It's taken 30 years but the Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangārei is finally open to visitors, 22 years and one day after Friedensreich Hundertwasser died.
The project has had a bumpy road but was completed after the Government invested $18 million.
But even Sunday's opening was a bit of a bumpy ride too after anti-vaccine and anti-mandate protesters were in the area.
Those who knew Hundertwasser say he would have approved of their right to protest - he was anti-authority and all about self-expression.
"There's been many, many obstacles coming from so many different directions but they've all been overcome and here we are today in this stunning building," says Kathleen Drumm, Whangārei Art Museum CEO.
"There's a lot of stuff, a lot of interesting parts of the building they can enjoy from the outside as well," adds Pam Tothill, Prosper Northland Trust Trustee.
Hundertwasser moved to New Zealand in the 1970s and opened the famous Hundertwasser Public Toilets in Kawakawa in 1999.
The new art centre was shelved many times, but from the bones of the condemned Northland Regional Council building, 500 workers nurtured the site into a two-storey wonderland with a trademark Hundertwasser forest on the roof.
"There's been moments of elation and moments of depression when you think all this effort has been to no avail. But at the moment I'm quiet, I'm happy, I'm elated," says Richard Smart, of Hundertwasser Foundation NZ.
Hundertwasser never got to see his vision become reality but his foundation in Vienna says the building vibrates with the Hundertwasser feeling.
"Oh I think he'd be excited to see everyone but he'd want to change a few things," Drumm says.
There are 3.5 kilometres of the building's original floorboards but then you move onto the tiles and they are a little bit uneven - but that's exactly how Hundertwasser would have wanted it.
"Are you worried about the grass when you go to a park or when you're at the beach? You're aware of your environment and that's the wonderful thing about Hundertwasser," Drumm says.
The centre also houses the Wairau Māori Art Gallery, the country's first for contemporary Māori art.
Curator Nigel Borrell says it will blow away many preconceptions.
"For some a newsflash, for others it's a welcomed embrace," he says.
It's hoped the centre will put Whangārei on the international map.
"But of course when borders reopen this will be a national asset that can be marketed abroad to attract international visitors back to our country," Drumm says.
