Cube House

The cube houses are a series of innovative dwellings built in Helmond and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. They were designed by architect Piet Blom and are based on the concept of 'living as a city roof': high-density apartments with ample space at street level, aiming to optimize interior areas. Blom tilted the cube of a conventional house upward and placed it on a hexagonal pylon. His design depicts a village within a city, with each house symbolizing a tree and all together forming a forest. The main idea of the cube houses worldwide is to optimize space as homes for better room distribution inside. In 1972, Piet Blom was commissioned to fill an empty plot in Helmond's city center with a meeting center. Blom proposed a plan linking cultural facilities with residential buildings, featuring a theater amidst a 'forest' of 188 houses. After a underground parking was removed from the plans, the forest was reduced to 60 houses. The city council was not convinced. Then, Minister Hans Gruijters, born in Helmond, subsidized the construction of three test houses in Wilhelminalaan in 1974. The project also received national status as 'Experimental Housing', which helped realize the theater 't Speelhuis with a forecourt surrounded by 18 cube houses at Piet Blomplein in 1977. The theater burned down on December 29, 2011. The two damaged cube houses were restored in 2013/2014. Houses in Rotterdam are located on Overblaak Street, directly above the Blaak Metro station. The initial plan from 1977 showed 55 houses, but not all were built. There are 38 small cubes and two so-called 'Super-cubes', all attached. Due to residents being often disturbed by curious passersby, an owner decided to open a 'Show Cube', furnished like a regular house and earning a living by offering tours to visitors. The houses consist of three floors: ground floor entrance, first floor with a living room and open kitchen, second floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the top floor, sometimes used as a small garden. The walls and windows are tilted at 54.7 degrees. Total apartment area is about 100 square meters, but about a quarter of the space is unusable because of the walls under the sloped ceilings. In 2006, a chess piece museum was opened beneath the houses. In 2009, the larger cubes were converted into a hostel operated by the Dutch hostel chain Stayokay. In 2019, the Art Cube in Overblaak 30 was opened. The Art Cube is a place where art and architecture meet. With the original living layout intact, this cube house forms a backdrop for works by various local artists. In 1996, a cluster of three cubes was built along Eastern Avenue. Architect Ben Kutner and his partner Jeff Brown drew inspiration from the original cube houses and planned to replicate Rotterdam's design on unusable plots. Only three individual houses were constructed.

In 1974, the Rotterdam city council commissioned architect Piet Blom to develop housing solutions for the city's urban reconstruction after severe damage from the May 1940 bombings. This mandate was part of a rehabilitation program for the Old Port district, where Blom developed his concept of an urban forest represented by 38 inclined residential cubes, completed in 1984.

Designed by Piet Blom, these structures embody the idea of an abstract forest where each cube represents a tree. This architectural metaphor reflects the architect's intention to recreate human-scale communities within the city center.

Each cube measures 106 m² spread across three levels: the ground floor with the entrance, the middle floor dedicated to living and sleeping areas, and the top level under the cube's apex, where some residents create an interior garden.

One of the cubes houses a museum-home where visitors can learn how residents organize their daily life in these inclined spaces: furniture is adapted to the slanted angles and some rooms do not exceed 1.20 meters in ceiling height.

Location: Rotterdam

Inception: 1984

Architects: Piet Blom

Accessibility: Wheelchair inaccessible

Fee: Yes

Charge: 3 EUR

Website: https://kubuswoning.nl/

Address: 70 Overblaak 3011MH Rotterdam

Opening Hours: 11:00-17:00

Phone: +31104142285

Email: info@kubuswoning.nl

Website: https://kubuswoning.nl

GPS coordinates: 51.92033,4.49033

Latest update: November 20, 2025 16:35