Impossible M.C Escher Houses

Darkstar sent me this fabulous Google Earth Houses. You can see both photos inside this article, along with Google Maps aerial photo of the location. Anyone lives near them? Darkstar wrote: “Hi, I just found these impossible houses through Google Sightseeing. They look like something M.C. Escher would do.” Here’s a .kml file. We had some pretty cool satellite images in the past too. Be sure to check Google Earth category for more like: mega zoom airport, ipod shuffle, MC Escher Town, swastika building, Selhurst park Jesus, flying car



62 Replies to “Impossible M.C Escher Houses”

  1. You can find those strange houses in Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
    There is only one problem, there is al lot of unused space, because of al the corners.

    btw the called paalhuizen (=pole-houses)

  2. These buildings are built by a Dutch architect Piet Blom in the cities Rotterdam and Helmond. The first ones are built in 1975.

  3. Hey :)

    Hehe:) These Houses are called Cubic Houses are located in Rotterdam! They are designed by Piet Blom in 1984. I live close to this place! It’s really awesome job. I’ve been inside of one cubic house and suprisingly they are quite spacious are cozy inside – there are living appartments there!

    Vheers!
    Laura

  4. hey man, that’s Rotterdam, Netherlands! I live very close to them. Very real, even one open to visit. They are called “kubus woningen”. Allthough Escher was from Holland, he didn’t create the houses. I can’t remember the name of the architect.

  5. They are houses, located in The Netherlands, Rotterdam, created by the architect Piet Blom. They were built in 1982. I live in the town Helmond, also in the Netherlands. There you can find the first ‘try outs’ of the cube houses. These house were built in 1975. Later at the end of the 70’s, more houses were built in Helmond, including a theater.

    You can find it on wikipedia, the links:
    http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubuswoning (dutch version)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube_houses (english version)

    If you want I can provide you the kml file for Helmond, but it’s quite low resolution….

  6. It’s too bad we can’t show a floorplan or pix of the inside, ’cause I’d love to know where the floors are!!!

  7. I first saw these in the Jackie Chan movie WHO AM I. Jackie has a foot chase sequence running through them. They are very cool. I would LOVE to see the interiors!

  8. yeah it’s real – it’s in washington state near the great lakes, or in illinois (can’t remember which). Really neat building.

  9. This is differant, usually we get illusions that make you think they are something they’re not. This is real and looks out of place like it isn’t suppose to be there. Keeps you guessing ,I like it.

  10. This is really cool! You can’t possible imagine what mankind invented around the world. Google earth rocks! And this site even more. Keep up the good work!

  11. Ive seen building like that before. not those buildings exactly, but i have. not exactly common, but not rare either

  12. heh i love this stuff……thinks its cool…..what’s wrong with being real? i want MY house to look like that! ;-) ps….were the garbage cans next to the comment always there?

  13. They’re absolutely real and they are located in Rotterdam. They’re called ‘Cube Houses’ (Kubushuizen). I’ve been on the inside of one and on the inside there is very little space to live, but the design is still very Escher-ish.

  14. These are the Cubic Houses in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. They’ve existed for decades and are quite famous. But the architecture is not really “impossible”, just unusual.

  15. The biggest kube in the center is actually an arena for lasergaming. Which is cool, as you can see everyone if you climb all the way up in the tip (downside is, everyone sees you as well after the first shot).

  16. does nobody read the comments? most of you are just saying the same things! I think the roofs look very much like mountains in the first pic and what makes them impossible is the image they have created on the google earth shot.

  17. for one thing, read the comments before adding…
    think i have just read that they where the cubic houses in rotterdam 20 times =P

    anyway they are nice.. would love to see them real life, and even more to walk around inside.

    and for you types saying that everything is photoshopped, you might not want to find yourself at an illusion celebrating site.. the whole point is to find something unbelivable! (but true for the most part)

  18. those appartments are very awsome indeed. i saw them 3 years ago when i went back packing! not as exciting inside though.

  19. The title was referring to the fact it looks like one of Escher’s impossible object. If it was impossible it wouldn’t exist.

  20. Yes it”s possible…
    There’s a building in Toronto that is basically a cube standing on one of it’s corners.

  21. whoa:P this is next to my school, one of the houses is bright purple now:)

    they are really neat, and i’ve also been in one. NO THEY ARE NO PHOTOSHOP they’re real

  22. They are real. I can see them from my front door… they’re only a 2-minute walk from my apartment. The inside is not as weird as you might think – but on the other hand, I don’t think the occupants can buy their furniture at Ikea… *g* Currently (since they’re mostly unoccupied) there is a hot debate raging between the “GREAT idea!” and the “Not in OUR neighborhood!” factions over using them to house prisoners – presumably convicts on work-release or some such, without official supervision – but nothing has come of it as of yet. Anyway, just thought I would throw in my 2 eurocents. :) Incidentally, these houses are intended to be artistic representations of trees (the cube itself representing the greenery), or so I was told by the personnel in the office/slash/souvenir shop in the complex. I too have lots of photos of the “kubuswoningen” but I can’t remember if I took any photos while I was inside. PS to the folks who said they live nearby – Dutch? American? Any homeboys/homegirls in the room? (I’m from the Deep South, but when living in a foreign land, those “regional distinctions” drop away and we’re just Americans. LOL) Cheers… Erin in R’dam

  23. Ive been in those houses ones. The houses are very small and have an unusual and unpracticle design. Someone on here said he wanted to see the interior. Alot of room isn’t there to put alot of furniture in, so if you buy a weird house like that you might buy some exclusive furniture aswell.
    I got dizzy while walking around in it, because of the windows pointing down so you can see the street. Its like a gab behind your couch where there used to be a wall. Its still worth visiting one of the ‘museum’ ones if your in the area though.

  24. this is so stuupid it makes absolutely no sense what so ever and i think that you people should get a new hobby

  25. OMG, my hometown! =D

    The “Kubuswoningen” (which is Dutch for “cube houses”) are a set houses built in Rotterdam, but also in Helmond, which both are Dutch cities.
    They are designed by architect Piet Blom in 1984.
    There are 38 small cubes and two so called ‘super-cubes’, all attached to each other.
    These so called “kubuswoningen” are also made as a bridge across the road.
    It is its own little neighbourhood with shops and little squares on the (roofed) bridge.

    A nice thing is that it is located in the central district of Rotterdam
    Further more it stands extreme close to the market square, a police station, even more shops, and last but not least: Rotterdam’s Great Central Library.
    Because of the nearby train/metro station and bus/tram stops it has a one out of a million connection with the public transport.
    And most of the houses have a nice view.

    Still I have to say that I rather live somewhere else.
    I like my walls vertical; in a angle of 90 degrees with my floor.
    Yet it is worthwhile to go en see them (from the inside and outside) with your own eyes.
    That they are less practical, doesn’t make them less incredible.

    greets from Alex in Rotterdam, The Netherlands!

  26. My uncle was tempted to buy one… But then he realised its a bad idea. He lives close now. So he can still go and see them. They have a strange design, in and out side.

  27. Yeah totally real, also quite close to where a lot of people go out. I think the Stayokay (Youth hostel) is either IN one of them, or very close.
    The whole complex is also called “Het Blaakse Bos”, or the Blaak Woods.
    It is very hot in summer in the upper part of the house, but I guess it’s kind of neat to live there. :)
    I usually just ride under them, on my way to school.

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