Cube Houses (Kijk-Kubus)

The Cube Houses are one of the most recognisable pieces of modern architecture in the Netherlands, and they stand in the middle of Rotterdam's old harbour district, beside the Blaak station and the Markthal. They were designed by the architect Piet Blom, who worked out the idea in the 1970s and saw it built in the early 1980s, and they were completed in 1984. The scheme consists of dozens of small houses, each shaped like a cube tilted at an angle of forty-five degrees and set on top of a hexagonal pylon, so that the corner of the cube points downwards. They are linked together in rows above a pedestrian bridge over a busy road, and the structure forms a kind of artificial village in the air.

Blom's intention was to create an urban forest. Each cube, he said, was meant to be a tree, and the whole group a wood, in which people lived in small houses raised above the ground, leaving the ground level free for shops and public space. The idea answered a practical problem as well, since the site was a narrow strip above the road, and the stacked houses made use of every metre of space. The result has an unmistakable character, a mass of yellow cubes against the sky, which stand out among the glass towers of the new city and the old brick of the harbour.

Living in a cube presents particular challenges. The space is on three levels, joined by stairs, with the main living area on the first floor, bedrooms on the second and a small room at the top beneath the point of the roof. Because of the tilt, a large proportion of the floor area is under sloping walls and cannot be used in the normal way. Furniture has to be designed or chosen to fit the angles, and windows look out in unexpected directions. People who live there say that they get used to it, although some find it odd at first.

Visitors can see inside. One of the cubes has been fitted out as a show house, called the Kijk-Kubus, which means look cube, in which furniture and fittings show how the space can be used, and a small admission charge applies. A second house is part of a hostel, and cafes and shops at ground level give the structure a lively feel. The exterior is open at all times, and you can walk beneath and between the cubes.

The houses suit architecture lovers, photographers and families. The Oude Haven, the Markthal and the Laurenskerk are all within a short walk. A visit takes half an hour, longer with a look inside.