Hundertwasserhaus
A working apartment block where every tenant held the right to embellish the facade around their own windows — and the building was designed to make that possible.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Vienna offline.
Hundertwasser spent years lecturing against straight-lined modular grids before the federal chancellor personally lobbied the mayor of Vienna to let him build one. The 1985 result, on the corner of Kegelgasse and Löwengasse in Landstraße, is his full-scale argument: trees growing straight out of the walls, unmatched window surrounds, and curved forms that refuse every right angle.
What to look for
- Trees rooted in the walls and roof — Hundertwasser called them 'tree tenants' and considered them a core part of the design
- The varied window surrounds: each tenant had the explicit right to embellish the facade around their own windows
- The curved, uneven silhouette — Hundertwasser rejected the straight-lined modular grid as a core architectural principle
Corner of Kegelgasse and Löwengasse, Landstraße district; this is an occupied residential building, so viewing is from the street.
Hundertwasserhaus is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Vienna, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Vienna pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Vienna
- Schönbrunn PalaceHabsburg emperors were born here, ruled from here, and died here — 1,441 rooms of Baroque ambition spanning 300 years.
- St. Stephen's CathedralA cathedral consecrated in 1147 as crusaders prepared to march — and built on top of a Roman burial ground that nobody knew was there until 2000.
- BelvederePrince Eugene built this summer palace on Ottoman campaign winnings — it is now three art museums inside a World Heritage Baroque garden.
- Hofburg PalaceSeven centuries of Austrian rulers worked from this address — the current president still does.
- Vienna State OperaThe first major building on Vienna's Ring Road, and the house where Vienna Philharmonic musicians earn their seats.
- Ernst-Happel-StadionBuilt for workers' sport in 1931, this 50,865-seat bowl also served as a transit prison for over 1,000 Jewish deportees in 1939.