by RaShell on 2008-06-24
Well, normally, architecture doesn’t strike me as a medium related to doodling. Buildings (with rare exception of Gaudi’s poetic sandcastles) usually have too many straight lines, symmetry and rules to remind me of thoughtless scribbling… That is, until I saw these beauties. Unfortunately, not in person, but even pictures can easily inspire you to grab a gel pen and start drawing little windows and curvy walls! This is the “baby” of Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) and Rogner Bad Blumau, is one of the places where he fully expressed his vision in architecture and overall philosophy - Life in harmony and in harmony with nature.
Little more digging, produced many-many more examples of Hundertwasser’s beautiful colorful work. He managed to turn the most ordinary things, like a public toilet in a small New Zealand’s community into icons of architectural creativity:
Houses, wineries, walls, pretty much anything he touched, became a local/and/or international attraction and is getting plenty of well-deserved attention:

I see buildings like this and I want to whoop and clap my hands.
Someone has put in more than the minimum to get the job done.
Fantastic
June 24, 2008 @ 1:22 pmWow! These are awesome! It almost seems like a storybook world. They would fit in very well at Disneyland
June 24, 2008 @ 2:45 pmHi Andrew,
Same here. They’re amazing, wish there was more stuff built for it’s beauty, not just code and convenience…
June 24, 2008 @ 3:27 pmLaurenMarie,
They’re so pretty, it’s painful. I keep thinking of how American architecture is mostly functional and rarely beautiful for the sake of being beautiful! Too bad… Yes, the amusement parks come to mind, but unfortunately those are mostly “cutesy”, which doesn’t necessarily mean “tasteful”… Sorry for a long rant
June 24, 2008 @ 3:36 pmYum. Yum, yum, yum!
June 25, 2008 @ 10:37 amwhat a colourful city, just like kids dreams.
July 3, 2008 @ 11:37 pmPretty … amazing … whooping and clapping hands … are NOT what comes to mind when I see butt-ugly buildings like this.
Some ideas are cute for the Smurfs or Dr. Suess, but tht doesn’t mean they are attractive buildings that people would actually want to live in or walk by every day.
July 5, 2008 @ 11:10 amW. Shedd,
Butt-ugly, huh… If your taste is different from mine, we can agree to disagree. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that one of us is right, and another is wrong. Hope you’ve enjoyed other posts in this blog.
July 5, 2008 @ 1:54 pmDawn,
yes they do look delicious
Paresh,
This is one of the reasons why I like them. I guess I’m a big kid at heart
July 5, 2008 @ 1:56 pmNot good for some one with OCD, I feel like straitening the whole damn place.
July 20, 2008 @ 11:05 amHi Simon,
July 21, 2008 @ 4:00 pmThe only OCD-like tendency I have is closing open cabinet doors, so no distress over curvy architecture here :-p
Looking at the pictures makes me nostalgic of my childhood days… The buildings are fun, colorful and yes quite tasteful… It like those buildings from storybooks brought to like… I simply love it!
August 20, 2008 @ 12:27 amVery colorful structures. It kinda reminds me of abstract paintings. I bet the people living in these areas are very happy and perky.;)
August 20, 2008 @ 1:15 am