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[Christine Kerr] The town people love the toilets and are very protective of them. We
get thousands of tourists coming through every year and they're promoted and an iconic toilet
in the Far North in the country. And internationally renowned as a visitor site.
[Narrator] Christine Kerr has been caring for Kawakawa's colourful Hundertwasser toilets
for the past four years. She and her fellow cleaner and tour guide Sharon Davis are on
hand to explain the remarkable building to curious tourists, as well as to clean and
protect it.
Most tourists to the Bay of Islands used to by-pass Kawakawa. But since the Hunderwasser
public toilets were opened in 1999, it has become a top tourist destination.
Designed by the Austrian artist and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who died in 2000,
these unique toilets contain many of his famous architectural features. The building's brightly
coloured ceramic exterior incorporates a tree growing up through the roof, which itself
is covered with tussock grasses. Inside the toilet block are curved walls and undulating
floors. Ceramic tiles with unusual mosaic designs cover most surfaces. Several walls
are made of coloured bottles set in concrete. Everything is curved. Hundertwasser said that
a straight line is a crime, and you will never find a straight line in nature.'
[Christine Kerr ] Hundertwasser was an artist, architect, ecologist, philosopher, ship's
captain, coin designer, stamp designer, flag designer. And in his philosophy, which is
entwined with all those dynamics, he said they would. And it's exactly what we see working
here, it's that interaction with something that is very organic and architectural, but
artistic and also philosophical. So it's all intertwined and there is a beautiful, human
response. It's a very alive space, it's not a dead space at all. And it's a vibrant, joyous
place to work. So we certainly enjoy it, don't we Sharon?.'
[Narrator] Hundertwasser spent the Second World War with his Jewish mother in Austria.
They avoided German persecution by pretending to be Christians, and he joined the Hitler
youth. In the 1950s, Hundertwasser, who had emerged as an artist, became interested in
architecture as well. All his buildings feature curves and spirals.
His work builds on that of the great Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi, who designed the
Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. Some of Hundertwasser's buildings feature
trees growing inside, with their limbs extending through windows. All are brightly coloured
structures that display irregularities, rather than the straight neat lines of most architecture
today. Perhaps the best known example in the world
of Hundertwasser's work is the Austrian resort of Blamau, where the entire village was designed
by him. Hundertwasser first visited New Zealand in
the 1970s. Captivated by the country, he purchased a rundown farm at Kaurinui, about 10 kilometres
from Kawakawa. Here, he built a complex of waterways, a mountain hut, a cave, as well
as converting a piggery and cowshed with bottled walls and grass roofs.
As Hundertwasser spent more time in New Zealand, he became increasingly involved with his adopted
country -- especially Kawakawa. [Christine Kerr] Hundertwasser had every vision
for Kawakawa. When he first came in the earlier years he envisaged repainting the whole of
Gillies Street, our main street. It was declined by the local people because I think the people
didn't really know him at that time and it was just too much for them to take on board
to imagine this European artist to come and totally change the frontages of the town.
But that was from him, his declaration to do that for Kawakawa. Because he said, it
was the only town he found that had a soul. [Narrator] When the Far North District Council
wanted to upgrade the town's toilet block, Hundertwasser's radical design was eventually
accepted. He supervised its construction, as well as providing many of its unique materials.
He also encouraged local college students to make the numerous ceramic tiles used to
decorate the floors and walls throughout the building.
Sadly, Hundertwasser died the year after the toilets were completed. He is buried on his
Kaurinui property. Since his death, the toilets have become world famous, attracting Hundertwasser
enthusiasts from around the globe.