Perched on a hill above Dornach, a 30-minute train ride from Basel, the Goetheanum is impossible to miss. Its monumental dome-shaped concrete design immediately catches the eye with its sweeping curves, organic shapes and total lack of straight lines. Its DNA is somewhere between Art Nouveau, German Expressionism, a temple and the Arts and Crafts movement. Visiting the Goetheanum is an overwhelming experience.

Built as the headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society, it hosts concerts, theatre performances, exhibitions, conferences and spiritual retreats. Founded in 1912 by Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy explores spirituality through scientific methods, and the Goetheanum embodies Steiner’s ideals. The original wooden Goetheanum (1918) was destroyed by arson in 1921. Its replacement, completed in 1928, features airy rooms under a huge dome, large stained glass windows and skylights that flood the interior with light.

Every element was made in the Society’s workshops, including bespoke furniture in the distinctive Dornach design, characterised by crystalline forms and organic lines. The surrounding anthroposophical colony includes other idiosyncratic buildings such as the Boiler House (1915) and the blue Transformer House (1921), all set in scenic parkland.

Rudolf Steiner was a highly controversial figure. But he was one of the first to recognise the creative potential of concrete. His vision of ‘spiritual functionalism’ combined form and ornament, rejecting the minimalist and interchangeable ‘form follows function’-aesthetic of the Bauhaus. Steiner was much derided and for a long time ignored by the architectural establishment. But he found an influental ally in Frank Lloyd Wright, who shared his philosophy and argued that form and function should achieve a spiritual unity.

Although many of Anthroposophy’s scientific claims have since been debunked, the Goetheanum’s genre-defying design remains a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. One of the earliest large-scale exposed concrete structures, it inspired icons such as the Sydney Opera House and is now a National Heritage Site. The mystical spaceship still feels light years ahead of its time.