Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne

Hundertwasser outside the "bottle house" he built in the Bay of Islands

There are no straight lines in the centre. Hundertwasser was vehemently opposed to them. So the balustrades are bent and come with whimsical touches.

Hundertwasser's artistic genius and pioneering ecological vision were not widely appreciated in New Zealand during his life. The new art centre aims to remedy that lack.

Hundertwasser lived and painted on his boat "Regentag" ("rainy day") for 10 years. His early life can be appreciated in a 1972 documentary that screens continuously in a theatrette at the centre

Fountain in the entrance courtyard combines a classical top with a Hundertwasser multicoloured base

Hundertwasser's name means "hundred waters," and water conservation was a lifelong concern for him

A conservation week poster by Hundertwasser, painted soon after he arrived in New Zealand to live, is one of more than 70 artworks on display

Entrance to Hundertwasser Art Centre, Whangārei, which opened in February

Hundertwasser centre chief executive Kathleen Drumm (left) discusses a water purification installation with local artist Heather Hunt

A model of the centre is displayed in one of the galleries

Touches of whimsy—another Hundertwasser signature—are everywhere in the centre, including this nest of ceramic eggs perched on a windowsill

The spiral is fundamental to Hundertwasser's thinking, and the centre makes abundant use of the motif, including in swirling tiles at the entrance

A pou carved by Chris Bailey greets visitors to the centre alongside Hundertwasser's trademark ceramic columns

Hundertwasser was a great believe in rooftop gardens. The centre features a rooftop forest with more than 3000 plants