Forest spiral 1-8

It is impossible to imagine Friedensreich Hundertwasser's artistic work without it: the spiral. In his "Waldspirale", planned in 1996 and built between 1998 and 2000, the year of the artist's death, with 105 flats, the artist realised this symbol for the first time in the form of an entire building. The Waldspirale offers its residents peace and quiet and a natural retreat in the middle of a lively neighbourhood close to the city centre.

Hundertwasser's work is characterised not only by the harmony between nature and architecture, which can be seen in the "tree tenants" protruding from the façade and the roof covered in native plants. The golden sphere that rises from the highest point of the building and makes it visible from afar, as well as the irregularly spaced windows, also bear witness to Hundertwasser's aversion to straight lines and are due to his preference for organic forms and varied details. As in other of his buildings, the Waldspirale breaks with the usual architectural standards and instead emphasises the individual: some of the flats have rounded corners, colourful tiles and windows at different heights. Playfulness triumphs over monotony, nature reclaims its place.

1,048 windows - no two are the same. Hundertwasser thus realises the principle of "dancing windows" - everything seems to be in motion. The 79 coloured ceramic columns, which make each flat and each terrace unique, are also true works of art. While the spiral is "only" two storeys high in the west, it rises to eleven storeys in the east. A real gem is the lovingly overgrown inner courtyard, around which the balconies on the inside of the house are grouped and in which a stream fed by rainwater babbles.

Photos: © Frank Seifert, www.frank-seifert.com