Austrian backing to save Hundertwasser toilets

By CLAIRE TREVETT

The Austrian-based Hundertwasser Foundation has weighed into the debate about the future of Kawakawa's toilets, saying they were designed as a place where "human beings feel elevated, happy and at home" rather than just something to look at.

Joram Harel, the president of the Hundertwasser Non Proft Foundation, said the suggestion the toilets could close because of the smell was a "betrayal to Hundertwasser and his legacy to Kawakawa".

In an open letter, Mr Harel wrote that the Kawakawa community board should employ a full-time cleaner for the toilets to keep them in "an odourless state as should always have been the case".

The board decided to set aside $120,000 to build a new block of toilets in 2006/07. Its members said the Hundertwasser toilets, designed in 1999, might need to be closed to users and retained as a work of art alone.

However, Mr Harel said the reason Frederick Hundertwasser agreed to design them to replace the run-down old block was because it allowed him to put into practice his belief architecture should be "in harmony with nature".

"This is especially relevant to industrial construction such as fuel stations, commercial property and in this case public toilets. They are ugly, unfeeling, sterile, cold, heartless, aggressive and unemotional."

He said Hundertwasser wanted to "provide architecture with a higher quality of living experience, romanticism, individuality, variety, creativity and to be in harmony with nature instead of monotony."

Hundertwasser also hoped to attract tourists and visitors to the area. Closing the toilets to use would drive tourists away, Mr Harel said. The toilets have had the desired effect and the community is waiting for a report, due in April, from museum consultant Ken Gorbey on how it can maximise on the Hundertwasser influence.

However, there was concern that the toilets had become too popular, bringing queues and smell, despite being cleaned up to four times a day in summer.

Far North District Council spokesman Rick McCall said the board made the suggestion to prompt public debate so it could make a final decision.

There was a "strong likelihood" that a full-time cleaner would be taken on, given public feedback.

"It is the suggestion of Mr Havel and that is particularly welcome given the close association between Frederick Hundertwasser and Kawakawa.

"There has been a consistent response from the public that the board should be considering either more frequent cleaning or a full-time attendant." However, he said the high demand meant more toilets were needed regardless of the future of the Hundertwasser block.

"That was the essence of the problem the board found itself in in the first place. It had these neat toilets that everyone was pouring into and volume exceeded the design."

If a full-time cleaner were employed, he would be surprised if the community board did not ask for help funding it from either the council or external bodies.

He said the proposed new toilets would go into the council's long-term plan, submissions for which closed on March 31.

THE STORY SO FAR

Kawakawa's famous Hundertwasser toilets smell because so many tourists use them.

The community board has suggested keeping them as a work of art but providing new, more functional toilets by 2007.

The Austrian-based Hundertwasser Foundation calls the plan a betrayal of the artist and his legacy.

The board now says it is considering employing a fulltime cleaner to deal with the smell.