After seeing a picture of this amazing housing complex in a guide book, I put it on my list of ‘must-sees’, and was mildly obsessed with making sure we checked it off the list before our trip to Vienna came to an end. I naively assumed that this was far enough off the beaten track that there would be few visitors on a cloudy Tuesday morning. Apparently not – this is one of the most visited sites in Vienna! Thankfully, there were no tour buses the morning we arrived. The walk to the Hundertwasserhaus led us past a very intriguing magic shop, which stocked supplies for all sorts of things, including ventriloquism. You need supplies for that?
As creative and imaginative as his buildings and his art was the architect’s chosen name: Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser. According to the all-knowing source, Wikipedia, his name means “Peace-Kingdom Rainy Day Darkly Multicoloured Hundred-Water”. For more entertaining tidbits and trivia about Hundertwasser, check out the entry in Wikipedia.
Hundertwasswerhaus was built between 1983 and 1986 as a social housing project (or, as someone rather untactfully put it, “where the poor people live”). Hundertwasser reportedly accepted no money for it, arguing that the project was worth it, if only to prevent some other monstrosity being put up in its place. Favouring naturalism, Hundertwasser rejected straight lines, declaring them to be the work of the devil. The building features undulating walls and floors, and colourful, Gaudi-esque mosaics. Well, straight lines might be the work of the devil, but curves are the enemy of IKEA… quite how people arrange their furniture on undulating walls and floors remains a mystery, although Hundertwasser doesn’t sound like a man who cared much for practicality.
It’s unclear whether this is still being used as a social housing project. There definitely are private residences, which means that all you can really gape at are the intriguing exteriors. We were in the tourist-oriented gift shop at the base of the building when another tourist walked in and asked to see one of the apartments. Sadly, not only could she not see the interiors, but she was treated to a dose of Austrian ‘hospitality’. The exchange went something like this:
Tourist: Is it possible to see inside one of the flats?
Charming gift-shop attendant: No!
Tourist: Oh, so not now? Maybe in a few hours? Maybe this afternoon?
Charming attendant (with a clearly disgusted look on her face): No! Not now! Never!
I didn’t know if I should feel sorry for the tourist, or commiserate with the attendant, who obviously gets these kinds of questions on an hourly basis. Nevertheless, I thought her reaction could have been slightly tempered, or at least accompanied by an explanation!
In addition to the Hundertwasserhaus, Vienna is full of amazing buildings and grand edifices. Stay tuned for more Viennese art and architecture…
Coconuts and Bananas 
Hundertwasswerhaus is a real gem. Well worth going off the beaten track and getting lost in the ‘burbs of Vienna.
Was the gift-shop-keeper German by any chance? I have also experienced “direct-response” from people in museums/shops in Germany … but not in Austria.