Hundertwasser is to Vienna, what Gaudi is to Barcelona

Works by Friedensreich Hundertwasser

In 1975 (I think), I went to a traveling exhibit of the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser with my mom and my aunty Irene, in Tel Aviv. We were all taken by his work and the awe that I felt then, never dissapated, even though I had never had the chance again to see his work in person. We all had a copy of the book from the exhibit and mom had bought a couple of other things in the gift shop, so I had reminders, around the house so to speak all these years.

On Tuesday as I prepared for our flight to Vienna, I Googled to find some things to do on our first day. One of the first items that came up in my search was an exhibit at the Museum Hundertwasser. "Wow", I thought. A chance to see another exhibit of his work in a museum that he designed ... what could be better than that!

And I was not disappointed. Not only was I able to see hundreds of his paintings/silk screens and woodblock prints, but I also learned that he was a stamp designer, and architect and a visionary ecologist. I immediately thought about Gaudi's architectural wonders in Barcelona and thought about how similar these two men were in their vision for an organic world. And maybe too, the fact that both have been misunderstood.

You can read about his biography here, his manifestos and texts here, and is view of the world here.

Hundertwasser House

Hundertwasser died in 2000, before actualizing all of his dreams for a better world, but he managed to leave behind ideas that are in the forefront in today's green architecture movement. I enjoyed reacquainting myself with this amazing human being and his inspiring paintings and view of the world.

Waldspirale (wooded spiral in english) which is colorfully painted with earth tones, is located in Darmstadt, Germany and was built in the 90's. It features 105 units, a green roof, an inner courtyard and playground, small artificial lake, 1000 unique windows and unique handles on every door.