Hundertwasser Toilets Kawakawa

The Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser moved to Kawakawa in the 1970s and lived on land nearby until his death in 2000. In 1997 the town asked him to redesign its public toilets, and he did it in his usual manner: no straight lines, columns of recycled glass bottles, ceramic tiles and broken-crockery mosaics made with local schoolchildren, bricks salvaged from a demolished bank, a living grass roof and a tree growing through the structure. It was completed in 1999 and was the last building he finished. What makes it more than a curiosity is that it is not a museum piece - these are the town's working public toilets, open, free and used all day by people who are not there to look at them. Kawakawa is a small town on SH1 with a railway line running down the middle of the main street, which is the other reason people stop.

What you actually see

• The bottle columns - recycled glass set into the walls.
• The mosaics - ceramic and broken crockery, made with local children.
• The grass roof and tree - growing on and through the building.
• The working use - they are the town's actual public toilets.

When to go

Any time; they are open daily and free. Mid-morning avoids the coach stops. Combine with the Hundertwasser Memorial Park and the town centre.

Honest expectations

They are toilets in daily public use - be considerate of people using them rather than photographing. It is a fifteen-minute stop. Kawakawa itself is a small working town, not a destination.

Nearby

Paihia and the Bay of Islands are north-east; the Kawiti glowworm caves are close.