Hundertwasser House In Vienna

2023 Author: Ashton Daniels | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 17:13

Half of the Austrians consider him a genius and adore him unconditionally. Admirers of classical painting and architecture, at the mere mention of his name, are simply indignant, considering him an upstart, provocateur, dropout or, at best, an eccentric artist of average skill. And each has its own reasons. Pierre Richard and his "tall blonde in a black boot" is a comic parody reminiscent of the lifestyle and behavior of Fryderyk Stowasser, who took the more sonorous pseudonym Friedensreich Hundertwasser in the middle of the last century. Skeptics will argue that at different times he began to study at the two Academies of Fine Arts in Vienna and Paris, but he could not study anywhere for several months. And fanatical fans, on the contrary, will prove that he is a real genius,who created his own direction in art and architecture and it was for this reason that he was bored to study there! And it doesn't matter at all that all his life he passed in socks of different colors and sometimes shocked all respectable Europeans and residents of the New World by appearing on television and in public places in "Adam's costume." Leaving all these scientific and aesthetic disputes to cultural critics or even to history itself, it is she who will put everything in its place.

Whatever it was, but Friedensreich Hundertwasser quickly became a famous and demanded artist, architect and public figure. He never received a classical art education, however, he became insanely famous and insanely rich for the artists of that time. The ecological theme was extremely important for the artist, he always emphasized that "man and nature should live in harmony." "I want to be called the vegetation wizard or something like that." Throughout his life, he decorated churches and children's centers with boundless enthusiasm and showed genuine concern for the appearance of his hometown, for which he was awarded the Honorary Gold Medal of the City of Vienna. And deservedly so!

In Vienna there is the famous Hundertwasser House (in guidebooks it is officially called that). Even seasoned travelers unanimously claim that all the buildings that have embodied the ideas of this great artist certainly deserve close attention. Typically, all Hundertwasser buildings are not only asymmetrical, but usually do not have two windows of the same size and shape. Moreover, these buildings have uneven walls and floors, reminiscent of forest or park landscapes, waterfalls or slopes. All this is complemented by numerous plants planted directly in the apartments, on the balconies, on the roofs of the apartments and in the stairwells.

And you will not believe it - this is municipal housing, and one of the most expensive in the Austrian capital, and those wishing to settle in it again must take compulsory courses on the proper rules for the care and maintenance of plants living in their home. Moreover, all newly moving in responsible tenants are obliged to pass a kind of test or exam for this course, and only in this case they will receive the consent of the municipality to move into one of the 52 original apartments of this building. And, nevertheless, when the house was commissioned in 1986, there was no end to those wishing to settle in it. From the very beginning, living in this unusual house was very prestigious. Although they say that not all the guests survived for a long time. Someone was annoyed by the constant crowds of tourists and fans of the extravagant artist,someone quickly got fed up with an abundance of plants and constant worries about them, while someone just got tired of uneven floors, walls, rounded corners and non-standard windows and window sills.

Hundertwasser believed that houses did not consist of walls - this is an illusion - but of windows. And the artist gracefully and enthusiastically brought many of his ideas to life. He built several beautiful buildings, completely free from generally accepted norms and stereotypes, where "nature and man meet not on the basis of struggle and self-affirmation, but on the basis of mutual respect, complementarity and creativity." The Hundertwasser House in Vienna took about 9 years to build, from 1977 to 1986, and became the first realization of the great artist's dream, where the rights of man, animals, windows and trees are equally respected. Where floors, steps and walls do not let you get bored in their unevenness, and on the same uneven roofs, terraces and balconies more than 250 different plants grow. Hundertwasser believed that it is impossible to live in the same and standard box houses, people get sick from this,they begin to suffer and hurt. He also believed that nature does not have straight lines and angles, and all horizontal and vertical lines should resemble forest paths or mountain paths, well, in the most extreme case, sea waves or cirrus clouds.

Moreover, each inhabitant of this unusual house has the right to lean out of his window and paint the wall around it according to his imagination and at his own discretion - where his outstretched hand with a brush can reach, not to mention the right to the interior design and interior furnishings of his apartment. It is also interesting that the facade of each apartment has its own personal color - red, blue, yellow or white, while the common areas are painted gray. Each person, the artist believed, is a real king or king of his own fate and apartment, which is why Friedensreich Hundertwasser painted a beautiful stylized crown over almost every window. By and large, the artist wanted, against all odds, to build the ideal home of his dreams - a beautiful and cozy oasis for people and nature in the very center of his beloved city. He wanted,so that people feel comfortable in this house and be happy in it.

Numerous cafes and souvenir shops nearby try to maintain this style too. The Hunderwasser House has become a modern landmark in the Austrian capital, along with the historical sites of the Hofburg and Schönbrunn. But now the tenants of the house have defended their right to peace of mind, and tourists are no longer taken to the house.