Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an eccentric Austrian artist who designed posters, stamps and then started practising architecture in 1950. He passed away in 2000 and left behind many buildings in his signature style. We visited two of his buildings in the Landstraße district of Vienna.
According to Wikipedia, having been prosecuted by the Nazis, he developed strong anti-totalitarian beliefs which influenced his work – notably. opposing the “geometrization” of people and architecture.
We do not know much about this artist until this trip. The common themes in his work are: bright colors, organic forms, a reconciliation of humans with nature, and rejecting straight lines.
The Hundertwasserhaus is a private residential building that is not open to the public, but it is surrounded by touristy shops. But one can get the idea even standing outside.
The apartment block has undulating floors (“an uneven floor is a melody to the feet”), a roof covered with earth and grass, and large trees growing from inside the rooms, with limbs extending from windows.
Kids must love to live in this building. There is is a little plaza that separates the main street and the entrance to the building. Look at the bumpy area !
His architectural and graphic work include patches of metallic paint or tiles. Having seen quite a few Gustav Klimt’s paintings on this trip, I wonder if there is any reason why the Austrians like to use this device. I (Chris) once owned a poster with metallic paint and it was the work of by Rosina Wachtmeister, also an Austrian.
While it is the work of an artist, I do wonder about the practicality of living in a room where the floor is not even and the walls are not straight.
More about Hundertwasser’s work in the next post.
2 responses to “Hundertwasserhaus, Vienna”
You’ve done a marvelous job of capturing this!
Amazing buildings