Cube houses, or Kubuswoningen in Dutch, are innovative houses built first in Helmond and then in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The architect of the project was Piet Blom and the main concept of the project was to create a high-density housing with enough space on the ground level but also optimize the living space inside. Blom designed a housing by tilting the cube of a conventional house corner upwards and resting it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon.
The houses were built asymmetrically to resemble a forest. Each house represents a tree and together they form a forest. The project is an example of a Structuralist movement and it is considered innovative and progressive by many.
The first cube houses were built in Helmond in 1974- 1975 and were classified as ”experimental” to allow more funding from the government.
The Cube houses in Rotterdam were built later and are located in the Ouden Haven harbor. After the Second World War, the harbor was destructed and later Blom was asked to re-design the area. Originally, there were supposed to be 55 houses but not all of them were built. There are now 38 small cubes with two super-cubes and they are all attached together.
The houses have 3 floors and each of the rooms is divided into these floors.
The ground floor is the entrance. The first floor has a kitchen and a living room. The second floor houses a bathroom and two bedrooms. In some cases, the top floor is used as a garden. The walls of the houses are slanted.
The houses reach a maximum height of 100 square meters and include an entrance hall, living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and bathroom which span across three floors.
The Cube Houses in Rotterdam are more famous than the ones in Helmond. They are a famous tourist attraction center for the city and are situated above the Blaak metro station.
The cube houses in Helmond
