"I am tolerant. But I revolt. I accuse. It is my obligation. I am alone. Behind me there's no dictatorship, no party, no group, nor any mafia — neither a collective intellectual scheme nor an ideology. The green revolution is not a political revolution. The base sustains it and is neither minority nor elitist. It is a creative evolution in harmony with nature and the universe's organic course."
The above paragraph was said in the mid-20th century by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian artist, and architect born in 1928. Hundertwasser marked architecture history with his distinct style of irregular and vibrant forms. His projects were a manifesto against rational and repetitive architecture. In them, there was a right to intervene in windows, irregular floors, green roofs, and spontaneous vegetation. As an architect, he always put diversity before monotony, believing in the right of each individual to modify their home and express their creativity. Above all, Hundertwasser believed in the importance of man's identification with nature and the world around him, addressing concepts related to community life and respect for the environment.
This understanding of man in a broader sphere was developed through the concept of the five skins that, according to the architect, each of us carries: the natural epidermis, clothing, the home, the environment in which we live, and the last, planetary skin related to the biosphere, the quality of the air we breathe and the state of the earth's crust that protects and nourishes us. In this sense, the harmonious coexistence of all the parts would result in the reconstruction of a new world in dialogue with nature. This is where individuals freely exercise their creativity in the immediate environment. With this visionary thinking, Hundertwasser brought to light the importance of nature and possibilities for a relationship with architecture when biophilia was not yet a concept and formal asepsis, marked by rational and industrial volumes, dictated the rules."
Among his extremely relevant manifestos, it is worth noting Your Window Right — Your Tree Duty from 1972, through which Hundertwasser argues in favor of a better quality habitat that, in his view, consists of roofs covered in vegetation that purify rainwater, filtering and regenerating the cycle through the use of organic matter produced by the house's inhabitants. A manifesto habitat with garden terraces, forested balconies, and meeting points to promote interaction among residents. This habitat echoes the ideas presented in his Mouldiness Manifesto in 1958, where he stated that "each inhabitant should cultivate their domestic mold." This position put an end to the trend of distancing between humans and nature in favor of false asepsis, proposing a return to man's participation in the organic cycle as a biological being.
Today, 60 years later, Hundertwasser's ideas are more present than ever. This marks the urgency of returning to nature as a survival strategy for architecture and its inhabitants. Starting with the understanding of organic architecture, which respects cycles and approaches organic forms rather than rigid and artificial ones. Contemporary examples that use renewable materials such as reclaimed wood, bamboo, cork, or earth are directly related to this thinking. This promotes buildings with minimal impact on the natural environment. The "breathable architecture" discussed today is more than an evolution of Hundertwasser's Mouldiness Manifesto, an attempt to reconcile the built environment with the natural cycle of life.
Moreover, the Austrian architect never underestimated the importance of individualizing each dwelling - as a third skin expressing the creativity and personality of its inhabitants. In this sense, the creation of buildings that best respond to the needs and desires of the people who inhabit them has been an increasingly present point of discussion in the 21st century, whether in projects that allow for personalized interventions, such as the famous social housing development Quinta Monroy by architect Alejandro Aravena, or in evolutionary projects that allow for adaptations to changes in the size or lifestyle of families. However, this personalization can also include 3D printing to create personalized building components. It can also include the incorporation of smart home technology to make our homes more comfortable and efficient.
Hundertwasser was visionary in raising issues that would become so urgent for humanity and in predicting the catastrophic distancing of architecture from nature, the individual, and the community. The integral ecological consciousness reflected in the theory of the five skins reinforces the search for a more sustainable practice. It endorses the current development of architectures that are directly related to the natural and social environment in which they are inserted.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: The Contemporary Home, proudly presented by BUILDNER.
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