Hundertwasser Art Centre

Everything is here to be happy on earth.

We have snow and every day a new morning.

We have trees and rain, hope and tears.

We have humus and oxygen,

animals and all the colours.

We have distant lands and bicycles.

We have sun and shadow.

We are rich.

Paradises cannot be sought and found, paradises cannot be impounded and not built by the authorities.

Paradises can only be made by the individual, with his own creativity, in harmony with the free creativity of nature.

Then we finally regain our good conscience about nature.

1981 / 1983

Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery is an original Hundertwasser architecture project. Absolute rationalism, geometric straight lines and the uniformity of modern architecture is abandoned in favour of new values like uniqueness, romanticism, individuality, creativity, especially creativity in harmony with nature. Hundertwasser created houses in which the creativity of nature meets human creativity. In keeping with his philosophy, the Hundertwasser Art Centre restores territories to nature with spontaneous vegetation, tree tenants and an afforested roof.

German architect Heinz M. Springmann and Grant Harris of HB Architecture in New Zealand brought to life Hundertwasser’s vision. Skilled artisans, craftspeople, engineers, builders, technical experts and community leaders worked together for two years to realise the unique structure. Led by Hātea Art Precinct Trust, they overcame a series of impossible obstacles along the way, including a construction cost overrun and the impact of Covid-19. 

Ecological sustainability is a central tenet of the construction, which alongside enduring new materials from New Zealand and Europe, uses 40,000 recycled bricks, 1600 cubic metres of recycled native timber of the original building, 5,000 recycled pavers and 3,000m2 of locally crafted tiles.

Alongside his famous public toilets in Kawakawa, the Hundertwasser Art Centre is the only other example of Hundertwasser’s architecture in the southern hemisphere.

The launch of the Hundertwasser Art Centre realises a shared dream that has transformed the lives of everyone who participated in its creation. The visionary architectural project was made possible through the commitment of a determined community over many years of fundraising and it is supported by the Hundertwasser Non-Profit Foundation in Vienna.

An unusual house that does not correspond to the usual clichés and norms of academic architecture.

A house conceived and designed by a painter.

An adventure in modern times.

A journey to an unknown land.

A journey into the land of creative architecture where there are window rights and tree tenants and uncontrolled irregularities, uneven floors, woodlands on the roof, spontaneous vegetation and barriers of beauty.

1985

The Hundertwasser Art Centre, fully aware of its role in the southern hemisphere, strives for a renewal of relationship in harmony with the creativity of nature and man. 

 Art must meet its purpose.

Art must show its colours.

Does art support or fight creation?

Is art for or against man? 

Art must meet man's and nature's pace.

Art must respect nature and the laws of nature.

Art must respect man and man's aspiration for true and durable values.

Art must again be a bridge between the creativity of nature and the creativity of man.

Art must regain its universal function for all and not be just a fashionable business for insiders.

The Hundertwasser Art Centre is a bastion against the dictatorship of the geometric-straight line, the ruler and T-square, a bridgehead against the grid system and the chaos of the absurd.

The Hundertwasser Art Centre stands up for art and architecture in harmony with creation, which humanity has been waiting and longing for.

Art must free itself from the ties of guided intellectual tutorship.

Art should not suffer speculation and cultural industrialisation.

Art should not endure dogmatic enslavement through negative theories.

Europe's and the world's liberation from oppressive dictatorships has to be followed by a liberation of creation in all its aspects from a worldwide oppression by a political cultural dictatorship still in power.

In quest of a new orientation in the light of the rising awareness of a changed relationship between humanity and nature, we are convinced of the mission of art at the Hundertwasser Art Centre.

Art must have a purpose.

Art must create lasting values.

The courage to strive for beauty in harmony with nature.

 The task of the Hundertwasser Art Centre is to achieve this goal.

 Hundertwasser, 1991 for KunstHausWien / The Hundertwasser Non-Profit Foundation, 2021