Design
Why Austrians Are Taking Their Wackiest Architect Seriously After His Death
Behind the almost child-like designs, Friedensreich Hundertwasser wanted to recover the “dignity of man” which had “been violated in our unnatural and hostile urban grid system.”
Friedensreich Hundertwasser gave speeches in the nude. His buildings, towers, and fountains—scattered throughout Europe and Asia—look like something a child might draw, with wavy lines dividing one floor from the next and trees popping from the roof. After all, he once said, “the straight line leads to the downfall of mankind.”
Yet beyond the wackiness, the Viennese architect and artist was in many ways a visionary who helped to put sustainability and an earth-based approach to architecture on the map.