Between 1956 and 1962 Blom studied Architecture at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. Aldo van Eyk urged him to develop his original ideas and in the first annual report he wrote about Blom ‘An excellent student – brilliant in spite of the fact that the ever tutoring Dutchman is unable to take this from a contemporary, especially not from a so-called debutant!’ During his internship at the Herman Knijtijzer architectural office, Blom worked on several projects, among which the elaboration of a house construction complex at the Jan Evertsenstraat. However, Blom could not accommodate to the uninspiring architecture of the project of his internship office: four large blocks of apartments, isolated from the city and deprived of other functions than living.

Blom received his first urban development assignment from instructor David Zuiderhoek. Blom designed a modern version of ‘de Jordaan’, a warm type of urbanity completely at odds with the uninspiring monofunctional manner in which the Dutch cities extended, entitled ‘Cities will be lived like villages.’ Zuiderhoek: ‘If we were to grade this draft, it would definitely surpass a nine *…+. This is an extremely exceptional man with a large vision and we can expect a lot from him, provided he can accede to our pragmatic society.’

During the last years of his studies, Blom prepared an urban development program for an area of urbanization (one million inhabitants) between Amsterdam and Haarlem, entitled ‘Ark van Noach’.The concept contained a village-based construction of districts with 10.000 to 15.000 inhabitants, according to Blom the optimal size for a livable community. In 1962 during Blom’s last year at the academy he won the Prix de Rome with his draft for the children’s village.