This document summarizes a lesson plan about the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and his ecological architectural designs. The lesson plan covers Hundertwasser's "five skins" theory about how humans are connected to their environment. It discusses his unique architectural style and inventions like his "ecological toilet." Students are tasked with designing their own Hundertwasser-inspired ecological buildings using net shapes and patterns in his signature colorful, organic style. The lesson emphasizes collaboration and applying Hundertwasser's ideas to promote more sustainable living.

1. Lesson 6
Learning Objective:
Recap and develop understanding of Hundertwasser’s theory about the five skins.
Investigate the designs and inventions that Hundertwasser and other architects create to
make the way we live more ecological.
Learning Outcome:
Apply this knowledge to your own ecological designs in response to Hundertwasser’s
ideas.

2. Five skins recap
What was Hundertwasser’s idea behind the ‘five skins’?

3. Five skins recap
What was Hundertwasser’s idea behind the ‘five skins’?
Like the layers of an onion we are made
up from many parts that create the
whole. Hundertwasser believed that
without each layer we are not whole.

4. Five skins recap
Can you name the ‘five skins’?
Why was each skin important?

5. Five skins recap
1: Skin
Keeps our organs, our
thoughts, memories and
creativity together.

6. Five skins recap
2: Clothes
Hundertwasser was surprised- even
angry sometimes- that people all dress
the same and wear such boring clothes.
He wanted clothing to express a
person’s beauty and uniqueness.

7. Five skins recap
3: Houses
Our houses are the outer covering of
our private living space and should
express the individuality of the people
who live within.

8. The Fourth Skin: Identity (Hundertwasser says...)
In 1972 Hundertwasser came to a turning-point in his career. He became much more
sensitive to the social environment and to the identity problems linked to a group,
community or nation.
As Austrian Jews, many relatives from Hundertwasser’s mother’s family were deported
and executed in the Nazi concentration camps, with the remainder of the family having
to go into hiding.
What could Hundertwasser’s art and Fantastic architecture be an
expression of?
New skins we haven’t discussed….

9. The Fourth Skin: Identity (Hundertwasser says...)
In 1972 Hundertwasser came to a turning-point in his career. He became much more
sensitive to the social environment and to the identity problems linked to a group,
community or nation.
As Austrian Jews, many relatives from Hundertwasser’s mother’s family were deported
and executed in the Nazi concentration camps, with the remainder of the family having
to go into hiding.
Hundertwasser’s art and Fantastic architecture could be an expression of freedom
against artistic, political and social standardisation – the type he and his family, and
Austria and Germany as a whole, experienced during Nazi occupation.
New skins we haven’t discussed….

10. The Fifth Skin: Earth
Since Hundertwasser’s earliest childhood he had displayed a hypersensitivity to his
surroundings. He believed that nature is the supreme reality, the source of universal
harmony; his immense respect for nature very soon aroused in him the desire to protect it
against the attacks made on it by man and industry.
New skins we haven’t discussed….

11. In nature there are many sorts of cycles.
Can you name a cycle that occurs in nature?
A cycle is something which always comes back to the beginning again.
Cycle and Recycle

12. In nature there are many sorts of cycles.
Can you name a cycle that occurs in nature?
A cycle is something which always comes back to the beginning again.
Cycle and Recycle
Photosynthesis
Water cycle
Agricultural Astronomy Life cycle of humans, plants and animals
Food chain Seasonal Geophysical
Energy

13. When vegetation falls to the
ground it rots, decomposes
and becomes earth once
more.
If the vegetation
doesn’t get to fall to the
ground because you have
eaten it (eg. an apple)-
what happens then?

14. A pile of poo, of course!
Hundertwasser believed that just as apples and
leaves can become humus so can our poo. Humus is
a special sort of earth which is rich in nutrients. We
form part of the cycle of nature if our poo is allowed
to be transformed into humus.
But it doesn’t work if we flush it down
the loo. We interrupt the cycle, we are
no longer part of nature.
Hundertwasser created a toilet to
recycle poo and solve this problem. He
said:
“I built it to show how you can turn
your poo into gold, to make me
pleased and to see that it really
works- that way, I can sleep more
peacefully at night.”

15. The dirty water must flow through the
root portion of the plants and through
the colonies of decomposing bacteria;
in this way it is purified naturally. The
dirt is converted in part to vegetable
matter and in part to mineral sediment.

16. What would you include in an ecological building design?
WATCH THIS- Earthships- ecological design
Make a list of all the ideas in the clip.

17. What would you do in order to create an ecological building?
1. Power generation- solar power, wind power.
2. Water harvesting.
3. Sewage containment and treatment.
4. Controlling temperature without using any fuel.
5. In-home food production.
6. Building materials- recycled materials.
What could you add to your
building drawn from your
imagination? Experiment with
ideas in your sketchbook.

18. Design Homework
1. Redesign the building drawn from
your imagination (previous
homework).
2. Include your ideas to make it more
ecological.
3. Adapt your drawing so that it
resembles a Hundertwasser pieces of
architecture.
Remember to consider:
1. Power generation- solar
power, wind power.
2. Water harvesting.
3. Sewage containment and
treatment.
4. Controlling temperature
without using any fuel.
5. In-home food production.
6. Building materials- recycled
materials.
Level 4: Line drawing of your design annotated with ideas
how you might make it more ecological.
Level 5: In addition to the requirements for Level 4 your
design will be in colour and include detail, pattern and
textures that resemble Hundertwasser’s work.
Level 6: In addition to all the requirements above, your
drawing will show different views or detailed diagrams of your
green designs.
Level 7: In addition to all the requirements above, you will
include research into how your ideas will save energy.
Design Homework
1. Redesign the building drawn from
your imagination (previous
homework).
2. Include your ideas to make it more
ecological.
3. Adapt your drawing so that it
resembles a Hundertwasser pieces of
architecture.
Remember to consider:
1. Power generation- solar
power, wind power.
2. Water harvesting.
3. Sewage containment and
treatment.
4. Controlling temperature
without using any fuel.
5. In-home food production.
6. Building materials- recycled
materials.
Level 4: Line drawing of your design annotated with ideas
how you might make it more ecological.
Level 5: In addition to the requirements for Level 4 your
design will be in colour and include detail, pattern and
textures that resemble Hundertwasser’s work.
Level 6: In addition to all the requirements above, your
drawing will show different views or detailed diagrams of your
green designs.
Level 7: In addition to all the requirements above, you will
include research into how your ideas will save energy.

19. Lesson 7
Learning Objective:
Develop skills in working collaboratively.
Synthesise understanding from previous lessons.
Learning Outcome:
Collaborate with a partner and design a building that is ecological AND reflects the style of
Hundertwasser.

20. In pairs, design a Hundertwasser
inspired building that saves
energy and resources or benefits
the environment in some way.

21. Print and enlarge to A3
Names:
What design elements are you taking from each student?:
How do the designs reflect Hundertwasser’s style?:
Which ecological inventions will you use?:
Experiment with combining
some of your designs below.
Once you are happy draw the
complete building here……

22. Lesson 8
Learning Objective:
Develop understanding of how to translate a two dimensional design into three dimensions.
Investigate how to simplify a free design into geometric forms using net shapes.
Build on negotiation skills within partnership.
Learning Outcome:
Create net shapes for the different parts of the building.

23. "DIE HOELZERSIEBEN is an architecture game,
building blocks for adults who still can and still want
to dream and for children who have not yet had their
creativity taken away from them."
Hundertwasser, November, 1999

24. Net Shapes
Hundertwasser used simple geometric shapes
covered with his distinctive patterns to create
the forms in the game.

25. Simplify the design into geometric shapes
1.Work this out through drawings first
2.Use the net shapes provided to make small maquettes (3D sketch)
3.Decide on a maximum of four shapes that you will use.

26. These are over
complicated but you
can see how the basic
shapes accumulate to
create something more
complex.

27. To print
Cube Cuboid 1

28. To print
Cuboid Triangular Prism

29. To print
TetrahedronCone

30. Cylinder
To print
Square based pyramid
Click here for more complex shapes

31. Lesson 9
Learning Objective:
Adjust 3D net shapes to create the best possible outcome.
Apply knowledge of Hundertwasser’s style to sketchbook designs and develop patterns for the
separate shapes.
Continue to build negotiation skills within partnership.
Learning Outcome:
Create final net shapes for the different parts of the building.
Decorate the net shapes as per Hundertwasser’s style.

32. Hundertwasser’s designs for DIE HOELZERSIEBEN

34. In your pairs, list at least three
features of Hundertwasser’s style.
Designs should have already been worked out
during the initial building design homework. Use
these and examples of his work to cover your net
shapes. Make sure you are in agreement with
you partner.

36. Think carefully about your colour combinations when you
design your patterns.
Complementary or Analogous (contrasting
colours sit opposite each other on the colour
wheel).
Harmonious colour relationships.
COLOUR RECAP

37. Lesson 10
Learning Objective:
Apply knowledge of Hundertwasser’s style and colour relationships to complete patterns for
the separate shapes.
Continue to build negotiation skills within partnership.
Learning Outcome:
Complete the decoration on the net shapes as per Hundertwasser’s style.

39. Lesson 11
Learning Objective:
Realise intentions in terms of completing a successful outcome.
Learning Outcome:
Construct building.

41. Cover lesson 1
Students should use magazines to
create buildings in the style of
Hundertwasser.
Equipment: Scissors and glue
Materials: Magazines

42. Cover lesson 2
Students should design a town of buildings
inspired by the work of Hundertwasser.
The buildings should be shaded in with biro, pencil
or black pen.
The sky must be filled with bright, Hundertwasser
patterns.
Equipment: pencils, pens and colour crayons and
rulers.
Materials: paper for those who do not have their
sketchbooks.

43. Ecology Homework
Create a poster in the style of Hundertwasser that
will persuade the community to live in a greener
way.What do we mean by style of Hundertwasser? Make notes below:
What shapes?
What colours?
What imagery?
Style and amount of writing?
Level 4: Poster shows an understanding of colour, the issue is clear
and the text is in the style of Hundertwasser.
Level 5: In addition to the requirements for Level 4 there are
examples of harmonious and complementary colour relationships,
spirals, circles within circles; all organised in a composition that
takes up the whole page.
Level 6: In addition to all the requirements above, posters must
incorporate recognisable objects associated with the issue. Do not
forget to fill these with colours, patterns and shapes that mirror
Hundertwasser’s style.
Level 7: In addition to all the requirements above, posters can
incorporate more surreal elements such as faces and people within
the landscape not as a separate part.

44. http://josettebrouwer.edublogs.org/?s=hundertwasser&searchbutton=Go%21
http://kids-finelines.blogspot.co.uk/2011_09_01_archive.html
http://artistterms.com/texturegallery16.htm
https://colourchroma.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/the-colourful-artist-architect-friedensreich-
http://pasolininuc.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Transautomatism
Useful websites
http://www.hundertwasser.com/skin
http://victoriarestrepo.com/2012/08/23/art-history-kids-hundertwasser/
http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2011/10/18/hundertwasser-art-lesson-for-kids/
http://victoriarestrepo.com/2012/08/23/art-history-kids-hundertwasser/
file:///Users/melaniepowell/Downloads/hundertwasser-120123092100-phpapp02.pdf
http://www.slideshare.net/escuadraypincel/friedrich-hundertwasser-trees?
qid=e283859e-ca45-4388-9147-
3dbf554646f7&v=default&b=&from_search=1https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=GS1uOYzmnrg