Hundertwasser Art Centre wins Special Award at NZ Commercial Project Awards
Last month, Registered Master Builders Association held the NZ Commercial Project Awards at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
The Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery, built by Trigg Construction, not only won ‘Gold’ in the Tourism and Leisure category, but it received the prestigious Special Award. This award is given at the discretion of the judges for a specific outstanding project or element of a project that they feel is worthy of recognition.
Judges comments are as follows:
This Art Centre has been 30 years in the making and is most impressive. There was extreme dedication from a group of local volunteers who pursued the dream of this unique build through many years of setbacks. In the end they emerged victorious. Absolute rationalism, geometric straight lines and the uniformity of modern architecture is abandoned in favour of new values like uniqueness, romanticism, individuality, creativity, especially creativity in harmony with nature. In keeping with his philosophy, the Hundertwasser Art Centre restores territories to nature with spontaneous vegetation, tree tenants and an afforested roof. It was a challenge creating something so contrary to all the training of many of the craftspeople involved. They were required to adhere to Hundertwasser’s quirky vision, which is guarded by his foundation in Vienna. The local tradespeople rose to the challenge and were also able to exercise their own creative ideas within the constraints of the overall design, adding many delightful touches. The result is something that Whangarei, and New Zealand, can be incredibly proud of for generations to come.
