Architettura e ritmo

The building known as the Festspielhaus (festival theater), located in the garden city of Hellerau near Dresden, was built in 1912 according to the plans of the architect Heinrich Tessenow (1876-1950). It contains spaces for a school for rhythmic dance in addition to a hall for public performances. Tessenow was a leading figure in German architectural culture, and the Festspielhaus is considered not only one of his most significant designs, but, moreover, a key example of reform architecture from the early twentieth century.
Constructed for the Swiss music educator, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze to teach his particular method of rhythmic gymnastics, the many students who received training here include the illustrious dancer and pedagogue Mary Wigman. In addition to its stark, undecorated exterior which recalls a highly abstracted temple front, the building also attracted much attention due to the articulation of the interior hall according to ideas propagated by Adolphe Appia, a theorist of avant-garde theater. This included surfaces which seemed mutable and indeterminate, like the walls, that were outfitted with a multitude of lamps and concealed by a layer of translucent cloth, and appeared to glow with varying intensity.