house

The Hundertwasserhaus

1986 - One of the most controversy and frequently discussed house construction in Vienna was finished and beside others Andy and Michael [me ;-)] - two "little boys" from the Kraus family - got the opportunity to move in ...

The painter Friedensreich Hundertwasser argued for many years against modern inhuman architecture, wrote manifests, made demonstrations and published a lot of alternative house models. Finally the Major of Vienna decided to give him the possibility to bring his dreams to reality. Together with an architect, Peter Pelikan, the project was brought to life. Today the "Hundertwasserhaus" is one of the most attractive sights from Vienna, during summertime more than thousand tourists per day pass by for a visit.

What are the ideas behind this house ?

A short summary (probably it is better to read a book instead, as having explanations in my poor english):
In Nature you wont find a straight line. It is disturbing to be surrounded by sharp corners, straight surfaces or flat floors. Therefore you find in the house "hand rounded corners" and "curtain walls" and that people don't loose their ability to walk on natural ground, the tile floors in the house are "uneven". Everywhere you find white walls which are dedicated for the residents (especially their children) to be painted. People get a better relation to the place they live when they can style it. People living in bigger house communities are still individual so the apartments are painted outside in different colors and have different windows. In general there are changing styles of door and window types, colors, lamps and other stuff used all over the house to create a kind of "natural variation".

If you look from the top on the house, everything is green. The gardens on the roof are a big piece of nature, nothing is taken away from mother nature, all is just on a little higher elevation. Trees living on little rooms at the surface of the house pay their "rent" in looking nice, collecting dust and producing oxygen ...

To keep the soul of the house, which was there before, alive, a part of it is rebuild and included in the architecture. To have a general good atmosphere within the house, it is important that the workers who build the house enjoyed their work. Therefore they had all possibilities to be creative, e.g. they could tile the floors however they want or could create mosaics.
A lot more ideas are connected with this house ... but the best is to see it yourself !!!

The Paradise Destroyed by the Straight Line

Other Hundertwasser projects:
Austria
Kunsthaus Vienna
Waste burning facility in Vienna
Church in B�rnbach (see also B�rnbach-Online)
Germany
Kindergarten Project in Heddernheim near Frankfurt (Example)
Hundertwasser Haus in Bad Soden near Frankfurt (very nice pictures)
Gymnasium-Project in Lutherstadt Wittenberg with Life cam
New Zealand
The painters house
The creation of the flag (discussion)
There are some more information's on the Web:
Small Biography
Collection to 100~ Info
Vienna Travel Description from HotWired
Some nice Pictures
See his watch creations
Information pages in german
Sch�lerartikel zu Entstehung

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Copyright � 1998 [MKR]. All Rights Reserved.
02.10.1998.

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The painter Friedensreich Hundertwasser argued for many years against modern inhuman architecture, wrote manifests, made demonstrations and published a lot of alternative house models. Finally the Major of Vienna decided to give him the possibility to bring his dreams to reality. Together with an architect, Peter Pelikan, the project was brought to life. Today the "Hundertwasserhaus" is one of the most attractive sights from Vienna, during summertime more than thousand tourists per day pass by for a visit. What are the ideas behind this house ?
A short summary (probably it is better to read a book instead, as having explanations in my poor english): In Nature you wont find a straight line. It is disturbing to be surrounded by sharp corners, straight surfaces or flat floors. Therefore you find in the house "hand rounded corners" and "curtain walls" and that people don't loose their ability to walk on natural ground, the tile floors in the house are "uneven". Everywhere you find white walls which are dedicated for the residents (especially their children) to be painted. People get a better relation to the place they live when they can style it. People living in bigger house communities are still individual so the apartments are painted outside in different colors and have different windows. In general there are changing styles of door and window types, colors, lamps and other stuff used all over the house to create a kind of "natural variation".
If you look from the top on the house, everything is green. The gardens on the roof are a big piece of nature, nothing is taken away from mother nature, all is just on a little higher elevation. Trees living on little rooms at the surface of the house pay their "rent" in looking nice, collecting dust and producing oxygen ...
To keep the soul of the house, which was there before, alive, a part of it is rebuild and included in the architecture. To have a general good atmosphere within the house, it is important that the workers who build the house enjoyed their work. Therefore they had all possibilities to be creative, e.g. they could tile the floors however they want or could create mosaics. A lot more ideas are connected with this house ... but the best is to see it yourself !!!