Cube Houses (Kubuswoningen)

The Cube Houses (Kubuswoningen) at Overblaak in central Rotterdam are a cluster of 38 residential cube-shaped houses designed by architect Piet Blom and completed in 1984. Each cube is tilted 45 degrees and balanced on a hexagonal concrete pylon, so that the living spaces — effectively a tilted cube — present three faces to the sky and three to the ground below. The result is a series of interlocking yellow-green cubes that collectively form a forest of abstract geometry above a pedestrian walkway adjacent to the Blaak metro station. Blom's concept was that each cube represents an individual tree and the ensemble forms a forest, integrating housing with the urban fabric of the city. One cube, Kijk-Kubus at Overblaak 70, operates as a show house museum where visitors can walk through all three floors of a furnished cube apartment and observe how residents contend with triangular floor plans and dramatically angled walls. The interior demonstrates that the usable floor area per level is approximately a third of the cube's volume; the middle level serves as living and kitchen space, the top floor typically a bedroom, and the lowest floor a study or utility room. Several of the other cubes are available as holiday apartments. From outside, the best photographic angles are achieved from the Overblaak walkway below looking straight up at the tilted geometry, and from the Markthal entrance across the street framing cubes in the background. The neighbourhood also includes the Blaak tree-library building and the Old Harbour (Oude Haven) with its raised historic ships.