After World War II, new world-class buildings rose from the ruins that made Rotterdam a unique and radiant city. Rotterdam is home to many world-famous modern buildings and is an experimental site for modern architecture, also known as "Manhattan on the Meuse". Among them, the cube house designed by the famous designer Piet Blom subverts people's cognition of traditional architecture, whether it is visual or tactile. Let's walk into Rotterdam, into the dazzling and fantastic world of modern architecture, and appreciate the magical charm of the city's new art design.

Rotterdam cube house

Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands. In the 13th century, it was a small fishing village by the Rotter River. The coastal areas of the Netherlands are below sea level, and most places will be submerged by sea water if dykes are not constructed. In order to control the flood, the locals built a dam (Dam) on the river, which is unique to the Netherlands. Even the word Dam is made by the Netherlands itself. The combination of the small river and the dam becomes Rotterdam.

Rotterdam rebuild
During World War II, on May 14, 1940, Rotterdam was bombed by the Luftwaffe, historically known as The Rotterdam Blitz, and Rotterdam was almost razed to the ground. Afterwards, when the tenacious Rotterdamers rebuilt the city from the rubble, they did not use the 1:1 restoration method to restore the original appearance like many hard-hit European cities such as Dresden and Cologne, nor did they follow the traditions of Amsterdam and The Hague. Dutch architecture, but planned with an innovative and bold new modern design concept, a city showing the most remarkable "Art Nouveau" (Art Nouveau) stands in ruins, attracting the attention of the world.
The "Art Nouveau" was developed in many European and American countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was a reform of the decorative art design method. Western architecture, sculpture, painting art, graphic design, illustration and jewelry, clothing and other fields are all influenced by the "Art Nouveau". The "Art Nouveau" peaked at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900.

Art Nouveau classic by Gustave Eiffel - Eiffel Tower

The Art Nouveau architectural style has made Rotterdam a city leading the trend of modern architectural design with the rise of world-class new buildings under reconstruction, with many world-famous modern buildings, museums, fashionable restaurants and specialty shops. For this reason, Rotterdam is called For "Manhattan on the Meuse".
The 1980s saw the emergence of works by many famous architects, including the Erasmus Bridge by Ben van Becker, Rotterdam Cube Houses by Piet Blom, The Rotterdam Building designed by Haas, in addition to the Rotterdam New Market, which shines as a new landmark of Rotterdam, and the splendid Gothic City Hall on the Gouda Grand Place, are other landmarks of Rotterdam.

Erasmus Bridge by Ben van Becker

Rotterdam cube house
The Cube House is one of Rotterdam's most iconic modern buildings and a unique piece of Art Nouveau modern architecture in the world.

Overlooking the cube house
The entire building spans Upper Brac Street

One of the very few hostels I've ever booked, Rotterdam's "Stay Away Hostel", is located in this striking cube house in the heart of Rotterdam. Luckily, when I started to book a room, it happened to be available. This post-modern building, commonly known as the "three-dimensional house", which was recorded in history, was designed by Piet Blom in 1984, and it is a unique existence in the world. I want to live in and experience it anyway. Spending a night in a cube house was definitely an extraordinary experience of my travel career.

Cube House

The cube house is near the Braque Metro, next to Rotterdam's oldest old paradise (also known as the old port, Oude Haven). The port, built in 1350, is located in a prime location in Rotterdam, with bars and restaurants nearby. In this area in addition to the three-dimensional house, visitors can find Europe's first skyscraper - the White House (Witte Huis) and the new market, but also to see the new Helder Square and the interesting naval museum.
The entire tower is actually built across Upper Brac Street, which hangs 51 traditional cube-structured houses on hexagonal towers inclined at 45 degrees. Each residential unit is formed by overlapping a slanted cube and a hexagonal column. Only one corner of the cube is superimposed on the hexagonal column, breaking people's stable visual inertia about the cube. The cube houses are all connected together with two oversized cubes connecting the ends. Each cube has three floors, with a living space of about 100 square meters. Some residents use the small third floor as their garden. The entire building has a large amount of common ground area.

Piet Blom stated his design philosophy like this: Industrialized cities lack high-quality social places, lack of vitality and breath of life. He derived the vision of the cube house from the circular tree he painted in his childhood, and abstracted his design. In the form of a tree, the entire building complex is regarded as a forest. The building is very interesting, breaking the shackles of traditional buildings and adding new vitality to the city. The architect's bold imagination, extraordinary conceptual talent and design concept are really admirable.

Cube House Roof Structure

The Cube House is just a stone's throw away from almost all of the port city's attractions, such as the Boijmans van Binningen Museum, Rotterdam Zoo, the Dutch School of Architecture and the Erasmus Bridge.
To be honest, as an architectural design, the three-dimensional house is novel, perfect and successful, but many people are still not used to this visual variation when they move in, and they will feel uncomfortable at the beginning. The cube doesn't have any straight walls inside, so when residents need to buy furniture, it's a headache. Those who choose to live in these houses must be geniuses in home improvement.
If the design emphasizes too much on individuality and visual effects, it will ignore the habit of the main body and the flatness of the space. However, for tourists, staying for a few nights is not a hindrance, and it is more to satisfy the curiosity.
But as a bridge house, it handles multiple states from public to private well. It is an excellent architectural case that integrates various places and scales with each other.
Today's cube house in Rotterdam - this landmark experimental building has become a dazzling and brilliant stroke in the history of world architecture. Staying in a famous and unique building all over the world and enjoying its unique charm in the scenic spots that others have come to visit from thousands of miles should be the most pleasant thing in the journey, and it is also the highest level of tourism planning!

Article Source: 人美

版权声明：【除原创作品外，本平台所使用的文章、图片、视频及音乐属于原权利人所有，因客观原因，或会存在不当使用的情况，如，部分文章或文章部分引用内容未能及时与原作者取得联系，或作者名称及原始出处标注错误等情况，非恶意侵犯原权利人相关权益，敬请相关权利人谅解并与我们联系及时处理，共同维护良好的网络创作环境，联系邮箱：603971995@qq.com】