Frank Chester is a master teacher, sculptor, and geometrician. In the year 2000 he developed an objective, lawful process using science and art wherein the invisible world could be made visible. The inspiration for this work came from his visit to Dornach, Switzerland, where he saw models of a series of seven-sided capitals in a building designed by Rudolf Steiner. As a result of this encounter, a seed was planted within him whereby he envisioned the possibility of constructing a seven-sided sculpture based on the geometry of these capitals.

Two years later he began his search for a three-dimensional, seven-sided sculpture. After much trial and error, failure after failure, and months and months of effort, he eventually discovered something, the likes of which this world has never seen before: a new geometric form with seven equal faces. In the history of mankind this geometry has never appeared on the earth before.

Even though Frank found a new geometric form, the significance of the form was unknown. (Rudolf Steiner said that “geometry was knowledge which man himself apparently produces, but its significance is completely independent of him.”) Since its discovery, Frank devoted himself to discovering the potential meanings of this form, and almost ten years of work have led him to see how it relates to the human heart, to the geometry of the Earth, to sacred architecture, and to inspiring others about the awe-inspiring connection between seemingly abstract geometries and the dynamism of life.

See also the “About” post for more information, or this informational booklet showcasing a wide variety of his work.

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The Sacramento Faust Branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America Presents

Architecture and Form:
The discovery of the archetypal form behind the building blocks of the universe.

A Lecture by Frank Chester
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 – 7:30-9pm

Stegmann Hall Teachers Education Room,
Rudolf Steiner College, Fair Oaks, CA

Goethe describes finding the archetypal plant “Urpflanze” in 1790, which he believes is the basis of all plants. Now there has been discovered a archetypal form, a basic model or a red line flowing through the building blocks of the universe (platonic forms) and their transformations. This discovery has been used to find the first form, the mother of form, the “Rosetta Stone” of form development. This basic model is really a single PLANE of generative forces underlying form fluctuations. In the lecture you will be shown how this Plane can be used in art and architecture.

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The following is a special presentation by Frank Chester, Bringing Balance to the Heart with Lawful Thinking, that took place at the Santa Cruz Waldorf School on January 13th, 2012. In it he shows the principles behind the creation of a new Mystery Center for America, based on the geometry of the heart.
See more information about the event itself here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI1WE4NFc-s

Thank you to Robert (77GSlinger) for the video.

Frank was invited to come to Dornach, Switzerland to display his sculptural works, at a time that marked the 100th anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s architectural impulse.  The presentation took place in the building that forms the heart of anthroposophical studies in Europe, the Goetheanum.  Frank, deeply inspired by the architectural designs of the first and second Goetheanum buildings, created a model for a new building meant to support anthroposophical and related work outside of Europe.

Frank was inspired directly by both buildings, and has taken up the impulse to further the architectural reflection of the continued evolution of anthroposophy in his own design, which is a further metamorphosis of the designs and principles Steiner used in the first and second Goetheanums.  The design is centered around the unique geometry of the seven-sided form that he discovered.  This form, the chestahedron, derives its name from its connection to the heart: it is a proposed geometrical template for the form of the human heart.  The chestahedron therefore embodies the principles behind the development of the kind of heart-thinking that is so important for our time.  The building is meant to carry forward the necessary outer manifestation of the changing nature of anthroposophy itself, and would provide an appropriate space for lectures, workshops, mystery plays, musicals, eurythmy, visual arts, and meditation.  The space will support public outreach and provide a powerful physical representation of the life-giving nature of anthroposophical activities in the world.

The building incorporates a number of elements of note:

• As previously mentioned, the geometry of the structure is based on the form of the human heart (see elsewhere on this site for more details on this connection). Two cupolas meet in the main part of the building, in a way reminiscent of Steiner’s ground-breaking design for the first Goetheanum.  However, in this case the cupolas interpenetrate vertically and are suspended by the chestahedron above.  The upper cuploa is based on a geometry of the number 5, while the lower cupola is based on the number 7.  Together they meet in a plane that forms a perfect six-sided hexagon (see the last image in the gallery below for a drawing showing how 7 and 5 yield 6).

• While the main dome(s) are suspended from and sit inside the chestahedron, the chestahedron itself is embedded in its dual form, the decatria (dek-a-TRIA: a form with 13 faces).  The chestahedron and decatria together embody the principle of reversal, and the principle of levels of self-embeddedness and self-unfolding that are key recurring patterns in anthroposophical work. Half of the supporting wires from the decatria are structural, while the other half are made of a thick nylon that will allow the strings to literally be played as a musical instrument with an appropriate bow.  The building itself thus embodies a musical principle as a part of its very structure, and will “sing” its geometry gently with the blowing of the wind, which will make the strings resonate at their fundamental frequency.

• Unlike the capitals in the first Goetheanum, there are no capitals inside the building; the structure is not supported by columns from below, but is rather suspended from above, from the outside.  This allows for seven internal, non-weight-bearing columns which are capped by seven individually made bells.  The seven bells are based on the transformative sequence of Steiner’s seven planetary seals and the geometry of the chestahedron, and increase in size by a factor of 1/7th.  Where the capitals in the first Goetheanum formed a transformative sequence of sculptural form, the bells form a transformative sequence of audible tone.  The sequence of tones yields a transformation at a higher octave, and can fill the space in a way that can be shared directly and inwardly that is not possible with purely visual forms.

• Rather than force the skin of the building to hold only one color, it will instead be coated with a surface that will reflect the color projected onto it by a series of surrounding tourmaline-shaped panels of colored glass.  The color of the building will be organically formed out of the seasons and daily weather conditions, and reflects an integration of the natural and spiritual environments as they change throughout the year.

Download (SCMBBASANewsletterFeb2012.pdf, PDF, 239.6KB)

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Frank was personally invited to present his geometric discoveries at the nation’s premier school of art and design, the Rhode Island School of Design. The presentation was made possible courtesy of RISD’s departments of Graphic Design, Freshman Foundation, and Furniture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkaOAbturyU

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 at 7 pm
RISD Main Auditorium
17 Canal Street, Providence, RI

Click the images below for a larger version.

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The following video and photos are of a special presentation by Frank Chester, Bringing Balance to the Heart with Lawful Thinking, and a workshop following, that took place at the Santa Cruz Waldorf School on January 13th and 14th, 2012. See more information about the event itself below the photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI1WE4NFc-s

Thank you to Robert (77GSlinger) for the video.

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Bringing Balance to the Heart with Lawful Thinking

Recent Works by Frank Chester

What might the living forms inside us have to do with those forms
surrounding us and the thinking by which we are able to unite the two?
Join Frank Chester in an exploration of how we balance the heart
through lawful thinking. He will also present his most recent work,
including a new architectural model created in honor of the 100th
anniversary of the conception of the first Goetheanum.

Frank will be exhibiting his work and discoveries at the
Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland December 10th – 18th, 2011.
More information about this exhibition www.einszueins.goetheanum.org

Friday, January 13, 7pm, $12
Santa Cruz Waldorf School
2190 Empire Grade, Santa Cruz 95060 (831) 212-1947

Making a Chestahedron

Geometry of the Human Heart

Geometry with Matt Taylor & Eurythmy with Dean Pollard

The discovery of the seven sided Chestahedron has led to breakthrough findings of the true nature of the human heart.

In this half day workshop, participants will move forms in Eurythmy and make their own model of a Chestahedron to bring home.

Price: $20 for Saturday Workshop
$30 for both workshop and Friday evening lecture
Contact Daniel Bittleston for more information (831) 212-1947

Saturday, January 14, 9:30am – 12:30pm
Santa Cruz Waldorf School
2190 Empire Grade, Santa Cruz 95060 (831) 212-1947

Download (SantaCruzPresentation2011.pdf, PDF, 6.38MB)

Download the PDF flyer here.

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In this lecture, Frank Chester presents his geometric discoveries to an audience in Sausalito, CA in 2007. Included topics: the seven sided form with equal areas, the Chestahedron, how it relates to the Earth, the heart, and more.  This is one of the first videos of Frank’s work.  Because the process by which his discoveries occur is so important, it is useful to have this earlier picture that can provide a basis upon which to see how his work has evolved through time.  Today we can see many fruits of the labors that were only beginning to be explored five years ago…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bKJVeIIddU

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Frank Chester’s Michaelmas Talk given on September 29, 2011 at the Threefold Auditorium in Spring Valley, New York.  This lecture covers Frank’s insights, based on his research into the new geometry of the heart, into what it means to “defeat the dragon” in our own day and age.

Frank’s talk began the Threefold Educational Center’s 2011 Research Symposium “LIVING QUESTIONS: Exploring the Role of Individual and Community in Spiritual-Scientific Research”.  Information about this event and upcoming details (as they become available) can be found at http://www.Threefold.org/research.

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Download this PDF and print it out to make your own chestahedron!

Read more about the mathematics of the form.

Download (Chestahedron-Construction-Template.pdf, PDF, 1.27MB)

You can also make your own template drawing in an alternate style with the following instructions (PDF file):

Download (Chestahedron-construction-single-pentagram.pdf, PDF, 918.08KB)

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The decatria, the geometric dual of the chestahedron, is to being used in New York as a new beehive design because of its unique shape.  Inside the decatria, formed out of a cross-section, is a perfect hexagon, which is the natural organizing shape for honeycomb construction.

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The Decatria (dek-a-TRIA) is a form with thirteen faces discovered by Frank Chester.  Frank tells about the form below:

In 2007 I was told by a former mathematical section leader at the Goetheanum, George Glockler, that if the dual of the Chestahedron could be found, it would be the form that surrounds the heart at night during its rebuilding process for the next day. Esoterically the dual relationship between the two forms is also a day and night relationship, weaving from a day to a night and a night to a day.

What is a dual? A dual is a form that will fit inside or outside of each other. It is a reversal based on points to planes or planes to points. If you truncate a cube (cut off its corners), you will create an Octahedron and if you truncate an Octahedron, it will produce a Cube. The Cube corners will touch the inside faces of the Octahedron or the Octahedron corners will touch the inside faces of the Cube. The rule is to cut each corner at 90 degree to the form’s center and stop cutting one half the distance from the corner to the center.

Following this dual procedure, the Chestahedron resulted in having to cut off three edges instead of three corners. The reason for this was that both the edges and the corners were at 90 degrees to the axis. This is the first lawfully objective use of the traditional form of transformation using both corners and edge truncations at the same time.  The resulting form has three edges and four corners, resulting in a 13-sided polyhedron, the Decatria. Each form fits perfectly inside the other; they form a dual pair.

The Decatria is to being studied in New York for a possible use as a new beehive design because of its unique shape.  Inside the Decatria, formed out of a cross-section, is a perfect hexagon, which is the natural organizing shape for honeycomb construction.

This sculpture (solid, gold-colored in the pictures below) is for sale. If you are interested in purchasing one of Frank’s unique sculptures, please fill out this contact form.

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