Art in the park

06. May 2021
Photo: courtesy Ralf Siering
The HIGH-RISE MEADOW HOUSE - THE HOUSES ARE HANGING UNDERNEATH THE FOREST is an example for a more human architecture in harmony with nature. The model in the scale of 1:20 is located in the Westpark in Munich since 1983.  It was realised and planted on occasion of the IV. International Garden Show.

In 1975 Hundertwasser notes on this concept: Why should only people live in superimposed storeys, when forests, meadows, parks and vegetable gardens can also be situated this way?
A building of this kind only seems to be more expensive, for the savings in health care, heating fuel and air-conditioning are enormous, because the building produces much oxygen and promotes health. The upkeep of the roofs will be less costly, and the most important thing is that people will be happy, and happiness cannot be measured monetarily.
In addition, there is the following advantage: should it later be possible to produce soil with humus toilets, this soil can be put on the roofs, i. e., once people's waste has been turned into soil, they will be able to use it on their own roofs and to a limited extent even produce food with it: an apple which grows on your own roof is ten times more valuable than one you buy. Moreover, sewage water can be purified by grass roofs by pumping the dirty water up there and having it trickle down in spiral form: by the time it comes back, it will already be pure. (…)
Design for a High-rise Meadow House, 1988
High-Groves, Dresden
The High-rise Meadow House is still waiting to be realized. In 1998 Hundertwasser integrated this idea into the architectural project HOHE-HAINE (HIGH GROVES), DRESDEN (Germany). Unfortunately, the project has not yet been realized, but it shows that a constructional realisation is possible and realistic. The High-rise Meadow House can also be found as a motif in the etching 909 The Endless City.
 
Hundertwasser used the work 867 High-Rise Building for Trees and People, which he painted for the magazine Harper's Gran Bazaar (Milan) in 1984, as a template for the etching. The watercolor is currently on show in the Hundertwasser exhibition in Sweden (Nordiska Akvarellmuseet in Skärhamn).
Etching