THE ART OF ECOLOGY: EXPLORING THE HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, AND ARTWORK OF FRIEDENSCREICH HUNDERTWASSER  

Spittelau Heating Plant, Vienna ? 2000 J.Harel, Vienna

Environmental Problems, Art Solutions

We all know how easy it is to identify problems; however, solving those problems is usually quite another matter.  This issue of the NTIEVA newsletter focuses upon an artist who has been described as ?a self-appointed goodwill ambassador to the planet.?   The artist is Austrian Friedensreich Hundertwasser whose artwork brings not only public awareness of environmental problems and other social issues, but more significantly provides solutions through art.

Through careful investigation of the unique work of Hundertwasser, students and teachers will be made aware of ecological issues that face our world.  Learning about this remarkable artist and his work should inspire students to evaluate their own communities, identify environmental problems, make the public aware of the problems, and then provide solutions through art.  Just as important, students will learn how Hundertwasser has brought environmental and human issues to public awareness and then further, how this dedicated artist has made the giant leap from sounding the alarm to providing a solution with his art.    

Roadside Cafe, Bad Fischau, Austria ? 2000 J. Harel, Vienna

Phenomenally popular in his native Austria and well known worldwide, Hundertwasser designed a diverse variety of objects ranging from book covers (a set of encyclopedias and a Bible), to a label for one of Austria?s leading mineral waters, to phone cards ? all immediately recognizable as Hundertwasser work.  He was known to design, without solicitation from individuals or organizations, stamps and flags for countries around the world.  For the previous two decades Hundertwasser buildings, both redesigns and new constructions, have become a hallmark of the artist?s colorful and curvilinear art approach to ?a more human architecture,? with designs and redesigns as far removed from the characteristics of the Bauhaus as possible.

As a proponent of a clean planet that produces no garbage, Hundertwasser artwork strives to bring attention to natural resource management, clean air, recycling, and other important ecological issues.  His art solutions, realized in what some might initially view as whimsical or fairy-tale like buildings, are stunning works that incorporate very serious strategies to restore nature or bring humankind into closer and more meaningful contact with the nature. 

Through Hundertwasser?s ?tree tenant? philosophy, indigenous trees are provided areas to grow from the sides and tops of buildings.  Hundertwasser architecture campaigns for ?window rights? ? promoting the idea that city dwellers should be allowed to add personal ornamentation to their rented living quarters by designing the area within arm?s reach around their windows.  His concept of uneven floors brings meandering pathways indoors. Many of Hundertwasser?s architectural projects are topped with an onion dome, often gilded, suggesting that those who live or work within are highly valued. 

This newsletter can only introduce this fascinating artist and offer a glimpse into one of his most spectacular environmental successes: the Spittelau Heating Plant in Vienna, Austria.  As you read through and use these materials, we encourage you to investigate further about the art and ideas of Hundertwasser.  Resources and references are included to guide your search.

Most of the photographs in this issue have been graciously provided by the Hundertwasser Archives of Joram Harel Management and the Spittelau Heating Plant, Inc., Vienna, Austria.  Special thanks are offered to Andrea Christa F?rst of the Archives and Christian J?ger of the Spittelau Heating Plant. 

Also in this Issue

Quality professional development opportunities for teachers can no longer be defined by the occasional ?sit and get? lecture or ?make and take? workshop; rather, quality professional development is now guided by rigorous standards that underscore the importance of sustained learning experiences, self-reflection, peer review, and collaboration. 

Highlighted in this issue is an exemplary staff development program.  In this program, teams of teachers from seven schools and three school districts meet twice a month to learn about art-centered, integrated curricula while researching and developing their own comprehensive art-based units of study.

The Art of Ecology materials and the professional development articles in this issue are clearly related.  As a part of a more expansive unit of study, the Art of Ecology serves as a model from which the teams of teachers in the professional development program construct their own units of study.  In addition, the units of study produced by the teams address the four foundational disciplines of art (aesthetics, criticism, history, and production) and are integrated into one or more other curriculum content areas.