NOT GEOMETRIC ART BY FRIEDENSREICH HUNDERTWASSER

Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist and architect, known for his vibrant use of color. His work encompasses colorful paintings, unique sculptures, fascinating edifices and thought provoking exhibits. He was born as Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna and developed an early interest in art. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, signing his works as Hundertwasser, which was a choice throughout his career.

Hundertwasser entered the field of architecture, and after residing in Austria and France, he lived modestly in his New Zealand home, which he designed to be environmentally responsible, or 'green.' To expand his horizons, he entered the arena of applied art, designing flags and stamps. Politically, he showed nostalgia for the Imperial period of Austria. He favored constitutional monarchy as an ideal government. In his artistic themes were the factors of individualism, man living in harmony with nature, organic forms, and a hatred of squares. His legacy lives on in his art which bears his stamp of color and innovative design.

Spittelau district heating-plant. Austria

Spittelau district heating-plant, Austria. Night view.

These photos are of a district heating plant in Spittelau, Vienna, Austria, showing that even “ugly” industrial facilities can be made into works of art. It is a prime tourist attraction, has an art gallery on site and the families that live around it love it. If this can be done in conservative Europe, imagine what creative possibilities exist in the USA! Power plants, hospitals, factories or any facility that wants to show the neighborhood that it “really cares” could look like this if we could liberate ourselves from the tyranny of the straight line and reconnect with the fluidity of nature.

The Hundertwasserhaus, Vienna, Austria.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser's Hundertwasserhaus - Vienna (1983-86), Austria.

Eco-friendlier architecture. A Rogner spa in Bad Blumau, far eastern Austria.

Hundertwasser’s insistence that the home is a person's third skin and should be imprinted with each individual’s personality is the architectural equivalent, in our minds, of usability engineering, a particular emphasis of IDEAS’practice. His vision of the five skins of man speaks to the organic interconnections that link not only people to their environment and to each other, but also every step in a process to the whole and every process to the project, every discipline to every other discipline.

In 1991, Hundertwasser was commissioned to redesign the oncology ward at Graz University Hospital. Studies conducted two years after the completion of Hundertwasser redesign showed that patients decidedly benefited from the spiritual harmony of the spontaneous asymmetry of textures, colors and decorations. An excellent article in the magazine Resurgence quotes Hundertwasser’s rationale for installing wavy floors in his buildings wherever he was permitted to. “The flat floor is an invention of architects ... It fits engines — not human beings ... If people are forced to walk on flat asphalt and concrete floors, estranged from the age-old relationship and contact with earth, a crucial part of humanity withers and dies. It is good to walk on uneven floors and regain our human balance.”