The Cube House of Rotterdam seems stranded above roads and next to the harbor by the strong wind blowing from the sea. But this popular tourist attraction is also a bizarre architectural experiment, which is why we decided to spend some time there on a cold January afternoon.
The Cube House of Rotterdam is known in Dutch as Kubuswoningen, and you can find them at the Oude Haven, the historical section of the city port. The area is a mixture of architectural styles and buildings, but it looks impressive despite being destroyed during the Second World War.
When it came time to redevelop the area, architect Piet Blom was asked to do something special, a kind of characterful architecture—something that would stand out. This is how we decided to explore some cube housing ideas he had already used in Helmond, this time in a more urban context.
A little bit of the history behind the Cube House of Rotterdam
Not much survived the bombing of the Oude Haven during the Second World War, and it took a while for the city of Rotterdam to start a project of urban regeneration in the area.
But, in 1974, due to a change in the local government, housing and urban development became one of the top priorities. One of the local politicians believed that the functional architecture that was being developed at the time was lifeless and that Rotterdam needed a type of architecture that would shine some life in the city.
The people responsible for this redevelopment project in Rotterdam knew about what Piet Blom had designed before in Helmond. They invited him to do this work in the Oude Haven area. However, the importance and scale of the project were a little overwhelming to the architect, who had to rethink his objectives and create something different.
Piet Blom came up with an idea: he would build something that didn’t look like it was designed by an architect. Based on this, they split the housing development into three distinct projects.
One of them is Blaaktoren, a 13-story-high apartment tower whose hexagonal structure resembles the shape of a pencil. Another project was the Spaanse Kade, a series of terraced buildings surrounding an inner courtyard. Finally, Kubuswoningen explores cube houses in an urban grid.
The architect responsible for the Cube House believed urban communities should feel like villages. With the Kubuswoningen, he had in mind the experience of living in trees. Each elevated cube represented a tree and collectively represented a forest.
This idea kept popping into my head while I walked around and took pictures of the buildings in Rotterdam.
The Cube House of Rotterdam is made of 38 regular cube units and two larger cubes, one of which was developed as an architecture school and the other never entirely finished. Each slanted cubic residence is held in place by pillars located over a pedestrian bridge over one of the busiest streets in Rotterdam.
The Rotterdam Cube House: A Unique and Innovative Home
Now that you know the history behind these odd-looking houses, you might be wondering about how it is to live in them. According to some of the articles I read online, it seems to be quite an awkward experience. Even though the cube house is big, due to the sharp angles of its architecture, almost half of the space is not usable. To make things worse, the area is spread around four floors.
When you enter a cube house, you must take a narrow staircase to reach the first floor, with a triangle-shaped room with a living room and a kitchen. On the next level, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the top floor consists of a small free space typically used as a garden.
If you want to learn more about the Cube House of Rotterdam and Piet Blom’s architectural work, you should visit this gorgeous Dutch city and see it for yourself.
When you arrive there, the Cube House Show Cube has a museum open to the public every day and shares the story of these odd-looking houses.
Also, if you need a place to stay in Rotterdam, we wrote an article about our experience in the lovely Hostel Ani & Haakie. And if you’re a fan of burgers, there is a place in town called Hamburg that has some of the best burgers I have ever eaten. You should know that.
A Visit to the Cube House of Rotterdam
Overblaak 70, 3011 MH
Rotterdam – Netherlands
