By BRIDGET CARTER
Security will be increased at the famous Hundertwasser toilet block in Kawakawa to deter vandals.
The organic-style toilets by the late Viennese artist Frederick Hundertwasser will have security lights installed front and back within the month.
Cameras will be connected to the neighbouring council building at the
back of the toilet block and at the entrance of both the men's and women's toilets.
Richard Smart, who worked with Hundertwasser for eight years, said vandalism was a continuing problem. So far there had been only minor damage.
"Hopefully, these cameras will slow people down."
Kawakawa's rundown 1960s toilet block was transformed by Hundertwasser, a Northland resident, in 1999.
The toilets show his trademark "organic" architecture of curved lines and a grassy roof. They have ceramic pillars, gold domes and windows using old wine bottles to filter light.
Hundertwasser is best known for his first building, Hundertwasser House, in Vienna, which attracts more than a million visitors each year.
He donated his design for the toilet block because he liked Kawakawa and the anonymity it provided.
"He was just another person there," said Mr Smart.
Kawakawa was then a dying town and it was feared the toilets would be trashed.
But Hundertwasser believed that if you created something good, people would feel proud and would not act aggressively.
Children from schools in the district made tiles for the building because he believed that involving the community in a project gave it a sense of ownership.
"Generally, the building has been well respected by the locals," Mr Smart said.
Some of the bottles were smashed a few months ago, but were easily replaced.
Noma Shepherd, chairwoman of the Kawakawa Community Board, said the toilets received less graffiti than other structures in the town.
