Cubic Houses (Kubus woningen), Rotterdam

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Rotterdam is famous for its architecture. The most striking for me are the cube houses (kubuswoningen) designed by architect Piet Blom in 1984. The houses look like a tree because the architect turned the cubes 45 degrees and put them on a pole. The 32 attached houses together look like a stone forest. The complex is built at a pedestrian bridge crossing a traffic road.

You can have a look in the so-called "show cube". This cube house, furnished as a normal house, is open for public. This house contains three floors. The entrance is at the ground floor in the 'trunk of the tree', the kitchen and living room are at the first floor and at the second floor are the bedrooms and bathroom.

I was very curious not only to see the complex, but also how to live in these unusual innovative houses, so I visited the complex and the showcube allready in the eighties. I was surprised about the great views from the 'treehouse' through the sloped windows. The design gives a nice combination of the more private parts of the house at the first and second floor and the entrance from an intimate public space at the groundfloor. I visited the cubehouses again in 2006. The small-scale shops and workshops at the groundlevel give the area a nice liveliness.

Opening hours of the showcube are from 11.00 am till 5.00 pm every day. In january and february you can visit the showcube only during the weekend.

This peculiar complex of houses was built in the '70s as a public housing project. Oddly enough, they are all inhabited (I was told that the rent is deliberately low) but one of them is open to the public (with a ticket that costs less than 1 euro). I have to admit, I felt pretty dizzy inside, but it was fun to experience this kind of experimental space!

I wouldn't like to live in one of them, it is something very strange. You can find out yourself, one of the houses can be visited. In the house there are lots of photo's, a video presentation etc.

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The Cubic Houses built by Piet Blom in 1984.

There are 32 cubes attached to each other. They are very funny to look at but imagine how strange it must be to live inside there! You can look inside one of the cubic houses. The houses contain three floors and the only room which is ordinarily shaped is the kitchen. Even there though the ceilings and windows are angled at 45 degrees! Every apartment is around 100 square meters but they loose some space because of the angled ceilings.

Everyone who comes to Rotterdam has to see the cube houses, those crazy-looking houses that look like cubes balanced on one of their corners. These houses are typical for Rotterdam. The houses are very comfortable and the light at the top floor is extraordinary. Unfortunately those houses are not for sale often.

You are able to enter one of those houses and you will see that you don?t have to sleep diagonally in there. During 2001, this home-as-museum was refurnished to give you an impression of what they are like inside. An exhibition with photos, scale models and a multimedia presentation provides extra information. Entrance to the cube house is e1,75.

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Want to see some freaky houses? Even if you are not interested in modern architecture, you should not leave Rotterdam without visiting the Kubuswoningen. These living houses are one of many symbols for modern Rotterdam and perhaps one of the most interesting appartments in the world. One of the houses is open for public (entrance 1,80 EUR, opens at 10:00 a.m.) and gives you an impression how people live in these "dices". Around the Kubuswoningen, you will find some more examples of modern architecture.

One of many nicknames for these buildings is "blaakse bos" which means "Blaak woods". The name comes from the nearby Blaak metro/train station and the form of the houses. Although they have a cubic form, they look like trees as they are set on piles.

These cubed house are some of the more unique modern flare of architecture in Rotterdam. There is one set up as a museum, but the rest are off limits due to people actually live in these small, 3 storied accomodations. One of these houses can be purchased for 200,000 Euro. If you want one with a view, it will cost ya 250,000 Euro.

The houses all rest on pilons, have windows, and are all attached one to the other.
very strange to me to live here like some people do.

U can visit a "show cube", cant remember what we paid to get in....

When u enter these homeswhich are furnished like normal houses u can see
how it is possible that one can live in such weird build homes
Archictect: Blom