Created by Piet Blom, cube Houses have three levels that allow to create defined environments.isaac Garrido/AD
By Yolaisi García
May 6, 2025
In the heart of Rotterdam, Netherlandsa vibrant yellow set of impossible forms challenges architectural logic. It’s about Cube housesone of the most photographed attractions of the city and an emblematic work of Architect Piet Blom. More than homes, they are a visual manifesto that doubts what we believe should be a house.
1. A creative response to a devastated past
The hub houses emerged in the context of the reconstruction of Oude Haven, a port area bombarded during the Second world War. Blom, influenced by structuralism, rejected the idea of conventional development and proposed an unexpected solution: an urban forest of inclined cubes, where each house represents a tree. This approach broke with the idea of repetition and uniformity, instead proposing a unique visual and spatial experience.
2. Design that awakens questions
From afar, they look like carefully ordered by a child with geometric imagination. Up close, cube houses cause astonishment and intrigue. “Is this a home or a sculpture?” It is a frequent reaction among visitors. And that was precisely what Blom wanted to generate: confusion. His intention was for space not to be understood as a simple room, but as a design experience.
3. Racer spaces, creativity without limits
Each of the 38 habitable bucket houses has 100 square meters distributed in three levels. From the entrance you can access a living room and kitchen integrated at unconventional angles; The intermediate level houses bedrooms and bathroom, while the last floor, with pyramidal shape, is usually a recreation space or children’s room. There are no extensive vertical walls, and corners force the imagination to distribute personal furniture and objects. There is no space for the unnecessary.
4. Live in a work of art
Although two houses function as hostels and one as a cultural center, the rest are inhabited and occasionally go on sale for prices that are around 380 thousand euros. It is also possible to enter for only three euros to the call Viewing cube or “house-museum”, where visitors can travel their interior and check how the design can transform a conventional home into a playful and functional experience.
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5. A legacy that transcends time
Inspired by a first architectural experiment in the city of Helmond – very modest – Rotterdam’s cube houses are today a symbol of a city that has made architecture its hallmark. Surrounded by other icons such as Blaaktoren or the “Pencil” tower, these homes continue to attract travelers around the world who are looking for more than a postcard: they look for ideas.
With AD information.
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