Who Was Hundertwasser? Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna in 1928, he later changed his name to Friedensreich Hundertwasser. He was a painter, architect, writer, and environmentalist. He believed buildings should be creative, colorful, and in harmony with nature. He famously said, “The straight line is godless and immoral.”
In the 1970s, he moved to New Zealand and became a citizen Hundertwasser lived in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands for 30 years. In 1993, he designed an art centre for Whangārei, choosing a specific building site. But plans were delayed because the building’s owners didn’t want to sell it to the city council.
The Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangārei is a bold and creative cultural space. It celebrates the life and work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser now a New Zealand artist and architect known for his love of nature and dislike of straight lines. The centre also features New Zealand’s first public gallery dedicated to contemporary Māori art, called the Wairau Māori Art Gallery. “Wairau” means “Hundred Waters.”
The building was designed by Hundertwasser in 1993, but it wasn’t opened until 20 February 2022. It’s the only true Hundertwasser building in the southern hemisphere and holds about 80 of his original artworks like paintings, graphics, and models making it the largest collection outside of Vienna. On the rooftop, there are over 150 trees and thousands of plants, creating one of the biggest green roofs in the southern hemisphere. Hundertwasser also designed the famous public toilets in Kawakawa, which became a popular tourist spot and helped boost the town’s economy.
After Hundertwasser died in 2000, the Whangārei District Council brought his art centre idea back to life. In 2012, they signed an agreement with the Hundertwasser Foundation to build the centre and include authentic Hundertwasser works alongside Māori art. The Foundation approved, as long as the centre was built on the site Hundertwasser originally chose, The total cost to the council was $8 million, which also covered earthquake-proofing the building. Hundertwasser was buried on his land in Northland. His legacy continues through his art, buildings, and environmental ideas.
