after a presentation in goethe class by a classmate, i've decided to check this guy out. Friedensreich Hundertwasser. He must be rather eccentric. Born Friedrich Stowasser, (a perfectly normal name), he decided to adopt the name Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser. literally translates to Peaceful Rainy-day Dark-and-colourful Hundred-waters. not my cup of weird name. but that aside, his architecture is very interesting. some similarities with Antoni Gaudi in the use of mosaics and biomorphic forms. and looks a bit middle-eastern thick-wallish. he's austrian btw.
quote from his Verschimmelungs-Manifest:
"A person in a rented apartment must be able to lean out of his window and scrape off the masonry within arm's reach. And he must be allowed to take a long brush and paint everything outside within arm's reach. So that it will be visible from afar to everyone in the street that someone lives there who is different from the imprisoned, enslaved, standardised man who lives next door."
makes me wonder if the many colours he assigned to his buildings are supposed to act as camouflage. but cool, nah? (thank goodness i haven't started using "gell") in the picture above, the whole area is like his playground. the buildings scream existence. and authorship. not for the low-profile.
