Hundertwasser, the visionary Austrian artist who attracts crowds

It was he himself who supervised the opening of this space in 1991.
An old abandoned factory, "he transformed it according to his aesthetic ideals to make it a unique piece of art", explains curator Andreas Hirsch to AFP, on the occasion of the inauguration of the new permanent exhibition.

The "tenant trees" coming out of the facade, the twisted windows as if they were "dancing", the dented floor, the mosaics... the building concentrates all the elements dear to this enemy of the straight line, who had split with a manifesto against “rationalism” in architecture.

“First eco-friendly museum”

Wanting to be a "doctor" repairing "sick" buildings in the interests of harmony with nature, Hundertwasser lived at the top, in an apartment with a green roof, when he came to Vienna.

Presented as "the first green museum" in Austria, the Kunst Haus Wien had to live up to its reputation, underlines its director Gerlinde Riedl, wearing a bright green blouse for the occasion.

No more fossil fuels, it now operates solely with a hydrothermal system, powered by a well built in the courtyard which is also used to water the 260 species of plants populating the space.

The work, lasting nine months at a cost of 3,5 million euros, made it possible to modernize the premises, which offer a striking contrast with the pompous palaces of the historic center of the former Habsburg capital.

The intimate museum, "one of the most extraordinary sites in Vienna" according to its manager, is counting on an increase in attendance with its renovation, beyond 100.000 annual visitors.

Because within it, there is "the largest collection of works by Hundertwasser in the world": 170 in total are on display, to the delight of the public who are fans of unusual "instagrammable" decors.

The Hundertwasser House, an HLM complex located 200 meters away, attracts crowds of tourists, even if it can only be viewed from the outside. A million arrive by bus every year.

Recycling and humus toilets

Born on December 15, 1928 in Vienna to a Jewish mother, Friedrich Stowasser – who later renamed himself Friedensreich Hundertwasser (“Kingdom of Peace of a Hundred Waters”) – survived in difficult conditions during the war. He lost 69 members of his family in the Holocaust.

A tragedy contrasting with the explosion of life which characterizes his art in an approach with "the ambition to achieve something great", says Andreas Hirsch, author of two works on the visionary artist.

Recognized around the world upon his death and now rated while remaining affordable, this great traveler, sometimes compared to the Spaniard Antoni Gaudi, completed more than 30 architectural projects, from incinerators to thermal baths, from Japan to New York. Zeeland.

Initially a painter who liked to populate his paintings with spirals, he did not fit into any box. “He was a unique thinker” who abhorred uniformity and wore mismatched socks, a provocateur “obstinately committed to very demanding ecological designs from the 1950s”, underlines the expert.

At a very young age, he already advocated recycling, was "very proud to be able to make do with a small ration of food for a whole month" well before the debates on degrowth.

He also designed "humus toilets", dry compost toilets so as not to waste water and transform excrement "into gold" nourishing the soil.

An extraordinary destiny which ended in 2000 in the middle of the Pacific Ocean: the bearded septuagenarian wearing an eternal beret died of a heart attack aboard the liner Queen Elizabeth II.

He rests today at the foot of a tulip tree planted by him, in his adopted land of New Zealand.