There are a few sites in Rotterdam Netherlands that deserve their own posting, and one of them is the city's famous Cube Homes, Kubuswoningen.
They are one of the most iconic attractions in Rotterdam and its not at all difficult to see why. They are uniquely designed bright yellow cubes that sit on cement pillars at a 45° angle. You really don't see that everyday.
The unique design isn't just about aesthetics though, tilting the cubes onto their side actually helps maximize the space of the interior, though it does create some challenges for furnishing the space since all of the walls are slanted.
The houses were designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom in the late 70's and were built in 1982-4. I think its pretty impressive that they were built about 40 years ago and they are still such a unique and impressive bit of architecture unlike anything else. They have really stood the test of time.
Actually there are a few cube homes in the city of Helmond as well by the same architect and supposedly three cubes were built in Toronto Canada. Who knew?
They may not be 100% one of a kind, but you get the idea, they're a unique bit of architecture that you cant help but stare up at as you wander the neighborhood. The mix of straight lines and crazy angles almost boggle the mind at times.
The cubes are situated on top of concrete pillars as mentioned, and those house a narrow staircase that brings you up into the home itself.
The complex was made to look like an abstract forest made up of a series of asymetical trees.
You can kind of see it if you use your imagination a little.
The complex is surprisingly large, housing 38 individual homes, 2 of which are referred to as super cubes. I believe that just means that they are much larger than the others. I didn'tactually notice them while wandering around.
One of the super cubes has been converted into a hostel as well so if you would like to know what its like to stay in a cube, you have that option if you stay in the city.
The homes are centrally located right by the Market Hall building, a variety of restaurants and the old harbor.
The complex is also a pedestrian bridge that takes you over a busy street and into the harbor itself.
Before moving on though you might want to head over to the Kijk Kubus or Show Cube Museum for a look inside the interior.
Admission is only 3.00 euros so I think its worth doing to satisfy your own curiosity.
After years of residents being dusturbed by curious bystanders wondering what it's like to live in one of these homes, one saavy owner decided to open up his home to the public so that people could see what it's like on the inside.
The interior consists of three floors and is around 100 square meters or 1100 square feet. They're surprisingly large given their unique shape. There is a small kitchen and spacious living room located on the first floor as you walk into the home.
Up a small and very narrow staircase is the bathroom and two mid sized bedrooms right next to each other. One of them was converted into an office in this particular home.
The bathroom was inaccessible to us on the tour. We could see into it through a glass door, but the lights were off and it was full of cleaning supplies that made it look like a janitors closet. It wasn't worth a photo. The bedroom was so plain that I didn't bother taking a photo of it either. It had a bed in it.
Above the 2nd floor, at the top of the home was a smaller space that could be used as a spare room in a pinch, or a general seating area. Supposedly some people use it as an indoor rooftop garden. Lots of windows bring in the light up there but I imagine the space to be very hot in the summer and probably very cold in the winter.
A sign on one of the walls talked a little about the windows and mentioned that they are pretty much impossible to clean on the outside. Apparently, window cleaning consists of waiting until it rains.
Some of the views were pretty cool though.
I found one site online that said that the homes sell for around €280,000 euros but I don't know if any are for sale at the moment or when the last one was sold. That price point seems a bit low to me given the location of the homes in the city and how unique they are. But I'm anything but an expert on European real estate, so who knows?
It was really neat seeing the interior but I was a little disappointed at how plain the home was decorated. It looked like it hadn't been updated since the 70's when it was first built and the extremely basic furnishings and finishings made it feel like a college dorm room to me. But then, admission was only 3 euro as well, so I still thought it was worth it.
I would love to see what an updated model looks like and think that it would be a really fun challenge to decorate the interior of one of the cubes. I'll have to use my imagination for that I suppose.
