Architectural awards >>> Preparation Pavilion and Bee Sculpture in the Goetheanum Park

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 8 November 2025

There are two new buildings worthy of awards in the Goetheanum Park: the expressive Preparation Pavilion (designed by Yaike Dunselman) received the 2025 Iconic Award and the 2026 German Design Award; the Bee Sculpture (designed by Barbara Schnetzler) an ‘Honourable Mentions’ award from the architecture and design platform March and an appreciation award from the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland.

Twisted wooden rafters extend towards the northwest and are “reminiscent of blossoming flowers”, as it says in the rationale for both awards. Architect Yaike Dunselman had been commissioned to design a gardening pavilion on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of biodynamic farming. He created an outside space with an extensive roof for production, presentations and workshops and an asymmetrical polygonal interior space with an area of twenty square metres for work and storage. Since the roof of the preparation storage is covered in green moss and sedum plants, the Pavilion will soon blend in with its surroundings. The design impressed not only one but two architectural juries: the Preparation Pavilion – a project of 9graden architectuur, BSS Architects and Blumer Lehmann – received the 2025 Iconic Award and the 2026 German Design Award in the Excellent Architecture category.

The Bee Sculpture in the Goetheanum Garden Park received an ‘Honourable Mentions’ award from the architecture and design platform March and an appreciation award as part of the Award for Building Culture from the governing council of the Swiss canton of Solothurn. The tower-like structure is around seven metres high, has the (enlarged) floor plan of a honeycomb and tapers slightly towards the top. Inside the walk-in sculpture one can smell beeswax and – depending on the time of year – hear bees buzzing. The beehives are open to the outside of the building, while inside, a glass panel allows visitors to observe what is going on inside the hive. The jury for the appreciation award experienced a space “that deeply touched all our senses with modest means” and that is a monument to the “construction work” of bees. The Bee Sculpture was created by Barbara Schnetzler, Basel, Switzerland, and Studio Balthasar Wirz, Basel, Switzerland.

Both buildings were commissioned by the Goetheanum Building Administration of the General Anthroposophical Society.

(2343 characters, 363 words/SJ; English by Margot M. Saar)

Preparation Pavilion Iconic Awards | German Design Award

Bee Sculpture Plattform March | Award for Building Culture/Appreciation award (in German)

Contact person Susanne Böttge