The Hundertwasser House is located in the centre of Vienna, but at a distance from the Old Town - for example, the Hofburg Palace is about two kilometres away. You can get to this amazing house by underground from the Wien Mitte and Rochusgasse stops.
A dwelling house, not a museum
The house itself is an impressive building based on the plans of the famous Austrian architect Hundertwasser. Amusingly, this house now functions as a residential and office building, though of course it is more popular with tourists due to its unique appearance.
The architect's flight of fancy
The main distinguishing feature of this house is the fact that greenery - literally - grows out of it. Some trees have sprouted from the very roof of this low building, and individual plants have even been planted in the rooms or other spaces themselves. The house is also characterised by brightly painted facades decorated with glazed tiles, featuring colourful mosaics and ornaments. The whole building is characterised by the absence of straight lines, wavy outline of the walls and different shapes and sizes of windows. All kinds of materials were used to create this building, including ceramics, glass and even wood. It was completed in 1986. Interestingly, Hundertwasser himself worked for free and waived his fee, reasoning that he was just glad that a typical "ugly" city building was not erected on this site. Due to its unique appearance, Hundertwasser's house has become a kind of "symbol" of Vienna.
This is interesting!
- Many tourists believe that Hundertwasser was inspired by the ideas of the great Gaudi, but no proof of this has yet been found. However, like Gaudi, Hundertwasser often used ceramic tiles.
- In close proximity to the Hundertwasser House are other buildings by the same architect. For example, the Hundertwasser Village shopping and exhibition centre, which stands opposite the famous house. Inside this centre, a small town is recreated, decorated in the eccentric style typical of the master. Here you can buy a variety of souvenirs related to Hundertwasser's work.
- The favourite animal of this amazing artist and architect was a snail with a house on its back..
