Inspiring Interiors #3
Our third Inspiring Interior feature takes inspiration from The Cube Houses in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom (1934-1999), an arbiter of the structuralist school of architecture, plans for Rotterdams now iconic Cube Houses were first presented in 1978, but due to a number of financial issues, construction did not begin until March 1982, before finally being completed in mid-1984.
The houses - 38 small cubes and two larger super-cubes are located on the citys Overblaak Street; a street named due to its being situated directly above Blaak Subway Station. All of the houses are conjoined.
The houses jointly constitute a fascinating piece of modernist architecture that is has become a tourist attraction. Lets take a look inside
Materials
Being part of a single structure, the cubes share a wooden skeletal core, covered with screwed cement and fibreboard, with stone wool placed in between for insulation. The original shingled roof was replaced during 1997-8 by a new zinc roof which utilises a white polyester cap to vastly improve insulation. The glass windows are double-glazed.
Costs
The total cost of the original project was the equivalent of 20 million Euros, and the late renovation of the late 1990s added 1.725 million Euros to that total. The cost of purchasing a single cube house when the then-unfinished houses went on sale in 1983 was between 55,000 and 70,000 Euros, whereas this had risen to 180,000-225,000 Euros in 2001. The variation in price depends on the location and interior.
Visitors can pay 2.50 Euros to look inside one of the cubes the only one that is open to the public. The show-cube as it is has become known, is owned by Ed de Graaf.
Colour Scheme
The interior is decorated in off-white, with the exception of vertical rainbow-stripes that adorn the window areas. One suspects this is an addition by its owner, rather than a common theme that runs through all of the houses.
Theme
The cube houses are essentially 38 conventional houses tilted to angles of 45 degrees, and consist of three levels. The lower level is triangular in shape and is employed as a living room and kitchen. Two bedrooms and bathroom are found on the middle level, while the top level can be used either as a second living space, or as another bedroom.
Each of the 38 small houses have a total area of approximately 100 square metres, with windows and walls angled at 54.7 degrees, rendering only 25% of the space in each house as useable.
While the house may not win any awards for practicality, the houses certainly have an abundance of character, with an interior that makes things feel strangely kaleidoscopic and psychedelic.
