Hundertwasser Art Centre

Friedensreich Hundertwasser lived in Northland from the 1970s and in 1993 drew a design to convert a disused council building at Whangarei's Town Basin into an art centre. He died in 2000 and the project stalled for two decades in a long public argument - a referendum, funding fights, a change of council position - before construction finally began, and the building opened in 2022. It follows his principles literally: no straight lines, uneven floors, ceramic columns, a living roof planted with native species, a golden cupola and a tree growing out of the structure. Inside are a Hundertwasser gallery, which Kunst Haus Wien calls the second Hundertwasser museum in the world after its own, and the Wairau Maori Art Gallery, the country's first public gallery dedicated to contemporary Maori art, which shares the building as a condition of the project. The Town Basin around it is a marina with cafes, and the Whangarei Art Museum is alongside.

History

Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who lived in the Bay of Islands for 30 years, designed the centre in 1993, but it was not built then because the building he chose belonged to the regional council, which would not sell it. After many rejections a binding referendum approved the project in June 2015, and the centre opened on 20 February 2022 with the exhibition Puhi Ariki, curated by Nigel Borell (Wikipedia, Hundertwasser Art Centre).

What you'll find

• The Hundertwasser building - realised from a 1993 design, opened 2022.
• The living roof - planted with native species, walkable.
• The Wairau Maori Art Gallery - contemporary Maori art, sharing the building.
• The Town Basin - the marina and waterfront around it.

When to go

Any season - it is indoors. Weekday mornings are quiet. Check exhibition programmes, since the Maori gallery rotates shows.

Before you go

Ticketed. It is a modern building executing an old design, not something Hundertwasser built - the twenty-year gap is part of the story. Uneven floors are intentional and may be awkward for some visitors.

Nearby

Whangarei Falls is north; the Town Basin walkway runs along the river.