Cube Houses in Rotterdam
by RicardMN Photography
Title
Cube Houses in Rotterdam
Artist
RicardMN Photography
Medium
Photograph
Description
Cube houses (Dutch: Kubuswoningen) are a set of innovative houses built in Rotterdam and Helmond in the Netherlands, designed by architect Piet Blom and based on the concept of "living as an urban roof": high density housing with sufficient space on the ground level, since its main purpose is to optimize the space inside. Blom tilted the cube of a conventional house 45 degrees, and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon. His design represents a village within a city, where each house represents a tree, and all the houses together, a forest.
The houses in Rotterdam are located on Overblaak Street, right above the Blaak Subway Station. There are 38 small cubes and two so called 'super-cubes', all attached to each other.
As residents are disturbed so often by curious passers-by, one owner decided to open a "show cube", which is furnished as a normal house, and is making a living out of offering tours to visitors.
The houses contain three floors:
- ground floor entrance
- first floor with living room and open kitchen
- second floor with two bedrooms and bathroom
- top floor which is sometimes used as a small garden
The walls and windows are angled at 54.7 degrees. The total area of the apartment is around 100 square meters, but around a quarter of the space is unusable because of the walls that are under the angled ceilings.
In 2006, a museum of chess pieces was opened under the houses.
In 2009, the larger cubes were converted by Personal Architecture into a hostel run by Dutch hostel chain Stayokay.
Uploaded
February 9th, 2017
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