From a distance, the building looks like a toddler’s birthday cake: bright, clashing colours crowned by a golden cupola that sparkles in the sun. Up close, its curvaceous form, detailed tile work and joyful colour choices are instantly recognisable as the work of the late Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000), the Austrian artist and “organic” architect whose social housing project, the Hundertwasserhaus, is one of Vienna’s most popular attractions.
Hundertwasser designed buildings in many countries across Europe, in California’s Napa Valley, in Israel, in Japan. But I’m not in any of those places. I’m on the other side of the world in Whangārei, a small regional city two hours’ drive north of Auckland in New Zealand.
