Take a tour of the colorful architect's most famous projects
Friedrich Stowasser (1928-2000), better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, was an Austrian-born New Zealand artist and architect. Hundertwasser started to work as an architect at the age of 55, having already built up his reputation as a painter. He was known as an opponent of “the straight line” and his work is recognizable for his use of bright colors, hand-created decoration, distorted lines and his desire to be in touch with nature. He developed an aesthetic that is often likened to Antoni Gaudi, as they both favored irregular forms and organic shapes.
Hundertwasser became known as “the doctor of architecture” as he often “treated” new and old buildings by decorating them to diminish their “visual pollution” on the environment. The architect had very strong views on the purpose of buildings and wrote many manifestos and essays to articulate his thoughts. His main philosophy was that human misery was a result of the rational, sterile, monotonous architecture, built following the tradition of the Austrian architect Adolf Loos, author of the modernist manifesto Ornament and Crime (1908). Hundertwasser called for a boycott of this type of architecture, and demanded creative freedom of buildings, and the right to create individual structures.
Here, with the help of Street View, we explore some of Hundertwasser’s most iconic works.
Hundertwasserhaus, Vienna, Austria
KunstHausWien, Vienna, Austria
Waldspirale, Darmstadt, Germany
Spittelau Waste Incineration Plant, Vienna, Austria
Saint Barbara Church, Bärnbach, Austria
Rogner Bad Blumau, Austria
Kuchlbauer Tower, Abensberg, Germany
Maishima Incineration Plant, Osaka, Japan