassrestingon figuresof 12 oxen thegeniiat theorderof Solomon,who bidsthembuildhima city
or palaceof crystala hundredthousandfathomsin extentanda
is described.Thelong lastinginfluenceof suchbriefpassageson thousandstoreyshigh,of solidfoundationsbutwitha domeairy
latermythsand actualbuildingsis not due to the architectural and lighterthanwater;the whole to be transparentso that the
brillianceof thesereferences,but to the forcefulrepresentation lightof the sunandthemoonmaypenetrateits walls.....10
of King Solomonas a figureof both tremendoussecularand Crystalandwaterherehavereplacedtheglassof theearlierstory
spiritualpower:he "exceededall thekingsof theearthforriches as the imageryof translucence.In laterallegoriesthese materi-
and for wisdom" (I Kings 10:23) and the Lord himself in an
als-glass, crystal,and even water-will be used almostinter-
apparitionapprovedthe constructionof the Temple (I Kings changeably.King Solomonis also no longer just a wise and
9:3), making Solomon and his architecture an example well wealthyruler,but a manimbuedwith supernatural powers.He
worthfollowing. hasbecomelordof seaandair.Infact,he seemsto havetakenon
These biblicaldescriptionscontainonly the germof the alle- thoseverypowersof sorceryattributedto the Queenof Shebain
goricaltraditionthatconcernsushere.Theapocryphasurround- theJudeo-Christian tradition(itis as if in unmaskingher,he was
ing the figureof Solomon,however,has a closerbearingon the able to acquireher magicfor himself).Solomonas a figureof
developmentof architectonicsymbolsof glass. In a numberof supernatural powerswas to influencethe mystical,esotericside
Jewishlegendsand subsequentArabicstoriesinspiredby them, of the glassmetaphorduringthe laterMiddleAges.
KingSolomonis said to havebuilta palaceof glass (withglass Of greaterreal consequencefor the later disseminationof
floors)to revealto himwhetherthevisitingQueenof Shebawas Solomonicarchitectural lorewerethe echoesof theselegendsin
a realwomanor, as was suspected,a genie.Genieswererumored the builtarchitectureof Islam.Forexample,the firstAlhambra
to havehairylegsandtheglassfloorswereintendedto settlethat Palaceof the i ith centuryclearlyevoked biblicalas well as
question.The Queen of Sheba,not familiarwith the illusory apocryphalSolomonicarchitecture. The Alhambrawas not, of
uponenteringSolomon'spalace(as
effectsof glassarchitecture, a
course, glasspalace, butit was intended as an analoguebothto
the legendwouldhaveit) believedthatthe kingwas sittingin the Solomon'spalace described in the Old Testamentand to his
midstof water.To stepoverto himacrosstheimaginedpool, she Koranicglasspalace.
liftedherskirtsto keepthemdry,buttherebyexposedherhairy The i ith-centuryAlhambrawas erectedfor Yusuf ibn Na-
legs.7 ghralla,who was a Jewandthepowerfulchancellorto the Zirid
In this particularSolomoniclegend, the meaningof glass
kingsof Granada.Thefactthathe belongedto a Jewishminority
architectureand its suggestionof shimmeringwater is quite within a Moslem culturemade the selectionof a meaningful
directandliteral:it helpsto revealwhatwouldotherwiseremain architecturalprototypequite a delicatetask. Solomon,whose
hidden-the truesupernatural natureof Sheba.8Inanycase,the attributesin the Moslemtraditionbelongedlargelyto the fan-
allusion to a glass floor suggestinga watery surfaceis most tastic realmof magic,but who could at the same time evoke
probablya coalescedvestigeof thegolden,reflectingfloorof the visionsof a SolomonickingdomforJews,provideda generally
biblicalpassage,and the "sea,"or font of Solomon'sTemple.
acceptableparagon.Yusuf'sfather,Ismailibn Naghralla,had
Thislegendwasthencodifiedin Moslemtradition:a referenceto been chancellorbeforehis son. Both fatherand son were not
Solomon'sglasspalaceoccursin the Koran(chapter27).9
merelyimportantstatesmen,butalsointellectuals who surround-
In Arabiclegendsof the earlyMiddleAges,Solomon'sroleas ed themselveswithpoetsandphilosophers.Bothwereintenton a
patronof glass architectureexpandsto trulyfantasticpropor- romanticrevivalof the Solomonicage.1
tions.He is saidto havecommandedgeniesto constructforhim Ismailibn Naghrallahad been interestedin the creationof
fantasticstructures.Thisis attestedby a poemhe wrotedescrib-
ing a fountainhe hadbuiltin his house:
7. L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Philadelphia, iv, 1954, I45 Tell me what is the torch upon the lamp
and VI, 1946, 289. thatspoutsits crystalsonto a crystalbase?
8. However, Solomon's apparent immersion in water also has erotic
implications: Sheba's Arabic name is Bilkis which seems to be related to
the Hebrew word for concubine (Ginzberg, Legends, vi, z89).
9. F. P. Bargebuhr, "The Alhambra Palace of the Eleventh Century," Io. Bargebuhr,"Alhambra," footnote 16, 257-258.
Journal of the Warburgand Courtauld Institutes, xix, 1956, 229. ii. Bargebuhr,"Alhambra," I97.
24 JSAH, XL:1, MARCH 1981
A stream that will not kill fire in its midst, Thedomeis likethe Palanquinof Solomon
its waters standing like a wall and missiles, hangingabovethe rooms'splendours,
A sky encrusted with an onyx skin Thatrotatesin its circumference,shininglike
stretched over a ground of bdellium.12 bdelliumandsapphireandpearls
Ismail'sequation of water with crystal, and his referenceto onyx Thusit is in thedaytime,whileat duskit looks
likethe skywhosestarsformconstellations.
and bdellium (a biblical name for rock crystal, carbuncles, or
pearls) as part of the building materials for his imagined struc-
And there is a full 'sea,' matching Solomon's Sea,
ture, bear a striking resemblance to later medieval Christian
yet not resting on ox;
legends about the Holy Grail. The poem's architectural meta- But there are lions, in phalanx on its rim
phors were based on the features of an actual fountain. Yusuf, seeming to roar, for prey....16
who collected his father's poems, verified the accuracy of the The poem's allusion to a dome which rotates and appears to be
images in an editorial note which precedes the poem: made of precious materials is almost certainly allegorical in this
This poem describes a fountain which was in his house; from its context. Nevertheless, the rotating dome has a long tradition in
head, water poured forth and fell in the form of a dome upon a
visionary architecturewhich may have its source in the legendary
floor of alabaster and marble; lights were set inside this 'dome'
and were thus covered by it; there was also a wax light on top. 13 rotating dome in Nero's Domus Aurea. In Yusuf's palace the
rotation was probably only implied by means of small oculi
The combination of glass, water, and light to form a playful
placed in the dome which would have cast fleeting light across
architectural effect was not exceptional in Islamic court archi-
the ceiling during the course of a day. A more direct model for
tecture of that period. A glass pavilion reportedlybuilt for Yahya
such an apparently moving dome would have been the "Hall of
ibn Ismail al-Mamun, King of Toledo, also dates from the I Ith
Caliphs" in the palace of Abd ar-Rahman III, the ioth-century
century:
caliph of Cordoba:
The King of Toledo constructed in the Middle [of his palace
The ceiling, which was made of gold and dull alabaster, was
area] a lake, in the center of which lake he built a pavilion of within the hall's bright-coloured body of various colours.
stained glass, and encrusted with gold. The water was caused to
... In its centre the pearl was placed which the 'King of Constan-
rise to the top of the pavilion, owing to an artful device invented
tinople,' Leo, had presented to an-Nasir. The roof tiles [visible
by his engineers, so that the water used to descend from the from within the hall] of this palace were of gold and silver. In the
summit of the pavilion, encompassing it, the various streams
middle of this mailis [audiencehall] was a huge cistern filled with
uniting themselves with one another. In this fashion the glass
quicksilver. On each side of this majliswere eight doors joined to
pavilion was within a sheet of water which was shed across the
[vaulting] arches of ivory and ebony, encrusted with gold and
glass, and which was flowing incessantly while al-Mamun sat various kinds of jewels, and which rested upon columns of
within the pavilion without being in the least touched by the
coloured alabaster and clear beryl. Whenever the sun entered
water; and even torches could be lighted in it, producing, there-
these doors, and whenever its rays struck the ceiling and the
by, an astonishing and marvellous spectacle.14 walls of the majlis, then a light would be created which would
This report of the King of Toledo's glass and water pavilion may suspend eyesight. Whenever an-Nasir wished to awe a man
be partly imaginary, but it illustrates at least that the creation of present in his ... company, he would signal one of his Slav slaves
an architecture having a dematerialized and fluid nature was to put in motion that quicksilver, thereby light would be pro-
found desirable. duced like lightning flashes which would arrest the hearts of
those assembled, until it would appearto all in the mailis, as long
Yusuf ibn Naghralla, inspired by his father's interest in the
as the quicksilver was in motion, that the place was rotating
creation of a fairy-tale architecture, had as a youth engaged in about them. It was said that this majlis circled and oriented itself
the design of elaborate water gardens.15And the father's vision toward the sun....17
of a new Solomonic kingdom was realized in part when Yusuf The later 14th-century Alhambrapalace clearly continued the
built his own palace on the Alhambra hill. Today this structure
spiritof Yusuf's Solomonic fantasies.For instance,a 14th-century
can be appreciated only indirectly (the portion of the Alhambra
inscription at the Alhambra speaks of "that palace of glass,
we see today dates from the I4th century) through a panegyric
poem by the Hebrew poet and Neoplatonist Solomon ibn Ga-
birol, one of Yusuf's circle. The poem is addressed to Yusuf and
contains references to his new mansion. A paraphrase of Solo-
16. Bargebuhr,"Alhambra," 199. Bargebuhruses the referenceto the
mon's Song of Songs, it reads in part: lion fountain as major evidence that the 14th-century Alhambra was
based on and continued many of the ideas introduced by Yusuf's palace.
Further evidence is the typical Zirid construction (horizontal lines of
I2. Bargebuhr, "Alhambra," z 2. bricks inserted between oblong patches of small, usually round, un-
13. Bargebuhr,"Alhambra," 2 I-z2I2. shaped stones), found in the lower walls of the Alhambra, which Barge-
14. Bargebuhr, "Alhambra," footnote 60, 248. buhr believes to be remains of Yusuf's palace.
15. Bargebuhr,"Alhambra," 2 1. 17. Bargebuhr,"Alhambra," zz8-229.
whoever saw it, thinks it is a body of water"18and another one jasper; the second, sapphire;the third, a chalcedony; the fourth,
speaks of the "palace of crystal,"19all referencesto the Koranic an emerald;
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius;the seventh, chrysolite;
passage about Solomon's glass palace. And, as in some of the
the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus;
earlier legends, glass, crystal, and water are used as synonymous
the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
images. Because an actual glass or crystal palace was not tech- And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate
nically feasible, the semblance of such a building was attained was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it
through allusion: water and light were used to suggest a dissolu- were transparentglass (Revelation zI:18-z2).20
tion of solid materials into a fleeting vision of disembodied, The city and its streets of gold are apparentlyanother echo of the
mobile architecture. golden floor of King Solomon's Temple. The reflective intensity
Although no other Moslem palace emulated the Solomonic of the gold is compared to glass (" . . . pure gold, as it were
legends as closely as did the Alhambra, strong evidence indicates transparent glass"). Such an analogy may explain the origin of
that this grand example influenced later Moslem architecture. the legends of Solomon's glass structures. The gilt Temple de-
Even in the i6th century we find echoes of this tradition in the scribed in the Old Testament may have been compared with
great palaces of the Mogul emperors;with their pools and water glass in its general effect, as is done in John's vision of the New
channels (which in illuminatedmanuscriptsare often reproduced Jerusalem. At some later point this purely metaphorical use of
in silver like the quicksilver pool of the "Hall of Caliphs") and glass was probably misinterpretedas a referenceto real glass. In
with semiprecious stones and mirrors inlaid into their walls, any case, the association of light, gold, precious stones, crystal,
these buildings still participate fully in this Solomonic fairy-tale and glass with the New Jerusalem, the supernaturalcity inhab-
architecture. ited by the saved, was to be of tremendous importance in the
conception of the Gothic cathedraland its stained glass program,
as it was for the further evolution of the glass myth during the
The second element of the tradition that will help in under- Middle Ages.
standing the meaning of the later glass-crystalsymbolism comes * *
from the New Testament: the Revelation of St. John. This aspect
of the iconography is better known than the Moslem strand, and In the Middle Ages the Old Testament, Moslem, and New
at least its importance for medieval Grail legends and the Gothic Testament traditions finally coalesce into a single highly eclectic
cathedral has generally been acknowledged. But that the Revela- whole: the apocrypha of Solomonic architecture, which had
tion of St. John contains a number of vestiges of Solomonic become separated into two distinct strands-a Judeo-Christian
legends needs to be pointed out. one and an Arabic one-are reunited because of the increasing
In John's vision of the Lamb he sees in front of the throne "a contacts between the Moslem world and the West. Indeed, in the
sea of glass like unto crystal" (Revelation 4:6). This is presum-
many legends surrounding the Holy Grail this syncretism be-
ably a pastiche of the biblical references to Solomon's "molten
sea" and the apocryphal story in which Sheba sees Solomon
enthroned in his glass-floored palace and is misled into thinking
that he is sitting in water. And in this passage from Revelation,
zo. Revelationwas also influencedby Ezekiel'svision,in whichthe
glass is again likened to crystal, an identification which had also
splendorof the spiritualrealmis associatedwithpreciousstones.How-
occurred in the earlier Solomonic legends.
ever,themeaningof thecrystalmetaphoris not as lucidas in Revelation,
John's vision of the New Jerusalem, too, points up the inter- as canbe seenin thesepassagesfromEzekiel:
changeability of light, glass, crystal, precious stones, and gold as Andthe likenessof the firmamentuponthe headsof the livingcreature
was as the colorof the terriblecrystal,stretchedforthover theirheads
metaphors of a transcendent life. St. John writes of the New
above. (1:22)
Jerusalem:"... and her light was like unto a stone most precious, Andabovethefirmament thatwasovertheirheadswasthelikenessof
even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal" (Revelation ZI:II). a throne,as theappearance of a sapphirestone;anduponthe ... throne
After describingthe city's foundations, measurements,and num- was ... the appearanceof a man.... AndI sawas thecolorof amber,as
the appearanceof fireroundaboutwithinit fromtheappearanceof his
ber of gates, John goes on to some of the building materialsused:
loins even upward,and fromthe appearanceof his loins even down-
And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city ward,I sawas it weretheappearance of fire,andit hadbrightnessround
was pure gold, like unto clear glass. about. (i:z6-z7)
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished LaterJewishcommentarieson the Scripturesalso referto crystaland
with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was preciousmaterialsin describingparadise(MidrashKonenandtheMid-
rashattributedto RabbiJoshuabenLevi,forexample).Thoughtheyare
claimedto be old texts,theyweremostlikelywrittenin theearlyMiddle
I8. Bargebuhr, "Alhambra," 229. Ages.See TheJewishEncyclopedia,ed. I. Singer,New York,1964, Ix,
19. Bargebuhr,"Alhambra," footnote 17, z68. 516.
comes quite complex,for often Solomonicfantasiesare super- hiddenin the bowels of a darkcave. In this instancethe Grail
imposedon those connotingthe New Jerusalem.Fromthe Old storysuggestsa dualisticimageof lightanddark-the Grailand
Testamentwas taken the conceptof the priest-king,from the the cave-a contrastalso impliedby the very names of the
KoranandMoslemlegendsthe ideaof a transparentandsome- protagonists, Lucifer (bearerof light) and Adam (earth), a mysti-
timesmobilestructurecreatedby magicpowers,andfromReve- cal usage that will recur in later alchemical lore.
lationthe notionof edificesof preciousmaterialsas an architec- In another legend about the Grail, Albrecht von Scharfen-
tureof spiritualsalvationandtranscendence.
Asis to be expected, berg's the Younger Titurel of about 1270, Montserrat near
the most fantasticexamplesare again to be found in literary Barcelona, in this story portrayed as a cliff of onyx, is chosen to
works,not in builtarchitecture. bear the Holy Grail.25Titurel is instructed to polish the onyx
For example, the Letter of PresterJohn of I 165 describes the cliff, after which a building plan miraculously appears on the
palaceof a priest-kingthathasat its apexa carbunclethatshines polished surface of the rock. The exterior of this divinely de-
at night. Outsidethe building,next to an arenawith an onyx signed sanctuary for the Grail is like a gigantic crown, encrusted
floor, a giant mirrorrevealsapproachingdangersto the ruler with jewels, with a roof of gold and enamel that sparkles in the
inside.21The onyx floorand the mirrorsuggestboth Solomon's sun. At night, glowing rubiesatop subsidiarytowers and the light
glass floor and his magic powers. Nearly a centurylater, ca. of a carbuncle at the apex of the central tower help to guide the
1250, a scribe added to the Letter of PresterJohn what appears way of the Templarsto the shrine.The windows and interiorare
to be the descriptionof a buildingin the traditionof mobile jewelled also, and the floor is describedas a "crystalsea" through
Solomonicglassarchitecture:he detailsa Capellavitrea,a magic which one can see, as through a layer of clear ice on a lake, water
glass chapelwhich automaticallyexpandsto accommodateas and fish. This referenceto the floor as a "crystal sea" betrays the
many worshippers as enter it.22 origin of at least this aspect of the story as deriving from Solo-
Oneof theGraillegends,Wolframvon Eschenbach's Parzifal, monic legends.26The bejewelled exterior of the Grail temple, on
writtenin 1205-1214, is evenmoredirectlyinspiredby Islamic the other hand, seems to be related to the vision of the New
culture.It depictsthe Holy Grailas a preciousstone,dislodged Jerusalem.
fromthe crownof God by Lucifer'slancewhenhe was castout Whereas the earlier Grail legends may have affected Gothic
of Paradise.Accordingto this story, the divine gem is then architecture, later Grail stories in turn were as much influenced
preservedinsidea cave by Adam.23Most legendssurrounding by the visual experience of Gothic architecture. The jewelled
the Grailhaveat leastsomeNearEasternsources.Wolframvon interior and in particular the jewelled windows of the Grail
Eschenbach'sversionspecificallywas inspiredby a Provencal temple in the Younger Titurel suggest that Albrecht von Schar-
poet who in turn had derivedhis own story from an Arabic fenberg had in mind a temple suffused with light where a mysti-
manuscript.24Parzifal bears Gnostic and alchemical overtones in cal union with God is made tangible through an apparently
its allusionto the holystonecontainingthe sparkof divinelight, bodiless colored light, an effect comparable to that of the Gothic
cathedral with its profusion of stained glass windows.
zi. Frankl, The Gothic, 168-169. Precious metals and stones were considered the best carriersof
22. Frankl, The Gothic, 175. divine light. From Abbot Suger's description of his building
23. Wolframvon Eschenbach, Parzifal,trans.H. M. MustardandC.
E. Passage,New York, 1961; Wolframvon EschenbachsParzifalund program at St. Denis, we know that such materials were used
Titurel,ed. K. Bartsch,4th ed., Leipzig,1927; Frankl,The Gothic, extensively for reliquaries,crosses, and small liturgicalutensils.27
I77-I79.
24. Wolframvon Eschenbach's
own claimas to the Arabicsourceof
his material is discounted by R. S. Loomis in his "The Origin of the Grail
Legends,"ArthurianLiteraturein the MiddleAges, London, 1959, legends are discussed by L.-I. Ringbom, Graltempel und Paradies; Be-
z92-293. Loomis believes that the origin of the Grail legends must be ziehungen zwischen Iran und Europa im Mittelalter, Stockholm, 195I,
sought in Welsh and Irish lore. See also A. C. L. Brown's similar attitude and F. Kampers,Das Lichtland der Seelen und der heilige Gral, Cologne,
in The Origin of the Grail Legend, New York, 1966. Indeed a number of 1916. Frankl also believes that the source for Parzifal is an Arabic one
motives in Welsh and Irish stories would seem to justify this contention. (The Gothic, 179), though it must be said that the variously proposed
Severalof the legendsincludereferencesto a city of glass,to a castleof influences on the Grail legends are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
glass, island of glass, glass pillars, etc., associated with fairytale settings Z5. B. R6thlisberger, Die Architektur des Graltempels im Jiingeren
originally, but very early on confused with the Land of the Dead (Brown, Titurel, Bern, 1917; G. Trendelenburg, Studien zum Gralraum im
Origin of the Grail Legend,89). The meaningof such referencesis, Jiingeren Titurel, G6ppingen, 1972; and Frankl, The Gothic, 176, i8o-
therefore, not very clear, and, in any case, citations of glass imagery are 82z.
quite cursory and certainly not as fully developed as glass architectureis 26. Such a figure of speech depends probably on Solomon's "molten
in the Arabic tradition. Interestingly,F. Anderson in The Ancient Secret sea" and its mongrelization in later legends into a glass floor.
-In Search of the Holy Grail, London, I953, has suggested that Celtic 27. Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church of St.-Denis and its Art Trea-
folk tales were influenced by Solomonic legends (see particularly her sures, ed., trans., and annotated by E. Panofsky, Princeton, I946. For
ChapterXII, "The Sea of Glass"). In any case, many architectural the influence of reliquaries on architectural conceptions see F. Bucher's
motivesin the Graillegendsindicatea quitedirectconnectionwith the "Micro-Architecture as the 'Idea' of Gothic Theory and Style," Gesta,
Solomonictradition.NearEasternandSolomonicsourcesfor the Grail xv, I976, 71-89.
Althoughthesesamematerialswouldhavebeendesirableforthe bolizepurelove. Moreimportantly,glassand crystalno longer

large windows of the cathedrals,it is obvious that this was solely representthe upwardmovementtowarda transcendent
impracticable.A plausiblesubstitutefor the translucenceof realm,as the Graillegendshad suggested.In largerterms,this
preciousstones was stainedglass. That Gothic stained glass trendmay be regardedas a movementaway fromthe extreme
windows often alludedto preciousstones is revealedby the spiritualityof the earlierMiddleAgestowarda conceptof man
namesgivenin the MiddleAgesto variousstainedglasscolors, whichincludesboth his spiritualand earthlymanifestations.In
i.e. "ruby glass" or "sapphire glass."28 The true function of this context it is extremelysignificantthat in literaturefrom
stained glass was within the scope of a mystical, transcendent about I41O onward the site of the Holy Grail and the Venusberg
light: a light that illuminates the soul of the worshipper. becomeone and the same.32The questfor god and love could
The religious import accorded precious materials and glass now be undertakensimultaneously!
naturally affected the secular imageryof the Middle Ages as well. Nearlyall the Medievalliterarytraditionsof the glass-crystal
Luminosity became an important attribute in the definition of symbolismcoveredto this point are summarizedin a Renais-
beauty in the izth and I3th centuries. In philosophical and sance work, Francesco Colonna's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
courtly literature, the most commonly used adjectives of beauty (The Dream of Poliphilo). In highly syncretistic fashion, this
were "lucid," "luminous," and "clear."29While the Gothic ca- book unitesthe metaphorsof religiousmysticismandof courtly
thedral's stained glass program continued the Biblical and Ko- love poetry. It is interesting that The Dream of Poliphilo was
ranic traditions in which translucent and reflective materials regardedfromthe Renaissanceuntilthe 7th centuryas a great
symbolize transcendence, spiritual light, or divine wisdom, we modelfor classicalformsby botharchitectsandsculptors.That
begin to find in the secularliteratureof the later Middle Ages new they could mistakethe book'smystical-medieval referencesfor
meanings in the iconography of glass and crystal: the imagery actualdescriptionsof ancientstructuresmakesit clearthat its
reveals more private and personal attitudes, a change in meaning symboliclanguage,containingthe kindof spiritualmessagewell
that will gradually affect its outward form. knownto the MiddleAges,had falleninto disuse.Itsappealfor
Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan of the early 3th century thepost-Renaissance periodlayprimarilyin its richarchitectural
contains the description of a grotto that houses a bed of crystal. fantasy,which is of interest
to us also,thoughnot becauseof its
Significantly,in an appended allegoricalinterpretationof Tristan "classicism."33
this crystalline bed is said to stand for pure and transparent In this work Poliphilo,in his quest for his ideal love, Polia,
love.30 A further association between translucent matter and encountersQueenEleuterilida's palace,the roof of whichcon-
love is made in Chaucer's poem House of Fame of ca. 1381, sistsof vinesandhoneysucklemadeof gold andpreciousstones.
which relates that the temple of Venus appears as if it were a Oneof Eleuterilida'sgardensis similarlya faithfulcopyof nature
temple of glass. And a similar theme is versified in Temple of in gold and glass.It is a world in whichall of naturehas been
Glass by John Lydgate, a Chaucer imitator.31On the other hand, transmutedinto what mysticsregardedas higherformsof mat-
folk legends from around I3 00 onward, usually attributedto the ter.Laterin thebook,whenPoliphilois reunitedwithPolia,they
minnesinger Tannhauser, depict the abode of Venus as the in- arriveat an amphitheater on the islandof Cythera.Itsbasesand
terior of a mountain. beamsaremadeof coppergilt, and the restof the buildingis a
The crystal bed and grotto still found in association in Tristan singlepieceof Indianalabasterwhichis as transparentas glass.
and quite comparable to the light/earth metaphors of the Grail The floor of the amphitheater'sinterioris a single block of
inside the cave of Parzifal, are separated into two seemingly polishedblack obsidian,reminiscentof the YoungerTiturel's
opposing ideas in the legends surrounding the goddess of love Holy Grailsite.WhenPoliphiloentersthebuildinghissensesare
and become a glass temple in Chaucer or the interior of a confusedby the reflectivefloor and, believingthat he is falling
mountain in the legends attributedto Tannhauser. Such a drastic into a blackabyss,he stumbles.Butby keepinghis eyes on the
division between the abodes of Venus, the temple of glass or the surroundingwalls, he regainshis balanceand sees that the sky,
Venusberg, may well allude to the segregated concepts of pure the clouds,and the colonnadesvisiblethroughthe transparent
and earthly love.
In the troubadour or minnesinger tradition of the I3th and
I4th centuries, glass and crystal are secularized. They now sym- 32. Frankl, The Gothic, 194-195. Though Frankl cites these ex-
amples and describes architecturalreferencescontained in them, he does
not discuss the meaning of these legends.
z8. J. R. Johnson, The Radiance of Chartres, New York, 1964, 53- 33. For Colonna's influence on post-Renaissance architecture see M.
66. S. Huper, The Architectural Monuments of the Hypnerotomachia
29. 0. von Simson, The Gothic Cathedral, New York, 1956, 50. Poliphili, University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, 1956; and A. Blunt, "The
30. Frankl, The Gothic, 173. See also The "Tristan and Isolde" of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in Seventeenth Century France,"Journal of
Gottfried von Strassburg, trans. and annotated by E. H. Zeydel, Prince- the Warburg Institute, I, October 1937, I7-137. Frankl, who is only
ton, 1948. concerned with the Gothic quality of Colonna's architectural descrip-
3 . Frankl, The Gothic, 194. tions, does not relate this work to the Solomonic tradition.
Z8 JSAH, XL:1, MARCH 1981
alabasterarereflectedin the polishedblackflooras if in a calm cal beliefsweretransmittedto the Westvia Arabicwritingsand

sea. The translucenceand reflectionof clouds in the obsidian theJewishKabbala.Throughboththesesources,the wisdomof
floorproducesa sensorydislocationwhichis closein spiritto the Solomonbecamean importantinspirationfor the medievalal-
legendaryencounterof Shebawith Solomonin his glass-floored chemist.
palace.The fountainof Venus is in the centerof this amphi- The basic desire of all adherentsof alchemyconsistedin
theaterandis, likethe floor,of blackobsidian.Sevencolumnsof wantingto transmutebase matterinto a noble material,vari-
preciousstones support a canopy of pure crystalon whose ously calledsimplythe lapis,the philosopher'sstone, or elixir
summitis a carbuncleas largeas an ostrichegg,the last perhaps vitae. Gold, but particularlythe diamond-because of its fire,
anotherecho of the YoungerTiturel'sGrail building.In the transparency,and hardness-often appearas the specificcar-
centerof thisfountainVenusis revealedstandinghalfsubmerged riersof this symbolism.36 For the alchemistthe searchfor this
in water.34 lapis, a kind of personalizedGrail,was a mysticalquest for
The amphitheater'sfloor,whichappearsto be a sea, and the gnosisand transubstantiation. Likethe Grail,the philosopher's
fountainseemlikea doublereflectionof the Solo-
crystal-roofed stoneof the alchemistsis frequentlyequatedwithChrist'strans-
monic glass legends. While The Dream of Poliphilo borrows figuredbody.
quiteheavilyfromtheimageryof theGrailstories,it seemsat the Despiteits originalspiritualintent,alchemyretainsfew of the
sametimeindebtedto the sourcefor earlierglassmythologems, altruisticprinciplesassociatedwiththequestfor theHoly Grail.
the Solomonand Shebastory. Like Sheba,who had been de- The findingof the Grailhad suggestedcommunalsalvation-
ceivedinto liftingherskirtsby beingmadeto thinkthatSolomon accordingto mostGraillegends,thefindingof theGrailpromised
was enthronedin water,so Poliphiloencountersa metaphorical not just the salvationof the knightwho foundit, but spiritual
"sea"whichmakeshimbelievehe is falling.But,in addition,the renewalforthewholerealm.Inthelateralchemicaltradition,by
innersanctumin The Dreamof Poliphilo,its Venusbergso to contrast,the questfor the Stoneof Wisdomleadsonly to self-
speak,is a crystal-toppedfountainin whichVenusis immersed, knowledgeandindividualmetamorphosis. Becausethe Stoneof
transforming theoriginal"asif"conditionsof theSolomon-and- Wisdomis only a symbolof the self,the crystalimagerylosesall
Shebamyth into somethingmore palpable.This reference,in its earlierarchitectural
dimensions.Thatis, whenthismetaphor
whatmightbe calleda back-formation fromthe Graillegends,is of transformation, whetherspiritualor secular,impliesa general
aptin the Poliphilo-Venus context,sincetheSolomonandSheba socialchange,it takeson architectural form,but whenit stands
storyhad alwayscontainedgreatereroticpossibilitiesthan the forindividualgnosisalone,theimageis reducedto theshapeof a
rarefied,masculineworldof theHolyGrail.Inanycase,as in the stone.Gnosisandimmortality,withthe lapisas the imageof the
earliermedievalcourtlylove literature,the primaryintentionof transmutedself,arediscoveredwithinoneself,andconsequently
The Dream of Poliphilo is to signify transformation from base introspectionandself-searching attitudesbecomethe hallmarks
instinctto purifiedlove.35 of the alchemist.It was preciselythis egocentricmysticismthat
S * *
was to appealto the sensibilitiesof theRomanticslateron.37For
it was basicallyin the hermeticform of the alchemists,as the
The symbolismof transmutationsuggestedthroughglass, lapis, that the crypticmeaningof crystaland glass was trans-
crystal,water,preciousstones,andgoldin thelaterMiddleAges mittedto the I9th century.And thoughthe crystalmetaphor
is not only kept alive throughits partialsecularizationin the duringthis period is strippedof its older architectonic,i.e.,
minnesingertradition,but is also retainedas a quasi-religious, social, connotation,even in its reduced,vestigialform as the
though now highly subjective,image in alchemy.The exact Stone of Wisdom,the imageretainsthe idea of transcendence
originsof alchemyarenot known.Mostsourcesconnectit to the andmetamorphosis.
lateHellenisticworldandspecificallyto Gnosticideas.Alchemi- Giventheesotericnatureof alchemy,it is appropriate thatthe
alchemistschoseas theirguidingspiritnot the biblicalSolomon,
but the mastersorcererof Arabiclegendswith power over air
34. For a mystical,alchemicalinterpretationof this work see L.
Fierz-David, The Dream of Poliphilo, trans. M. Hottinger, New York, and land. Alchemy'suneasybalancebetweenreligiousgnosis
I950.
35. Similar glass and water images together with architectural fanta-
sies can also be found in Hieronymus Bosch's "Garden of Earthly 36. C. G. Jung, Psychologie und Alchemie, Zurich, I944, 574.
Delights." The general theme here, however, no longer refers to the 37. According to C. G. Jung, alchemy was based on fantasy and
gentle courtly troubadour tradition, but is shown in a more earthly illusion, but at the same time served a psychotherapeuticfunction in that
manifestation, lust. Thus the ladies depicted half-submergedin a circular it projected the psychic process of individuation onto chemical trans-
pool of water and the couples enclosed by glass spheres are not transformations. In Jung's opinion this represents an emerging conflict be-
muted by their environment, but are trapped as in prisons. This is tween individuality and collectivism, between the self and society, a
comparable to the depiction of the original fairyland as a nether world in conflict which does not fully surface until the i9th and zoth centuries
Celtic folk tales (see fn. 24). (Psychologie und Alchemie, 644).
and occultsciencemakesit clearthat it couldeasilybe debased ageryin a numberof hisworks,particularly

in hisFaustandThe
into blackmagic.Themetaphorictransformation of basematter Parable.41
into gold couldbe presentedby the unscrupulousalchemistas a Of the many Romanticworks,42Novalis' incompletework
distinctpossibility.The fortune-teller'scrystalball is another Heinrich von Ofterdingen (80oz) goes back most clearly to the
mongrelizedform of the philosopher'sstone. Becauseof the imageryof mysticism,the Graillegends,medievallove poetry,
abusesof the pseudo-alchemists, but more becauseof the in- andalchemy.Inthisnovel,theprotagonist,Heinrich,encounters
creasingsecularizationof societyin the laterMiddleAges, the a palacewith a crystalgarden43comparableto the gardende-
mysticunityof alchemybrokeinto two separatestrands:on the scribedin The Dreamof Poliphilo,and is told about an even
one hand, divestedof its mystic import, it gave rise to such more preciousgardenin which silvertreeswith fruitof rubies
modernsciencesas chemistryand geology.On the otherhand, standon a crystalfloor.44And,as in Tristan,Freya,thedaughter
retainingits hermetic,occult elements,it affectedthe Rosicru- of PrinceArthur,is seenon a bedof crystal,45echoingaccurately
cianmovementof the I7th century,as well as Freemasonry.38 the medievalmetaphorfor pure love. DuringHeinrich'slong
Theovertcrystalandglasssymbolismof theMiddleAgesthat wanderings,as if he werein searchof theGrail,he hasa dreamin
had becomehighlyesotericand had gone undergroundduring whichhe seesa cavecontaininga fountainof trembling,moving
the post-Renaissanceperiod, was consciouslyresurrectedby colors.Thisfountainreflectsa bluishlightagainstthecavewalls,
writersof theRomanticage.Thiswasusuallydonein aneffortto andwaterflowsfromthe fountaininto the cave'sinterior.46 The
bolsterthe questfor identitywith spiritualintensity,but also to dreamis intendedas a signto Heinrichof his searchfor the true
createa harmoniousportraitof the past that would show an self detailedin the latersectionsof the novel.The metaphorof
inevitablecontinuitybetweenthe presumedsocialand religious thesparklingfountainwithinthedarkcaveis similarto theGrail
strengthof the Middle Ages and the present.This was true hiddenin a caveor the alchemists'philosopher'sstoneor elixir
particularlyin Germany,where the lack of politicalunity in- vitaecreatedfromdark,ignoblematter.Thebluecolorprojected
spiredstrongyearningsfor a goldenage,yearningsthatwereto fromthewateragainstthecavewallsprefigurestheBlueFlower,
increaseafterthe Napoleonicinvasion. concretesymbolof Heinrich'squestfor a purifiedidentity.In-
Inthe I79os the earlyRomanticwriterLudwigTieckbeganto
renewinterestin old Germanstories,in the legendsof the Grail,
and in alchemythroughhis own writingsand throughhis tran-
41. A. R. Raphael,Goetheand the Philosophers'Stone;Symbolic
scriptionof medievalGermanlove poetry.39SulpizBoisser&e, Patternsin 'TheParable'andtheSecondPartof 'Faust,'London,1965.
betterknownfor his involvementin the completionof Cologne Goethe's The Parable of 1795 (The Parable, trans. A. R. Raphael, New
in general,andforhis York, 1963) is also discussed by E. A. Santomasso (Origins and Aims of
Cathedral,hisstudyof Gothicarchitecture GermanExpressionistArchitecture:An Essay into the Expressionist
collectionof old Germanand Netherlandishpaintings(which Frameof Mind in Germany,Especiallyas Typifiedin the Workof
madea deepimpressionon Goethe),alsowrotea bookaboutthe RudolfSteiner,dissertation,ColumbiaUniversity,1973) as one of the
sourcesfor WenzelHablik'suse of crystallineformsin his drawings.
descriptionof the Grailtemplein Titurel.40Goethe too used
ThoughGoethe'sstoryis fullof alchemicalandMasonicimages-there
manyelementsof the Graillegend,alchemy,and Masonicim- is goldhiddenin a caveandthereis a crystallinebridgeas in someGrail
legends-the templedescribedbyGoetheis not "crystalline," as claimed
in Santomasso,15o. Goethe'suse of the crystalmetaphoris basically
Romantic,i.e., nonarchitectural. Santomasso'sinclusionof The Par-
able, togetherwith medievalandlatersources,as a precedentfor Hab-
38. M. Eliade,The Forgeand the Crucible,trans.S. Corrin,New lik'suseof crystallinity
to signifyverybroadlya paradisaicsettingor the
York,1962; G. F. Hartlaub,AlchemistenundRosenkreuzer,
Willsbach presenceof a divinewill is, however,appropriate,becauseHablikhim-
and Heidelberg, 1947; W. E. Peuckert, Die Rosenkreuzer; Zur Ge- self seldomtransformedthe crystalimageryinto anythingmore than
schichteeinerReformation, Jena,19z8; F.L.PickandG. N. Knight,The proto-architecturalconceptions(seealso fn. 69).
PocketHistoryof Freemasonry, London,1963. Inadditionto the better 42. The resurrection of alchemical lore is by no means confined to
knownroseandcross,theRosicrucians alsousedthecrystalas a symbol. worksof the GermanRomanticperiod.Forinstance,thereis the early
BothRosicruciansandFreemasonsclaimedancientArabicorigins.The Romantic tale Vathek by William Beckford, the patron of Fonthill
Freemasons,in particular,usedtheTempleof Solomonas an archetypal Abbey, that well-known example of Neogothic taste (W. Beckford,
model. What interestedthem, however,was not so much Solomon's Vathek, with an introduction by R. Carnett, London, 1924. This book
biblicalattributes,but morehis prowessas a sorcererassociatedwith was first published in the 178os in English and French editions). The
himin Arabiclore. metaphors of alchemy are commingled with those of romantic love.
39. In Tieck's story "Der getreueEckartund der Tannenhauser" Vathek contains the description of a labyrinthine subterraneanpalace in
(1799), for instance, the medieval story of the Venusberg served as which the hero encounters the king and prophet "Soliman." Soliman's
inspiration.Also, in his "Runenberg"
(i80z) crystalimageryis usedin heart, enveloped in flames, is visible through his bosom, which is "trans-
connectionwitha supernatural, seductivewoman,comparableto Tann- parent as crystal" (i66).
hauser's Venus (Miirchen und Geschichten, ed. P. Ernst, Munich and 43. Novalis, Schriften, ed. E. Heilborn, Berlin, 1901, I, 126.
Berlin, n.d., I, i z ). 44. Novalis, Schriften, 89.
40. S. Boisseree, Uber die Beschreibung des Tempels des Heiligen 45. Novalis, Schriften, Iz1.
Grales in dem Heldengedicht: Titurel, Kap. III, Munich, 1834. 46. Novalis, Schriften, 7.
deed the Blue Flower appears to be Novalis' equivalent of the

elusive lapis: Novalis at one point compares the Blue Flower to a
carbuncle,47a reference that would be gratuitous without the
medieval mystical background.48
In Novalis, then, the by-now familiar imagery still carries
mystical, alchemical overtones, but with this difference: the old
imagery of metamorphosis is no longer introduced in conjunc-
tion with spiritual salvation. The emphasis in Novalis' explora-
tion of dreams and the darker passages of the mind is rather on
self-exploration, in finding the center of his individuality. In
Novalis the dark cave and the sparkling fountain have a new
coexistence. The sparklingfountain does not signify transforma-
tion of lowly matter, as it would have in the alchemicaltradition,
but instead, though it arises from the cave, is depicted as flowing
back into the earth. This would seem to exclude any sort of
spiritual transcendence. The fountain (or carbuncle) and cave
here have come to stand simply for the mind in general and for
the regenerationof the self specifically.
The use of mysticalimagerylike that found in Novalis becomes
widespread in Romantic literature, but the mythological power
of the older legends is usually missing. Like the mysticism of the
Rosicrucians, the mystical symbolism of the Romantics loses the
earlier, wider significance and becomes a language of the initi-
ated, meaningful only to those who are alreadyversed in it.
In the later Igth century this mystical tradition can still be Fig. 5. Peter Behrens, frontispiece (Feste des Lebens und der Kunst,
Leipzig, 900o).
discerned in vestigial forms. It seems to reach its most esoteric
heights in Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra. Light/dark op-
posites are used to delineateZarathustra'sroad to self-knowledge.
He inhabits a cave on a mountain peak, a clear metaphor for the 1gth-centuryexcesses of scientificconfidence and positivism, the
mind. The two beasts attendinghim, eagle and snake, are an even Symboliststurned away from the descriptive,naturalisticstyle of
older variant of the ancient chthonic and celestial forces. Images the preceding generation and embraced a mode of expression
of Zarathustra's self or soul are as eclectic as Nietzsche's meta- that was tinged with Romantic sensibility, interest in the irra-
phors for the struggle between earthly body and disembodied tional, and heightened sensory awareness. Given their general
mind. Zarathustra compares his soul to a fountain,49 a child anti-materialist notions, it is fitting that the Symbolists also
offers him a mirror for self-reflection,50and he is himself ad- unearthedoccult Rosicruciansymbolism. Such esoteric spiritual-
dressed as the "Stone of Wisdom."5s Alchemical metaphors of ism must have fulfilled a quest for emotional relevance for men
transmutationnow only stand for a narcissisticself-apotheosis. who might have been embarrassed to turn to any established
The mysticism of the Symbolist movement of the late I9th church. This latter-day mysticism catered not merely to man's
century bringsus within the youthful experience of Expressionist spiritual needs, but satisfied his speculative nature and his thirst
architects and writers. In their attempt to redress some of the for knowledge at the same time. Salvation through knowledge is
a proposition of some attraction for malcontent artist-intellec-
tuals. That the Stone of Wisdom representsthe mind can only be
deduced in Novalis and Nietzsche. But in a work by the Symbol-
47. Novalis, Schriften, 19i.
48. Thegeneralassociationof diamondandBlueFloweris alsomen- ist writer Alfred Jarry, in his Exploits and Opinions of Doctor
tioned by Jung, Psychologie und Alchemie, I5 '. In addition to such an Faustroll written in 1895, the philosopher's stone is literally
esotericsymbol as the Blue Flower,Novalis also makes use of the located in Vincent Van Gogh's brain.52 The German poet Alfred
better-known
alchemicalimagery:thesearchforthephilosopher's stone
is symbolized more generally by a miner who searches for gold in the
bowels of the earth (Novalis, Schriften, 72).
49. F. Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra, trans. T. Common, New 52. Selected Works of AlfredJarry, ed. R. Shattuck and S. W. Taylor,
York, 1917, II7. New York, I965, 236. Jarry's Dr. Faustroll was published in part in
50. Nietzsche, Zarathustra, 95. 1895; the complete work was published posthumously in 191 -Jarry
5 . Nietzsche, Zarathustra, 165. had died in 1907. During Faustroll's travels in search of knowledge, the
Mombert and Paul Klee also identified the crystal with the brain
and with images of the self.53
Another instance of an essentially Symbolist use of the crystal
metaphor returns us to the artistic-architecturalrealm which is
at the root of this investigation. Peter Behrens, the Jugendstil
artist turned architect presented to the assembled audience at the
opening festivities of the Darmstadt Artists' Colony in 190o a
"Zeichen" (Sign), which was a great crystal. Its reference to
Nietzschean mysticism is clear: the last section of Also Sprach
Zarathustra in which Zarathustraemerges from his cave like the
sun, is entitled "Das Zeichen."54 The fact that Behrens reinte-
heroencountersnearlyall the symbolsof spiritualtransformation cur-

rentat one timeor another.Jarry'seclecticismtakesus all thewayback
to the probableoriginsof this mythology,Solomon'sglasspalace,as is
clearfromthispassage:
His femaleretainers,whose dressesspreadout like the ocelli of pea-
cocks' tails, gave us a displayof dancingon the glassylawns of the
island;but when they liftedtheirtrainsandwalk uponthis swardless
glaucous than water, they evoked the image of Balkis, summoned from
Sheba by Solomon, whose donkey's feet were betrayed by the hall's
crystal floor, for at the sight of their capripedeclogs and their fleece skirts
we were seized with fright and flung ourselves into the skiff lying at the
foot of the jasper landing-steps. (Selected Works, 209-21I).
Jarry'swork was better known in the early zoth century than it is today.
Marinetti in his proto-Futuristperiodical Poesia, for example, published
JarryalongsidetheGermanpoetsArnoHolz andRichardDehmel,both
friends of Peter Behrens and Paul Scheerbart.
53. Mombert, whose intensity and gnostic imagery make him a fore-
runnerof Expressionist poetry, as early as 1896 had identifiedthe crystal
with the self in his poem "Der Gliihende" (The Glowing). See A. Mom- Fig. 6. Peter Behrens, decorative illustration (Ein Dokument deutscher
Kunst: Die Ausstellung der Kunstler-Kolonie in Darmstadt-19o1,
bert, Dichtungen, Munich, 1963, 90. The crystal becomes totally identi-
fied with the brain in his poem "Der Held der Erde" (The World Hero) of Munich, 1901, 4).
1914:
Felsen aus Opal, aus Bergkristall.
grates the image of the philosopher's stone with its older al-
Die huten das Obere.
Sie sammeln das Welt-Licht. Und senken es
chemical substance, crystal (something Nietzsche had not done),
griinblaulich, schillernd, herunter ins Haus-: points to the eclectic and historicist approach of Behrens (Figs. 5
Purpur;Gold; violette Blaue-: and 6). He seems to return to the mystical tradition in which
herunter in mein kristallen Him.
crystal signifies transformation. But he gives the tradition a
Rocks of opal, of rock-crystal.
slightly new direction: crystal stands for the metamorphosis of
They protect the higher.
They gather the world-light. And lower it everyday life into a heightened artistic experience. In essence,
Green-blue, scintillating, down into the house-: crystal representsfor Behrensan escape from realityinto a world
Purple;gold; violet blueness-: of the artist's own making, above the squalor of common life.
Down into my crystal brain.
Like Zarathustra'scave at the top of a mountain, the Darmstadt
(Dichtungen, 471; Bletter translation)
Paul Klee also identified the crystal metaphor with the self, as is clear Artists' Colony, built on a height overlooking the city, suggests in
from this phrase used in his Diaries in 1915: "I thought I was dying, war, clear visual terms such a stratification of society. The artist has
and death. But can I really die, I crystal" (V. Miesel, ed., Voices of taken up the position at the apex of the social pyramid formerly
German Expressionism, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1970, 8o).
54. S. O. Anderson, Peter Behrens and the New Architecture of
occupied by the aristocracy.55
Germany-i900-9 7, dissertation, Columbia University, 1968, 47-
67. Anderson's thesis contains a detailed discussion of Behrens' depen-
dence on Nietzschean imagery. He also explains Behrens' use of the so the powerof art maytransformeverydaylife into a resplendentlife
crystal as a symbol for transformation: filledwithmeaning.(PeterBehrens,24)
The symbolism of the crystal relies on a metaphorical relationship A brieferdiscussionof Behrensand the DarmstadtArtists'Colony
between transformations which take place at the micro- and macro- appearsin S. Anderson,"Behrens'ChangingConcept,"Architectural
cosmic levels; for example, just as mere carbon under intense conditions Design, xxxix, February 1969, 72-78.
assumes a particular crystal structure and becomes the prized diamond, 55. The new socialordersuggestedby this undertaking
is madeeven
DER GOTISCHE DOM IST DAS

PRALUDIUM DER GLASARCHITEKTUR
Fig. 7. Bruno Taut, drawing of the Glass House for the opening program Fig. 8. BrunoTaut, exterior of Glass House (WasmuthsMonatshefte fiir
of the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, 1914 (Glashaus- Werkbund- Baukunst, I, 1914/ 5, Fig. 204).
Ausstellung CoGn1914, Berlin, 1914, n.p.).
Although Behrens returns the crystal imagery to an architec- His whimsically witty science fiction stories often have as their
tural setting, his specific usage is not architectonic, but is still hero an architect of glass and crystal buildings. At the outset of
within the Romantic literary tradition. He reifies the self-con- his career in the i89os, Scheerbart'simagery is not far removed
tained symbol of the philosopher's stone. It is not, of course, the from that of Symbolism or Jugendstil: crystalline architectureis
Stone of Wisdom depicted in alchemicallegends: Behrens'crystal introduced as the metaphor of individual transcendence.But in
Zeichen is a dramatic prop and, therefore, merely a theatrical his writings of the early zoth century (Scheerbartdied in 1915)
symbol. this symbolism is less solipsistic. As his proposals for glass struc-
tures grow more architectonic, there is a concurrent increase in
* * *
these buildings' flexibility. Scheerbartdescribes a mobile glass
Not until early manifestations of Expressionismis the crystal- architectureof rotating houses, buildings that can be raised and
glass iconography again associated with architectural models. lowered from cranes, floating and airborne structures,and even
This occurs earliest, not surprisingly,in literature, in the short a city on wheels. This interest in the literal flexibility of architec-
stories and novels of the Expressionist writer Paul Scheerbart.56 ture is further augmented by the suggestion of apparent motion
through the use of constantly changing lights, reflectingpools of
more explicitby the fact that the Artists'Colony was financedand water, mirrorsplaced near buildings, or glass floors which reveal
supportedby the rulerof Hesse,the GrossherzogErnstLudwig,whose the movement of waves and fish of a lake below (the last is very
palace in the city was in a real sense below the artists'settlement much like the effect of the Grail
overlookingthecity.WassilyKandinskyin his ConcerningtheSpiritual temple in the Younger Titurel).
in Art,firstpublishedin 1912,was to speakof a similarsocialpyramid Such actual and apparent transformations of glass and crystal
with the artistat its apex (trans.M. Sadleir,F. Golffing,H. Ostertag, architecture-terms used interchangeablyby Scheerbart-in his
New York, I947).
later works come to stand for the metamorphosis of the whole
56. Seemy"PaulScheerbart's Architectural JSAH,xxxIv,
Fantasies,"
May 1975, 83-97. Scheerbart had been using crystal imagery long society, an anarchist society, which through its exposure to this
before190o, and becausehe was a closefriendof the writersRichard new architecture,has been lifted from dull awareness to a higher
Dehmel,OttoJuliusBierbaum,andOtto ErichHartleben,who hadall mode of sensory experience and from political dependence to a
beenassociatedwithPeterBehrensattheDarmstadtArtists'Colony,it is
liberation from all institutions.
quitepossiblethat Behrens'overtuse of the crystalwas influencedby
Scheerbart. Thus, the older, alchemical notion of metamorphosis, signi-
While most of Scheerbart'sarchitecturalproposals appear to

spring full-fledged from his unfettered imagination, he was in
reality quite aware of historical precedents. For instance, he saw
his suggestions for glass architectureas improvements on 19th-
century botanical gardensand on Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace
in particular. But he considered the mystic effect of Gothic
stained glass with its suffused, colored light more suitable as a
model for the synaesthetic experience he himself wished to
achieve than the clear glass of 19th-century industrial architec-
ture. Most important, Scheerbarthad thoroughly studied Arabic
culture and Sufi mysticism, and because he regarded the Near
East as the cradle of glass architecture,he always held Moslem
traditions in the greatest esteem. As a case in point, he regarded
the dematerializedeffects of the Alhambra'shoneycomb vaults a
worthwhile prototype for his ethereal glass architecture. Even
though it is not clearwhether Scheerbartknew that the Alhambra
was meant to allude to Solomon's glass palace, he seems to have
been aware of the general intentions behind it.
Around 1912, in the circles of Herwarth Walden's periodical
Der Sturm, Scheerbartmet the young architect Bruno Taut who
was to become one of the central figuresof Expressionist archi-
tecture. During Scheerbart'sfew remainingyears their friendship
became truly symbiotic. Scheerbart dedicated his book Glass
Architectureof 1914 to Taut, and Taut that same year dedicated
to Scheerbarthis Glass House, a pavilion at the German Werk-
bund Exhibition in Cologne (Figs.7 and 8).57 In the Glass House,
the literary fantasies about glass architecture are, for the first
time since Gothic architecture,again reinstatedas built form.
This gem-like Glass House, with its colored glass dome set in a
Fig. 9. Bruno Taut, one of the outer stairways of the Glass House
(Jahrbuchdes Deutschen Werkbundes, 1915, 82). concrete frame, is a replicaof Scheerbart'sarchitecturalideas. Its
small scale is reminiscent of late Gothic chapels and its pear-
fled by the change of lowly matter into precious substance, is shaped dome recalls Moslem architecture.The exterior aspect of
intensified by Scheerbart through the proposal for continually the Glass House is curious and insignificant,except for the glass
shifting forms. Although we have encountered such a conjunc- spheres resembling crystal balls placed mysteriously around its
tion of transparent materials and flexible forms in the Arabic base. The progression through the building was carefully con-
legend concerning Solomon's airborneglass palace, in the mobile trolled. From the entrance two curving stairs of luxfer prisms
effects of Arabic architecture,or in the medieval Capella vitrea, (Fig. 9) led up to the space under the dome, the "cupola room."
whose elastic skin flexes to accommodate any number of wor- This cupola room was enclosed by a double skin of colored glass,
shipers, this heightening of images of transmutation through one of Scheerbart'sproposals to avoid the tremendous heat loss
apparentand actual movement becomes the norm in Expression- from which glazed botanical gardens suffered. This uppermost
ism. The notion of a flexible, mobile architecture is used to space under the dome was bathed in light, but no visual contact
underlinethe promise of the crystallinemetaphor: metamorpho- was possible with the outside world. From the cupola room a
sis and transcendence. The Expressionist architectural style is second set of curving stairs led back to the interiorof the middle
difficultto define precisely because its forms are not perceived as
fixed and measurable.There is not an ideal conjunction of forms. 57. P. Scheerbart, Glasarchitektur, Berlin, 19I4. This has been re-
published, Munich I971, with a postscript by W. Pehnt and with a
On the contrary, if there is an ideal, it is incompletion and Scheerbartbibliography. An English translation can be found in Glass
tension: shifting, kaleidoscopic forms are forever moving out of Architectureby Paul Scheerbartand Alpine Architectureby Bruno Taut,
chaos toward a potential perfection, a perfection which is, how- ed. D. Sharp, trans. J. Palmes, S. Palmer,New York, 1972. Taut's Glass
House was discussed and illustrated in P. Jessen, "Die Deutsche Werk-
ever, never fully attained. This is not unlike the quest for the
bund-Ausstellung Koln, 1914," Jahrbuch des Deutschen Werkbundes,
Grail or Stone of Wisdom, which in most legends was sought but 1915, i-42, and in F. Stahl, "Die Architektur der Werkbundausstel-
seldom or never found. lung," Wasmuths Monatshefte fiir Baukunst, I, I9I4-I 5, 200.
and mystical. The contemporaryarchitecturalcritic, Adolf

Behne,a friendof Taut,clearlyunderstoodthe mysticalinten-
tion behindthe GlassHousewhenhe wrote:
Thelongingforpurityandclarity,forglowinglightness,crys-
tallineexactness,for immateriallightness,andinfiniteliveliness
foundin glassa meansof its fulfillment-in thismost bodiless,
mostelementary,mostflexible,material,richestin meaningand
inspiration,which like no otherfuseswith the world. It is the
least fixed of materialstransformedwith everychangeof the
atmosphere,infinitelyrichin relations,mirroringthe"below"in
the "above,"animated,fullof spiritandalive!
The thoughtof the beautifulcupolaroomwhichwas vaulted
like a sparklingskull, of the unreal,etherealstair,which one
descendedas if walkingthroughpearlingwater,movesme and
produceshappymemories.59
Fig. io. BrunoTaut,FountainRoomof GlassHouse(Jahrbuch
des Althoughthe Glass House was one of the earliestexecuted
Deutschen Werkbundes, 1915, 79).
Expressionistbuildings,to the degreethat it stood for a "spar-
klingskull,"it alsoclungto the Romantic-Symbolist traditionin
which the crystallinelapiswas identifiedwith the self or brain.
level, the level of the entrance. This circular space was enclosed Anotherkeyto thehermeticnatureof thisbuildingwasprovided
by a wall of translucent silvered glass set between larger stained bycoupletscomposedbyScheerbart fortheGlassHouse,suchas
glass panels created by several Expressionist painters, including "Lightseeks to penetratethe whole cosmos / And is alive in
Max Pechstein (Fig. Io).58 The real centerpieceof this room was crystal" or "Colored Glass / Destroys Hatred."60These were
a sparkling fountain which was surrounded by a glass mosaic inscribedon the 14-sidedconcretebandunderthedome.
floor in a white, blue, and black pattern. Red case glass and The GlassHouse and the WerkbundExpositionwere closed
gilded glass tiles covered a conical ceiling leading up to a circular prematurely inAugustof 1914 becauseof theoutbreakof World
opening directly above the pool of water. The light admitted War One. PaulScheerbartdied in 19I5. His ideaswere trans-
through this oculus from the brighter cupola room above pro- mittedto the post-wargenerationof youngarchitectsby Taut.
duced a flickering,disorienting impression as it was reflected by Becausefew architectural commissionscouldbe hadduringand
the fountain and the glazed surfaces. From the fountain room a immediatelyafter the war, Taut turnedto the publicationof
water cascade flanked by two stairs led to the semidarkness of books,pictorialtreatisesaboutglassarchitecture astheidealof a
the basement. The walls enclosing the cascade stairwell were utopian,generally anarchistsociety.In his AlpineArchitektur,
covered with polychrome glass mosaics. This display of sound, publishedin I919,61 Tautwas able to respondto Scheerbart's
light, and color was further enhanced by long chains of glass proposalseven moredirectlythanwas the casewith the Glass
pearls placed in the water and lit dramatically from below by House. Functionalrequirements for the GlassHousehad been
lights situated under the water basins of the cascade. At the minimalbecauseit wasanexhibitionpavilion.Butin hisutopian
lowest level a dark tunnel, lined in soft purple velvet led to a tractsTaut couldapproachdesignwith absolutefreedom.Any
cave-like, completely dark "kaleidoscope room" in which ab- limitsimposedby site,materials,or economicfactorswerenow
stract patterns of colored light were projected onto an opaque totallyabsent.InAlpineArchitektur, as if it weresomemegalo-
screen. maniacearthart,wholemountainrangesarerecutandpeaksare
A walk through this building was like an alchemical rite of decorated with colored glass (Fig. 1). Crystalhouses high up in
passage: it began in an aura of crystallinelightness but the most
intense experience occurred, paradoxically, at the end of a long,
dark corridor. In Novalis-fashion the kaleidoscope inside the 59. A. Behne,"Gedankeniiber Kunstund Zweck dem Glashause
Glass House was hidden in the darkest recess of a cave. The gewidmet," Kunstgewerbeblatt, N.S. xxvII, October I915, 4; Bletter
translation.
primary impression of the building was theatrical, synaesthetic, 60. Thewholesetof aphorismscomposedby ScheerbartfortheGlass
House-not allwereusedbecausethebuildingwasnotbigenough-are
listedin Scheerbart,"Glashausbriefe,"
45-48. An Englishtranslation
58. At the time Taut was engaged in the design of the Glass House he appearsin GlassArchitecture,
ed. D. Sharp.
published an essay, "Eine Notwendigkeit" (A Necessecity) in Der 6I. B. Taut, Alpine Architektur, Hagen i.W., I919. A poor English
Sturm, iv, February I914, 174-175, which contains his proposal for an translationof this appearsin F. Borsiand G. K. Konig,Architettura
ideal building in which all the arts would be unified. This essay reveals dell'Espressionismo, Genoa,1967. A bettertranslationcanbe foundin
his awareness of the work of Kandinsky and other Expressionist artists GlassArchitecture, ed. D. Sharp,thoughthe claimmadein the intro-
and sculptors. ductionthatTautwas an untrainedarchitectis not correct.
i;:. ---. ;:~

t0;.
:::;
:-:" -: i~M-?pj:~
V4~~~~~s DIE. IPERtCNA\C-HT

3CHIYMw&fiIE&. Nth40 LEUCHTE&NOE 13AUiTEN
Fig. i i. Bruno Taut, the Matterhorn studded with crystalline

ornaments (Alpine Architektur,Hagen i.W., 1919, zo).
the mountains are for quiet contemplation (Fig. 3), and sparkling Fig. I 2. Bruno Taut, illuminated glass architecturefloodlit at night by
mountain lakes are embellished with floating, ever-changing colored light beacons (Alpine Architektur,Hagen i.W., 1919, z ).
glass ornaments. The idea of transparency,transformation, and
movement is achieved by means of an illuminatedglass architec-
ture, floodlit at night by colored light beacons (Fig. i z). This PEOPLESOF EUROPE!
notion of constant change and dissolution was to become even CREATEFOR YOURSELFSACREDPOSSESSIONS-BUILD!
more graphic in Taut's Der Weltbaumeister(The World Archi-
tect) of 92zo,62in which structures,like in a kaleidoscope, form The Monte Rosa and its foothills down to the
an impermanent architecture, only to dissolve and to regroup green plains is to be rebuilt.
Yes, impracticaland without utility!
into new configurations (Figs. 13 and 14).
But have we become happy through utility?
The cyclopean reconstruction of nature in Alpine Architektur
Always utility and utility, comfort, convenience-
has no utilitarian purpose. Its sole function is to edify and to good food, culture-knife, fork, trains, toilets and yet also-
bring peace. The very process of construction is meant to serve a cannons, bombs, instrumentsof murder!
social, if highly Romantic, purpose: these alpine constructions To want only the utilitarianand comfortable without
are to be built communally by the masses in the same way Taut higher ideals is boredom. Boredom brings quarrel, strife, and
war...
assumed Gothic cathedrals had been built. The general pacifist Preachthe social idea ...
intent is clear from the following passage: Engage the masses in a great task, which fulfills everyone,
from the humblest to the foremost... Each sees in the great
communality clearly the work of his own hands: each builds-
in the true sense....63
6z. B. Taut, Der Welbaumeister-Architektur-Schauspiel fir Sym-
phonischeMusik,Hageni.W., 19zo. All illustrationsand an inferior
Englishtranslationof the captionsappearin BorsiandKonig,Architet-
turadell'Espressionismo, 246-255. 63. Taut, Alpine Architektur,plate 16; Blettertranslation.
Fig. I3. Bruno Taut, the unfolding of space (Der Weltbaumeister,

Hagen i.W., 19z0, n.p.).
Fig. I5. Lyonel Feininger, "The Cathedral of Socialism," woodcut for

Fig. 4. Hagen
BrunoTaut,thecollapseof forms(DerWetbaumeister, the opening manifesto of the Bauhaus, April 19I9 (L. Lang, Das Bau-
Bruno Taut, the collapse,
i.W .i920, n.p.).
i.W., n.p.). haus 1919-33: Idee und Wirklichkeit,Berlin, I965, Fig. i).
Taut's own evolution in giving the crystal-glassmetaphor archi- cient communes. Glass architectureis no longer as ubiquitous as
tectural form leads him from the egocentric image of the crystal it was in Alpine Architektur. Glass structures in Auflosung der
brain as used in the Glass House to the utopian socialism of Stidte are centralizedand few: they function as communal gath-
Alpine Architektur. Glass, transparency, and flexibility all sig- ering points. In this they are the visible symbol of these anarchist
nify here a purified, changed society. This new attitude was no communities.65Thus, as the notion of a perfect society is sub-
doubt a reaction to the devastation of the war. jected to at least a modicum of political reality, the proposed
In 1920 Taut published another visionary tract, Die Auflo- change is for a new kind of social nucleus rather than for the
sung der Stidte (The Dissolution of the Cities).64In this text his heady idealism of Alpine Architektur.Hence the glass structures
Romantic preoccupation with the reworkingof mountain ranges become more programmatically focused in this later book.
for a consummate society is replaced by his concern for more Taut's social concepts are elaborated on in a series of mostly
existential conditions. The general social structure is totally socialist and anarchist quotations, listed at the end of the book,
anarchist: no governments, schools, or institutions such as mar- by such men as Rousseau, Lenin, Engels, Kropotkin, and also
riage. There are no cities, but only some small, nearly self-suffi-
65. Thisnotionof the glassstructureas the focusof societyis stated
even clearer in Taut's Die Stadtkrone (The City's Crown), Jena, I919. A
few of its illustrations appear in Borsi and K6nig, Architettura dell'Es-
64. B. Taut, Die Aufl6sung der Stidte, Hagen i.W., 92zo. All illustra- pressionismo, 273-275, but without the supporting text. Die Stadt-
tionsandanEnglishtranslationof thecaptionscanbefoundinBorsiand krone, though published in I9I9, was begun in early I916 and com-
Konig, Architettura dell'Espressionismo, 276-287. The quotations by pleted in early 1918, i.e., it was written before the Revolution (K.
otherwritersandpoliticaltheoristsat theendof thebook,however,are Junghanns, Bruno Taut-i880-I938, Berlin, 1970, 29) and to that
not reproducedin BorsiandKonig. extent reflectsearlier attitudes to city planning.
Fig. I7. Carl Krayl, "Rock Castle" (Stadtbaukunst-Friihlicht,No. 3,

Fig. 16. Wenzel Hablik, "Fantasy" (Rufzum Bauen, Berlin, 19z0, Fig. 1920, 48).
5).
Scheerbart. The crystalline glass house in Die Auflosung der Walter Gropius, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Carl Krayl, Hans and
Stadte concretizes for Taut the kind of unstructuredsociety he Wassili Luckhardt,Paul Mebes, EricMendelsohn, Adolf Meyer,
envisions. Glass is here no longer the carrier of spiritual or Hans Poelzig, Max and Bruno Taut; the painters Heinrich
personal transformationbut of a political metamorphosis. Campendonck, Viking Eggeling, Lyonel Feininger, Hermann
Aside from publishing these utopian tracts, Taut also became Finsterlin, Wenzel Hablik, Erich Heckel, Cesar Klein, Ludwig
the initiator of several working groups after the November Rev- Meidner, Otto Muller, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, Christian
olution of 1918. One of these, the Arbeitsrat fur Kunst, pro- Rohlfs, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff; the sculptors Rudolf Belling,
duced manifestoes in which were debated hypothetical architec- Bernhard Hoetger, Georg Kolbe, Gerhard Marcks; and the
tural questions inspired by the rise of a socialist government. critics and historians Adolf Behne, Paul Cassirer, Karl Ernst
Among many other matters discussed were the place of architec- Osthaus, Wilhelm Valentiner, and Paul Zucker. Although Taut
tural education in the new society, whether decisions on archi- stayed on as a member, the leadership was passed on to Walter
tecturalcommissions should be controlled by professionalsalone Gropius in February 1919. Gropius, however, left for Weimar
or whether they should be shared by laymen, and the place of shortly thereafter to become the director of the Bauhaus. Taut
architects in fostering public awareness of architecture, which continued to proclaim the virtues of Scheerbart'swritings in his
was presumed to play a leading role in the reconstruction of the own books as well as in the publications of the Arbeitsrat.
country. Several exhibitions of architecturaldesigns were held, Indeed, Gropius seems to have read Scheerbartwith great in-
some in the workers' districtsof Berlin.By the spring of 919Ithe terest,66for the Scheerbartiancrystal iconography becomes in-
Arbeitsrat had become too large and unwieldy for Taut-by
1919 it had grown to over ioo members from its initial member- 66. M. Franciscono, WalterGropius and the Creation of the Bauhaus
ship of just over 50. Some of the better known members of the in Weimar-The Ideals and Artistic Theories of its Founding Years,
Arbeitsratin I9I9 were the architectsOtto Bartning,Paul Gosch, Urbana, I971, 124, note 93.
'. ;? // // /
des
' Al
a . .' i ,
. . IA
/.
I .i
I/
bC).+e tt
tSi.^'
Fig. 8. CarlKrayl,"TheGleamingHouseon theSwing"(Stadtbau- StarHouseandtheGlassSphere"
Fig. i9. CarlKrayl,"TheCrystalline
kunst-Friihlicht,No. 10, 1920, 157).
(Stadtbaukunst-Friihlicht,No. 8, I9z, 124).
corporated into the text of Gropius' opening manifesto for the signs.68Many of the GlaserneKette projectswere laterpublished
Bauhaus of April I919: in Taut's magazine Friihlicht (Dawn) which appeared from 1920
Together let us desire, conceive, and create the new structure of through 1922, and which was the only Expressionist periodical
the future, which will embrace architecture and sculpture and dealing exclusively with architecture.The designs of the group of
painting in one unity and which will one day rise toward heaven mostly architects (a few were painters, who during this period
from the hands of a million workers like the crystal symbol of a turned to architectural drawing) show just how much their
new faith.67
conceptions were indebted to the crystal-glass iconography.
The text by Gropius at the same time reveals an almost medieval There are floating crystallineforms and crystallineextrusions by
model of handicrafts and communal work (the interest in creat- Wenzel Hablik (Fig. I6)69and CarlKrayl(Fig. 17) reminiscentof
ing prototypes for industry, for which the Bauhaus is better
known, did not become part of its curriculumuntil about 1923).
The same attitude is borne out in Lyonel Feininger's woodcut,
"The Cathedral of Socialism," made to illustrate the manifesto 68. Die Glaserne Kette, Visionare Architekturen aus dem Kreis um
Bruno Taut 1919-1920, Ausstellung im Museum Leverkusen, Schloss
by Gropius: sparklingfaceted objects are affixed to the towers of
Morsbroich, und in der Akademie der Kiinste, Berlin, I963.
a Gothic church like some visual palimpsest of the Grail temple's 69. Hablik seems to have been the only one of these designers whose
carbuncles and the Gothic cathedral (Fig. 5). crystal imagery derived from an interest in crystals in nature. He began
While still a member of the Arbeitsrat, Taut had formed a to design aerial, mobile colonies as early as 1908 and continued such
projects into the mid- 9zos. These flying settlementswere not usually of
small working group in late 1919, called the Glaserne Kette
glass or crystal, however. On the other hand, when he discussed the use
(Glass Chain) which continued most clearly the Scheerbartian of crystal and glass, as late as 1922, it was done in terms of the older
tradition of glass architecture in both its statements and de- Romantic and Symbolist manner: he writes of changing the darkness of
houses, hearts, and brains into transparent glass (W. A. Hablik, "Die
Freitragende Kuppel," Friihlicht, No. 3, Spring 19zz, 94-98). For
67. H. M. Wingler, The Bauhaus, trans. W. Jabs, B. Gilbert, Cam- further discussion of Hablik see also Santomasso, Origins and Aims of
bridge, MA, I969, 3 . German Expressionist Architecture, i 29ff.
Fig. 23. Wassili Luckhardt,"Cinema" (Ruf zum Bauen, Berlin, 9z20,

Fig. I4).
e s~---a ' Scheerbart and Taut. Such drawings, which are at best proto-
_?u, --Ee'"-
architectural, demonstrate how the general interest in crystal-
linity as a metaphorcould also become the inspirationfor specific
architectural form. In the pages of Friihlicht appeared designs
......................."---- -that_ further clarified the association of crystal and glass with
.. ir i c transformation, expressed
expressed in instances quite
some instances
in some quite directly as
directly as
Fig. zo. BrunoTaut,"TheRotatingHouse"(Stadtbaukunst-Friihlicht, transformation,
No. z, 1920, 31). actual movement. Krayl'sproposal for a swinging house, whose
forms and movements are mirroredin a pool of water (Fig. 18),
,^-^'.~ l/ ?1 )!Ji~ /I!
: \ and his design for a "crystalline star house" which rotates and
~/'~ \ K,y~ *
\'I1~ ,// < ^~\ which is precariouslysuspended in midair (Fig. i9), both reflect
' .
/ ' \JL LJ '' J*- '"/ ysimilarly ' fanciful suggestions by Scheerbart.Taut's design for a
rj/_-- SI . revolving house of colored glass and iron is the least fantastic of
'
- ;lEB^1^^ I~ ^these
j M^^^' (Fig. zo).70 It looks almost like a mobile version of the Glass
^lp| ^ s _l House of I914. Other proposals that demonstrate the influence
' ;-- '>\ tof the crystal metaphor on architecturalconception are designs
\^'^^ ^ fe:~~~~~ g _ 1by Taut (Fig. zi), by Wassili Luckhardt(Figs. zz and 23), and by
I }_ Hans Scharoun (Fig. 24). This relationship between meaning,
-~~~~~~
n^--^
\ '\;-.<t
t1<j\
JI< - * -- the symbolic content of crystallinity,and its expressed form was
.'\ '..-*?7 : / not always made explicit, however. Gently undulating forms, as
long as they were meant to be executed in glass, could also be
_ sk - ?carriers of this iconography. Most of Finsterlin'sdesigns fall into
Fig.zI. BrunoTaut,"Houseof Heaven"(Stadtbaukunst-Friihlicht, this less clearly stated category (Fig. i).
No. 7, 1920, 109). Despite the use of untraditional forms, the meaning of the
crystal-glassimagery can be seen as basically traditional, though
pointed in a slightly new direction. Especiallyin Taut's hands the
metaphor signifies change and transformation, but it is given a
somewhat more political turn. The revival of this metaphoric
tradition did not only occur through the inspiration of Scheer-
70. Accordingto theindexin Stadtbaukunst, of whichFriihlichtwasa

supplementin its firstyearof publication,thisis a designbyBrunoTaut.
Pehntin ExpressionistArchitecture, fig. 377, and D. Sharpin Modern
~'j^y^^y~~
o.^^*7^= ^^ C -^
_Architecture , and Expressionism,New York, 1966, 69, attributethis
J^^r^^R^^^^
;~l_l^^^Hi^^^^^ _
Bdesign to Max Taut. In the republicationof Friihlicht(BrunoTaut-
' r *-, ^Friihlicht,
_:;vf l^^ ^* ,,n,,^* ed.U. Conrads,UllsteinBauweltFundamente 8, Berlin,1963,
17, 68) the samedesignis attributedto Hablik.Thehandwritingseems
Fig.zz. WassiliLuckhardt,
untitled(Stadtbaukunst-Friihlicht,
No. 4, to be thatof BrunoTaut,however.Thecaptionstatesthatit was to be
1920, 6i). builtin 1914 fora Mr. Mendthal.
4
IX
Fig. 25. Walter Gropius, Memorial to the March Victims, Weimar,

9z22,rebuilt after it was destroyed in World War II (Friihlicht,No. 4,
Summer 1922, 107).
By around I9zo the most intense visionary planning for glass

architecturediminished. The country was still in a state of near
civil war, with frequent street battles between left- and right-
wing factions and a large numberof political murders.The polit-
ical weakness of the young Weimar Republic was becoming
abundantlyclear duringthese immediatepost-war years.72Along
with political disillusionment came the gradual demythification
of the crystalmetaphor. Echoes of the Expressionistcrystal-glass
iconography continued after 1920, but such instances become
much rarer.Most often architectseither turned away from glass
as the suggested building material or, when glass was still sug-
Fig. 24. Hans Scharoun, "Communal House" (Rufzum Bauen, Berlin, gested, the forms of Expressionismwere recollectedwithout their
92o0, Fig. 34). metaphoric content.
One example of the former is Walter Gropius' Memorial to
the March Victims in Weimar (Fig. 25). This memorialwas dedi-
bart's writings which went back to its Moslem and Gothic
cated to workers who had been killed in Weimar during riots
aspects. The Expressionist architects around Taut seemed to
have been quite aware of many of the older forms of this tradi- following the right-wing Kapp Putsch in March 1920. The local
Trades Council commissioned this memorial and it was inaugu-
tion as well. In Friihlicht, together with designs and essays on
rated in May of 1922.73 This monument is of concrete and
contemporary issues, is a description of the vision of the Flemish
would seem to have little to do with the iconography of glass. But
medieval mystic, Sister Hadewich, who had a Grail-like revela-
when the writerJohannes Schlafdiscussed the memorial in Friih-
tion in which precious stones were the carriers of the divine
licht shortly after its completion, he explained its meaning in
presence. Equally mystifying, without an understanding of the
terms of crystalline transformations that to him suggested a
meaning of this metaphor, is the quotation, also in Friihlicht, of
change from inorganic to organic forms, from death to life.74
John's vision of the New Jerusalem.71The vision of the New
Jerusalemis especially significant for it contains elements of the
crystal-glassmetaphor. But more importantly, in contrast to an
72. For a general history of this period see A. J. Ryder, Twentieth-
image such as the philosopher's stone, the vision of the New
CenturyGermany:FromBismarckto Brandt,New York,I973, andF.
Jerusalem is an urban vision, not a Garden of Paradise, but the Stern,The Failureof Illiberalism:Essayson the PoliticalCultureof
city of the saved. One could say that for Taut it representedthe ModernGermany,New York,1972.
salvation of society. 73. The datingof this memorialvarieswidely frompublicationto
publication.The Bauhausleaflet reproducedby J. Willett,Art and
Politics in the Weimar Period-The New Sobriety, 1917-1933, New
71. "AusdenVisionenderSchwesterHadewich,"Friihlicht,No. i i, York,1978, 50, however,statesthatthe inauguration took placeon i
I920, i88. Revelation, Chapter 21, is cited in Friihlicht, No. 8, 1920, May 19zz.
125. In the slightly abridged republication of Friihlicht most of these 74. J. Schlaf,"Das Neue Denkmalin Weimar,"Friihlicht,No. 4,
referencesto the older mystical tradition have been left out. Summer 1922, 107.
I
I
I
i
I
I
I
-1
Fig. z6. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, skyscraperproject, Friedrich- Fig. 27. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, glass skyscraperproject, 1920-I2
strasse, Berlin, 1920 (Friihlicht,No. 4, Summer 1922, 124). (Friihlicht,No. 4, Summer 1922, 122).
Hence, even though the building material is not transparent,the dox forms. The full metaphoric content of earlier Expressionist
basic meaning of the crystal is maintained. glass architecture,however, is not alluded to.
On the other hand, in the same issue of Friihlichtin which the Expressionist forms, stripped of their original meaning, still
Weimar monument by Gropius was published, there appeared a affect contemporary architecture.Reyner Banham, in an article
brief illustrated essay by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe on his de- of 1959, "The Glass Paradise,"76for the first time called atten-
signs for glass skyscrapers (Figs. z6 and 27).75 Mies apparently tion to Paul Scheerbart,who had been forgotten in the histories
was affected by the abstract forms of Expressionism in these of the modern movement. Banham pointed to the connection
proposals: both crystallineand curvingforms are present and the between the visionary proposals of Scheerbart and Taut and
use of glass is more extensive than it had been in any previous their eventual fulfillment in Mies' SeagramBuilding. Today this
skyscraper design. Mies wrote that new problems cannot be connection seems even clearer:it can be extended to PhilipJohn-
solved with traditional forms and that the acutely angular plan son's recent faceted glass buildings, such as the IDS Center in
of the Friedrichstrasseproject (Fig. z6) was determined by the Minneapolis of 1973 with its Crystal Court, Pennzoil Place in
triangularsite. But despite Mies' basic pragmatism, one can say Houston of 1976 (Fig. 28), and the "Crystal Cathedral" of the
that he was, at least superficially, influenced by Expressionist Garden Grove Community Church of I980 (Fig. 29). Johnson's
designs. For he wrote furtherthat in using glass, the forms should inspiration seems to have come not so much from the Seagram
not be conditioned so much by the effects of light and shade, as Building, in whose design he had collaborated with Mies, but
by the interplay of reflected light. This belief, more than the straight from Mies' earlier Expressionist glass-skyscraper de-
specific configuration of any site, explains Mies' use of unortho-
75. [L.] Mies van der Rohe, no title, Friihlicht, No. 4, Summer I9z2, 76. R. Banham, "The Glass Paradise," Architectural Review, cxxv,
122-124. February I959, 87-89.
Fig.29. PhilipJohnsonandJohnBurgee,CrystalCathedral,Garden
Grove Community Church, Garden Grove, CA, I980, model (Louis
Checkman).
peared from his executed architecture at this time. First of all,

glass was simply too expensive a material to use extensively. To
Fig. 28. PhilipJohnson andJohn Burgee,Pennzoil Place, Houston, I976 be sure, there were indirect references to stained glass in the
(RichardPayne AIA). vividly colored stucco Taut used for most of his housing schemes.
It must be said, though, that color was used not just as an
signs.77This revival of Expressionism is, of course, interesting, aesthetic or metaphoric device, but to give visual and urbanistic
but it is a continuity of forms only. One might compare this with coherence to large groups of buildings, resultingin a fair balance
the fate of the International Style when it was promulgated in between the utopian and the down-to-earth sides of his archi-
this country in the 1930S (in which PhilipJohnson also played a tecture. Secondly, once Taut was engaged in large-scale social
role). The formal characteristicsof the style were praised with- housing programs-he was responsible for about io,ooo dwell-
out much discussion of the social reforms with which they had
ing units during the I9zos in Berlin-the yearning for a trans-
for the most part been associated. Numerous versions of faceted, formed society seemed no longer necessary. The crystal image,
crystalline designs have proliferated, especially in recent Ameri- symbol of the new society for Taut, had become obsolete: the
can skyscrapers. The stated justification for such forms is that
change had taken place.
they are more interesting than monotonous slabs. Changes in Within the glass and crystal tradition then, the imagery of
meaning from the Expressionistassociation of crystallinitycould transcendence and metamorphosis has itself undergone a trans-
be expected in a different setting more than 50 years later. No formation. Beginningwith the Solomonic legends, continuing in
new associations seem to have evolved, however, and any rela- the Revelation of John, Moslem architecture,Grail legends, the
tionship to Expressionismis one of outward form, not content. Gothic cathedral,and culminatingin that late echo of the Middle
Ages, Colonna's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, the glass-crystal
metaphor had generally been expressed through more or less
For Bruno Taut, who became one of the most important
architectonicconcepts. But with alchemy and later the Romantic
architects of workers' housing after 1923 when Germany'sram-
and Symbolist movements, the imagery of transformation shed
pant inflation had come to a halt and building resumed, the most of its architecturalmanifestation. It became a rudimentary
utopian social ideal of his Expressionist phase continued in
pebble, an image of the soul or brain as this symbol became
surprisinglypragmatic ways. The crystal-glassmetaphor disap- identifiedsolely with the transformationof the self. The returnin
the early zoth century to the older, more architectonic,format in
77. See for instance pages 38, zz6, and 271, in Philip Johnson-
Writings,forewordV. Scully,intro.P. Eisenman,commentaryR. A. M. the works of Scheerbart, Taut, and a large number of other
Stern, New York, I979. Expressionistssignifieda turningaway from introspectiontoward
a searchfor socialidentityand community.Thoughthis meta- insist that Expressionistarchitectureconstitutesmere idiosyn-
phor was often a rathercrypticsign, it could becomesuch an Thoseveryaspectsof Expressionist
craticself-expression. design
enduringmythologempreciselybecauseit could be adapted that appearon firstglanceto be its most revolutionaryones-
from a religiousto a personaland finallyto a social context. transparency, instability,andflexibility-on closerexamination
Lookingat the whole iconographyof glass,one can no longer turnout to be its mostrichlytraditionalfeatures.

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The Interpretation of the Glass Dream-Expressionist Architecture and the History of the

Fig. i. Hermann Finsterlin, "Interior" (Friihlicht,No. z, Winter I925/

architectureare ascribedto a kind of artistic self-indulgence,as it

abstract quality of Expressionist design. But behind such inten-

always continuous history of glass and crystal symbolism. Bruno

z. Suchan attitudeis impliedin W.Pehnt,Expressionist

Isolatedfragmentsof this iconographictraditionare known

Althoughthesesamematerialswouldhavebeendesirableforthe bolizepurelove. Moreimportantly,glassand crystalno longer

alabasterarereflectedin the polishedblackflooras if in a calm cal beliefsweretransmittedto the Westvia Arabicwritingsand

and occultsciencemakesit clearthat it couldeasilybe debased ageryin a numberof hisworks,particularly

deed the Blue Flower appears to be Novalis' equivalent of the

heroencountersnearlyall the symbolsof spiritualtransformation cur-

DER GOTISCHE DOM IST DAS

While most of Scheerbart'sarchitecturalproposals appear to

and mystical. The contemporaryarchitecturalcritic, Adolf

i;:. ---. ;:~

V4~~~~~s DIE. IPERtCNA\C-HT

Fig. i i. Bruno Taut, the Matterhorn studded with crystalline

Fig. I3. Bruno Taut, the unfolding of space (Der Weltbaumeister,

Fig. I5. Lyonel Feininger, "The Cathedral of Socialism," woodcut for

Fig. I7. Carl Krayl, "Rock Castle" (Stadtbaukunst-Friihlicht,No. 3,

Fig. 23. Wassili Luckhardt,"Cinema" (Ruf zum Bauen, Berlin, 9z20,

70. Accordingto theindexin Stadtbaukunst, of whichFriihlichtwasa

Fig. 25. Walter Gropius, Memorial to the March Victims, Weimar,

By around I9zo the most intense visionary planning for glass

peared from his executed architecture at this time. First of all,

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