Piet Blom’s cubic houses, how they were made and where they are located

Greetings, architecture enthusiasts! Daniela here, eager to share a fascinating piece of urban design.

Let’s talk about Piet Blom’s Cubic Houses, also known as Kubuswoningen. These architectural marvels are located in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and were constructed between 1982 and 1984.

The concept? Imagine a village within a city, where each house is a tilted cube atop a hexagonal pillar. Blom’s vision was to optimize urban space while creating a forest-like community.

Some quick facts:
• There are 38 small cubes and 2 “super-cubes”
• Each house has three floors
• The cubes are tilted at a 54.7-degree angle
• Total area of each house: about 100 square meters

The construction process involved prefabricating the cube units and then hoisting them onto the concrete pillars. The unique design presents challenges for furniture placement, but offers unparalleled views and a truly one-of-a-kind living experience.

If you’re ever in Rotterdam, don’t miss this architectural wonder!.

Have you ever heard of the Piet Blom’s cubic houses? This is a unique architectural project built in the second half of the 20th century in two different Dutch cities, still considered a fascinating example of structuralism. The architect, who lent his labor in the construction of these original buildings, brought to light a residential complex that has no parallel in the rest of the world – and which continues to arouse the interest of the curious and experts alike. Let’s explore the cubic houses and the genius of Piet Blom.

Who was the architect Piet Blom

Let us start with the very creator of this highly original project, theDutch architect Piet Blom: born in Amsterdam in 1934 (real name Pieter Blom), he studied at the Academie voor Bouwkunst where he was able to deepen his artistic knowledge thanks to the valuable input of teachers such as Aldo van Eyck. Blom was one of the leading exponents of the structuralism, an architectural current that spread especially in the 1960s and aimed to consider every building as the set of relationships between all the elements that compose it.

Numerous were the projects that made him famous, sometimes even leading him to obtain important awards. One of these is the “Pestalozzi” children’s village, for which he was awarded the Rome Grand Prix Prize in 1963. Among his most important works, we must also mention the housing complex “De Kasbah,” built in the city of Hengelo. It is here that, in 2013, a museum dedicated to the architect was opened, the Piet Blom Museum. In his more mature phase, Piet designed and built the famous cubic houses, still considered his greatest achievement. The architect died in Denmark in 1999, leaving a legacy of his most striking works.

The cubic houses project

But let us now get to the heart of the architectural project that made Piet Blom famous all over the world: what are cubic houses? The idea originated in the midst of the current of structuralism, as a set of residential buildings in which every detail contributes distinctly to delineating the wholeness of the work. This project is also known by different names, such as paalwoningen (houses/palafittes) or boomwoningen (tree houses). The last term derives from the fact that the cubic houses constitute a unique complex that resembles a collection of trees within a forest.

The main characteristic of cubic houses is their shape and bizarre location. As the name implies, each dwelling consists of a cube angled at an angle, so as to rest on one of its vertices. The foothold of each house is a large pole that supports the entire building, through which the interior can be accessed. It is therefore not surprising that the residential complex is reminiscent of a ancient pile-dwelling village, where huts were supported on poles often placed on a body of water.

Making the ensemble even more harmonious and “unique” is the fact that each dwelling is connected externally to the others, thus forming a configuration in which the houses touch each other through their side vertices. Thus, the design called for huge poles in a row located a short distance apart, on which rested the cubes tilted on their vertex lowest. In turn, each cube bordered two others (except the first and last) always through its vertices, this time the lateral ones.

Any other details of these houses? The entrance is arranged through an external staircase that reaches the top half of each pole, or directly from the ground. Each building is divided into three habitable floors, with the second generally used as a sleeping area (the bathroom and bedroom are present there). This is certainly a rather cramped arrangement, considering also that, in some places, each floor barely reaches five feet in height. Between the poles of the various dwellings, buildings such as stores, bars, public areas-and in one case even a school-have been constructed.

The cubic houses of Helmond

Piet Blom’s first work concerning cubic houses took place at the Dutch city of Helmond, in the 1970s. The architect, after being commissioned to build a housing complex around a famous cultural center, drew up his design that would soon make history. The first three “test” houses were built in the neighborhood of Europaweg, in 1975. In the following two years, Blom carried on the construction of 18 additional cubic buildings, this time in the neighborhood of Speelhuisplein.

The cubic houses of Rotterdam

Given the success of Helmond’s cubic houses, Piet Blom decided to repurpose his architectural design in the city of Rotterdam as well.. Thus, between 1982 and 1984, a new housing complex was developed in the pedestrian area of the Blaak district, which connects the old port of Oude Haven with the city center. Although the original plan called for the construction of as many as 74 buildings, Piet built only 39 of them. The special feature of this work is the bright yellow color of the facades of the cubic houses, which stand out against the blue sky.

The Blaakse Bos (or Blaak Forest, as the housing complex is called) is now one of Rotterdam’s most famous attractions. It is home to the Kijk-Kubus, a museum dedicated to the work of Piet Blom that welcomes visitors and allows them to immerse themselves in the daily lives of those who live inside a cubic house. No less fascinating is The Art Cube, a meeting place for artists and architects that is housed within the walls of one of these bizarre buildings-whose living arrangement has remained intact. Finally, for the curious, it is possible to sleep in a cubic house: in fact, in 2009, some of them were used as hostels.

The cubic house in Canada

Lastly, also worth mentioning is the project that led to the construction of a cube-shaped housing complex also in Canada, and more specifically in the city of Toronto. This time, the work does not belong to Piet Blom: the firm of architects belonging to Ben Kunter, of Ottawa, bought the rights to the Dutch project in order to replicate it in his country as well. The realization, which took place during the 1990s, involved a single dwelling characterized by three green cubes inclined at a 45-degree angle and interlocked with each other, placed on a huge pillar firmly planted on the ground.