Vienna House of the Arts, Vienna

Vienna House of the Arts, Vienna

Even an avowed hater of modern art can appreciate this.

Even an avowed hater of modern art can appreciate this. This is Hundertwasser's (born Friedrich Stowasser in 1928) major contribution to the Viennese art world. In a time when artists often try to shock the public or merely impress other members of the rarefied gallery subculture, Hundertwasser's KunstHausWien would be a bastion against the dictatorship of the straight line, the ruler and T-square, a bridgehead against the grid system and the chaos of the absurd. Starting with the façade of the building, adapted from its prior life as a furniture factory, there is a Gaudi-in-Barcelona feel to the place. Windows peek out like eyes from curvy, rounded plaster and colorful paint. It is a Disneyland for grownups.