Hundertwasser, Vienna

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Directly across from the Hundertwasser Haus is the Hundertwasser Village. This is a shopping mall created in the Hundertwasser style. It is beautiful inside with uneven floors, colourful oddly shaped pillars, uneven stairs, tiles. The shops inside sell artworks and souvenirs. There is also a cafe bar. The building even has a toilet of modern art - entry 60 cents. The mirrors and tiles inside the toilet are quite pretty.

To get here you can take tram 1 in the direction of the Prater and get off at Hundertwasser Haus stop. We took the U1 underground line to Schweden Platz then caught the line 1 tram from there.

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Friendensreich Hundertwasser designed the Krawinahaus as a residential building using his philosophical principles such as no straight lines; a tree for every resident; lots of windows; uneven floors. The building is actually very beautiful and photogenic. As is is residential you cannot go inside. The building contains a cafe and a little shop. Directly across the road from the Krawinahaus is the Hundertwasser Village (see next tip). There is also a fairly good bakery selling food and drink close to the Krawinahaus.

To get to the Hundertwasser Haus you can take tram 1 in the direction of the Prater and get off at Hundertwasser Haus stop. We took the U1 underground line to Schweden Platz then caught the line 1 tram from just outside. Underground line U4 also goes to Schwedenplatz, too.

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First stop when we arrived to Vienna was at the Hundertwasser Museum, located at Untere Weißgerberstraße 13, 1030 Vienna.
We arrived there after 3 hours on the road from Budapest.
Most of the information about the Museum it is easy to find on the net, but my experience while visiting the place was that it is a small piece of art, unique and a one that it is hard to ignore.

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Welcome to the ''territory of creative architecture,'' as the well-known, in the year of 2000 died artists, painter Hundertwasser described his onion-domed oasis near the Danube, which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Vienna.
For those who want to visit here, this colorful, public housing masterpiece will not disappoint. Trees are considered tenants and grow out of their own windows. Flat floors are forbidden; an uneven walking surface is “a melody to the feet.” Residents can lean out of their windows and paint anything within arm’s reach. The roof? A minor wilderness.
He said: "Some people claim, the houses consist of walls; according to me from windows."

The building, which sits a-mid baroque Viennese splendor on the Kegelgasse in the third district, in a residential neighborhood, is the most conspicuous example of the imaginative art of the artist.
People still live in the building, so it may be viewed from the outside only. Exeption is the “Kunst-Café im Hundertwasserhaus” at the Löwengasse side.

If you are interested to know more about the artist, you can visit also the Hundertwasser-Kunsthaus locating not far from here, along the Danube canal. It is open daily from 10 am. to 7 pm. and shows the pictorial works of Hundertwasser in a constant exhibition.
In the Museum Shop you can buy everything around Hundertwasser; but also a lot of tourist junk, have nothing to do with Hundertwasser.

Kunsthaus-Museum Website: http://www.kunsthauswien.com/index_en.html
Kunsthaus-Museum Address: Untere Weissgerberstrasse 13

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KunstHausWien

The Kunsthaus Wien is a museum dedicated to the painter, graphic artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928 - 2002). Inside you can see some of his best paintings as well as models of housing complex that he built in Austria and abroad.
Hundertwasser was a very ecological artist: he believed that straight lines were innatural and was therefore trying to break those lines: he used a lot or irregular elements, colours and, when possible, natural materials. A good example is the floor of this Kunstahause that he designed: uneven and rounded. He also figured out a way of using plants to purify water, so that it could be recycled instead of wasted.

The museum is on two floors and a visit costs 9 euros. On the ground floor, there is a café-restaurant and a shop. Entrance to the museum is 9 euros - definitely not cheap, but the ticket is quite artistic and unusual.

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Friedensreich Hunterwasser museum tells about his life, philosophy, shows his artwork, architecture models/ideas, displays various flags he created.

The building alone from the outside is very odd and interesting both at the same time.

We enjoyed this museum quite a bit. The arwork was interesting/wacky. This is not your typical art museum!

Other than wanting a say in the size of their loft extensions or shape and situation of their sun lounges most people will not profess to being interested in 'architecture' per se. However, a trip to this beautiful city is an truly uplifting experience for anyone who loves fine buildings. But should you find yourself suffering from an overkill of grandeur - and I can't say I do! - a stroll though central Vienna to Lowengasse should change all that! For in Hunderwasser Haus you have an extraordinary example of a dream made reality - for in 1985 (Friedensreich) Hundertwasser succeeded in making the surreal real, and managed to build what most people thought was impossible...a block of flats that people would fight to live in!

It's almost impossible to describe in words. Let's simply say that any lover of an abundance straight parallel lines probably ought to steer clear! One word of note - being a real, lived-in block a flats, it is a free show...and being stared at on a daily basis is the price the residents obviously (willingly?) have to pay. All the same, I think it's only fair to show a little bit of respect for the key holders whilst brandishing your camera in the search for that perfect photo opportunity.

The adjacent themed shopping arcade is depressingly touristy but you can get food, postcards if you need to etc. The most amusing thing within is the 'Toilet of Modern Art' (more of which later) Personally I'd enjoy the Hundertwasser building, peruse the toilet in the arcade basement (money needed) and then walk a few streets further to Unter Weissgerbestrasse where you'll find the official Hundertwasser museum - the Kunsthaus. It's 9 Eur for adults (half price Mondays at the moment), has an art exhibition, architecture exhibition and a superbly good cafe/restaurant (see restaurant review).

..and don't forget the Spittelau power plant!

A house an unusual house that does not correspond to the usual cliches and norms
of academic architecture a house conceived and designed by a painter an adventure in modern times a journey to an unknown land
a journey into the land of creative architecture
where there are window rights and tree tenants and uncontrolled irregularities
uneven floors, woodlands on the roof
spontaneous vegetation and barriers of beauty a journey into the land where nature and man meet in creation a report about the first free house a painter dreams a painter dreams about houses and a beautiful architecture in which man is free and this dream becomes a reality Hundertwasser