Blaakse Bos

Designed by Amsterdam-based architect Piet Blom and built between 1978 and 1984, this mind-bending development facing the Markthal is marked by its pencil-shaped tower and "forest" of 38 cube-shaped apartments on hexagonal pylons. This vibrantly colored, crazily tilting apartment block is one of the city's most recognisable structures. One apartment, the Kijk-Kubus Museumwoning, is open to the public; the Stayokay Rotterdam youth hostel occupies the supersized cube at the southern end.