Colors of intense luminosity, organic shapes, and a disdain for geometrically straight lines and right angles characterize the art and architecture program of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000). The painter, architect, and environmental activist was a nonconformist hero who viewed his art as a socio-political intervention and sparked polarization. Often ridiculed by the established art and architecture world, he garnered a large following not only in alternative circles with his imaginative ideas for living in harmony with nature and individual creativity. One of the causes of the dreariness of human everyday life, according to Hundertwasser, was the uninspired, depressing contemporary architecture with its utilitarian, monotonous building forms.