The History of Hundertwasser Art Centre

Joanne McNeill, a Whangarei artist and journalist, approaches Hundertwasser with the wish that he should design an art gallery for Whangārei.

Together with artist Yvonne Rust, the first Hundertwasser Committee is formed.

The mayor of Whangārei, Stan Semenoff visits Hundertwasser in Kaurinui and invites him to design a city art gallery and to propose a possible building site.

Hundertwasser visits Whangārei and makes a proposal for the site of the Northland Regional Council Building in the Town Basin. He sketches a two-storey building with a forest on the roof, at the most beautiful spot in Whangārei, on an arm of the marina. Two columns, one "European", the other "Māori", at the front corners of the building are intended to accentuate the façade. The existing Council Building is to be included in the overall site design. The project does not proceed as the chosen site is owned by the Northland Regional Council, which does not wish to sell.

Hundertwasser dies on the QE2 on the journey from New Zealand to Europe and is buried on his land in the Bay of Islands.

Whangārei District Council (WDC) buys the building, and a delegation approaches the Hundertwasser Non Profit Foundation in Vienna, requesting a revival of Hundertwasser’s vision for an art gallery in Whangārei. CEO Mark Simpson and Kahu Sutherland visit Vienna to discuss details and conditions to realise the project. Joram Harel, Chairman of the Hundertwasser Foundation Board, comes up with an offer to - instead of an art gallery - create the Hundertwasser Art Centre (HAC) which will present Hundertwasser’s legacy in New Zealand from 1973 to 2000. Harel offers the inclusion of a space for a dedicated Māori Art Gallery with autonomy in all matters, represented by an advisory board of Māori dignitaries. He offers to provide know-how and architectural plans, as well as a Hundertwasser exhibition free of any cost. WDC commits a total of $8 million to the project over three years. The cost of the build is expected to be $13 million; private and public donations are sought to raise at least $5 million.

(April)
Architect Heinz M. Springmann, who had cooperated with Hundertwasser since 1989 on many of the artist’s worldwide architectural projects, executes preliminary plans based on both Hundertwasser’s 1993 sketches and the space and functional programme requested by WDC.

(December)
An agreement between the Hundertwasser Foundation and WDC is signed.

(October)
Architect Heinz M. Springmann delivers authoritative plans in a scale of 1:100 to Harris Butt Architecture who complete the plans according to the NZ building code.

One of Hundertwasser’s model builder, Andreas Bodi, creates a 1:50 architectural model, which is shipped to New Zealand, arriving in Whangārei in February 2011.

(September)
Grant Harris and Ian Butt, the architects selected by WDC to complete the Springmann plans, visit Vienna as well as Bad Blumau to study realised Hundertwasser architectural projects and his specific philosophy.

(January)
WDC appoints Project Manager Trevor Griffiths, who visits the Hundertwasser Foundation in Vienna with an update on progress and activities for the HAC.

(June – July)
A newly elected group of WDC councillors decides to stop the project and remove it from their Long Term Plan. Seven years of cooperation and work on the planning of the HAC has to cease due to the lack of majority Council support for the project to continue - despite all the previous decisions and agreements with the Foundation. The Hundertwasser Foundation is forced to withdraw from its agreements with WDC of December 2008 and December 2012 - as well as its donation promise.

As a spontaneous reaction to the WDC withdrawal from the project, a group of Whangārei citizens decides to find a way to build it on their own. They form the Prosper Northland Trust (PNT) and start the complex process of re-building relationships and scoping the project from scratch.

(May — June)
WDC holds a referendum to determine whether to go ahead. Options presented are: to build a maritime museum in the old Northland Harbour Board building, to proceed with the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery, or to demolish the building. NZ Prime Minister, John Key supports the Hundertwasser project and indicates Tourism New Zealand might assist with funding. The hotly contested referendum results in a landslide win for the Hundertwasser project, which receives more than 50% of the total. The Hundertwasser Art Centre finally has a public mandate and the community support it needs to proceed.

(August)
After the referendum success, PNT forms a team of volunteers in collaboration with Whangārei Art Museum Trust (WAMT) and the Wairau Māori Art Gallery Board, to raise funds for the project. They must raise $16.25 million by the end of June 2017 for the project to proceed. In addition they are required to secure a $2 million underwrite of operating costs.

On meeting these conditions, they must secure a building contract which can be fully funded. In order to ensure funds raised will be sufficient, the project team commissions core sampling and undertakes engineering, due diligence and re-costing. Based on this work they revise the cost estimate up to $20.97 million.

(January)
A new building titled Te Kakano is designed by local architects Grant Harris and Ian Butt from HB Architecture, and then constructed, so that trades people can work with the materials and methods which will be used in the main building. Located at the Town Basin next to the future Art Centre, Te Kakano is to be a special treasure for the city all on its own. Te Kakano, which means The Seed, incorporates bricks, plaster, tiles, glass and wood in a koru pattern on a 60 square metre footprint.

(February)
PNT welcomes an announcement of a $4 million contribution from Central Government. More than $10 million has been raised by this time.

(March)
The Hundertwasser Non Profit Foundation and WAMT enter into an agreement regarding the construction of a Hundertwasser Architecture Project, the HAC.

(June)
The Lotteries Environment and Heritage Fund announces a grant of $500,000 to the HAC, bringing funds raised to two thirds of the total needed.

(August)
Agreement between the Hundertwasser Non Profit Foundation and WAMT is reached for the set-up, operation and maintenance of the HAC by WAMT - in accordance with identity, philosophy, phenotype and appearance stipulated by the Hundertwasser Foundation and in fidelity to Hundertwasser’s concerns and philosophy.

(October)
A $1.8 million grant is committed by Foundation North, formally known as the ASB Community Trust, bringing funds to almost 80% of the total needed to commence building.

(February)
Northland Regional Council commits $1.5million to the project from the Investment Growth Reserve Fund.

(March)
Prosper Northland Trust releases revised figures for construction costs after undertaking due diligence on project plans. The revised cost of the project is $20.97 million.

(April)
The Prime Minister Bill English meets with the PNT, members of the Wairau Māori Art Gallery Board (WMAG), the project team and Whangārei Art Museum Trust (WAMT) to discuss the project and plans for achieving its upcoming June 30 deadline.

(June)
HAC is set to go ahead after exceeding its referendum target, thanks to the provision of $3.5million from the New Zealand Lotteries Commission. The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage pledges a conditional offer to further grant up to $3 million in support of the project in Whangārei.

(June)
HAC is set to go ahead after exceeding its referendum target, thanks to the provision of $3.5million from the New Zealand Lotteries Commission. The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage pledges a conditional offer to further grant up to $3 million in support of the project in Whangārei.

(June 24)
Hundertwasser Day at the Town Basin Canopy Bridge. The HAC project team has spent two years raising $21.7 million, an unprecedented effort by a wholly volunteer organisation. No similar New Zealand project with an entirely volunteer team, has raised such a significant amount of money. It is estimated that over 30,000 hours have been donated to the project by over 200 people. Over the two-year fundraising period, 30 volunteers were involved on a regular basis, contributing approximately 275 hours between them, equivalent to 5.4 full-time employees. A much larger group of volunteers has been involved in specific activities and special events.

(August)
The HAC Building Stone print is the project’s founding visual document.

(October)
The HAC project team announces final construction methodology and prepares to release a formal Request for Proposal for the construction. Registration of Interest documentation is lodged on nationwide tender platform GETS. The final project design includes considerable changes to the foundations and the structure of the building, for the purposes of seismic strengthening. The revised construction methodology requires substantial below-ground foundation work, as well as the complete deconstruction of the existing NRC building. All materials suitable for recycling and repurposing will be salvaged from the building, removed from site and brought back to be incorporated during the finishing phase of the project.

(February)
The Request for Proposal for the construction of the HAC is closed and the review process is underway.

(June)
As a result of a nationwide tendering process, Whangārei-based commercial building company Trigg Construction is appointed as the lead contractor for the 27-month build. Project management is the responsibility of Griffiths & Associates, another Whangārei business, under the direction of WAMT Board Chair, Grant Faber.

(June 11)
Construction commences.

(July)
A delegation of contractors, including architects and engineers, travels to Hundertwasser’s home town of Vienna on a fact-finding mission. The trip gives them a chance to see Hundertwasser buildings and the details within them, up-close. While in Austria, the group is hosted by the Hundertwasser Foundation.

(February)
WAMT announces the resignation of Grant Faber as Trustee and Chair, after serving on its Board for six years, four as Chair. The Trust is a Council Controlled Organisation which operates independently. WAMT Deputy Chair, Thomas Biss takes over the role from Grant Faber.

(March)Foundation steel works are completed, with the concrete floor slab poured in stages. Walls begin to go up. The recycling team reaches a milestone with the last of the recycled materials being removed from the old Harbour Board building. Around 3,500 metres of beautiful native timber flooring will go into the galleries inside the HAC. 18,000 bricks are cleaned and chipped, in readiness for supply to the site when needed.

… so that the good spirits of the old house can move to the new one…

If we do not honour our past

we lose our future.

If we destroy our roots

we cannot grow.

Hundertwasser, 1985

(June)
Kathleen Drumm leaves her role as a Industry Director of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), to lead the Hundertwasser Art Centre.

(August)
Foundations are completed. It had been understood that the building’s foundations would have to extend 14m, with driven steel universal columns. Due to learnings from the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes, it was determined that the piles needed to be founded on bedrock, 33m down and then socketed into bedrock a further few metres - a total of 37 metres into the earth. It is effectively a 10-storey structure in the ground underneath the HAC.

(September)
A Hundertwasser architectural project model, produced to give guidance to the HAC’s surroundings, arrives in Whangārei from Vienna.

(November)
Unexpected design changes and related costs are behind a construction budget over-run of $4 million. A dedicated team of fundraisers led by WAMT is formed, to secure the additional monies. The project is due for completion in 2021.

(March)
New Zealand enters a period of level four lockdown due to Covid-19 and construction ceases for five weeks. The project team continues to plan and work, as the world gets used to online video calls rather than in-person communication. As the levels ease, the site reopens and the construction team returns to work.

(June)
Additional funds from the Provincial Growth Fund and NZ Lotteries are raised. At this point over $30 million in revenue for the HAC has been secured from a range of sources including government, private and public charities, businesses, personal donations and sales. Funds have been raised towards the construction cost, the fit-out, the cost of insuring and transporting Hundertwasser artworks from Europe, costs associated with the impact of Covid-19, and the living roof and sculpture installations.

(July)
The construction is at an advanced stage, with tiling and brick work underway. A ‘roof shout’ is held to celebrate the roof going on the building. Speeches by Griffiths, Trigg, Whangārei Art Museum Trust, PNT and the Hundertwasser Foundation commemorate the progress made, and thank all the people who helped the project reach this milestone.

(November)
WAMT announces that the Hundertwasser Art Centre will open December 2021.

(February)
Roof planting commences, as trees begin to be craned onto the roof. All of the plants have been grown by Tawapou Nurseries in Tutukaka, including one of the rarest plants in the world, the Three Kings Kaikomako.

(February 20)

The Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery opens its doors to visitors.