Archinect - News

Habitat 67’s original vision recreated in Unreal Engine by Safdie Architects, Epic Games, and Neoscape

2023-05-17T07:00:00-04:00

Safdie Architects, Epic Games, and the creative agency Neoscape have recreated the original vision for Habitat 67 in virtual reality. Using Epic Games’ powerful game engine Unreal Engine 5, the entire original master plan for the radical early 1960s scheme has been constructed, marking a significant expansion on the realized segment situated in Montreal, Canada.

Video courtesy: Epic Games

The genesis of Habitat 67 stretches back to Moshe Safdie’s master’s thesis at McGill University. At 23 years old, Safdie submitted the idea to the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair, with the goal of creating a pilot for a new type of housing that would not contribute to urban sprawl.

Image credit: Epic Games

“It began with a journey through North America to study housing,” Safdie recalled. “I came to the conclusion that suburbs weren’t feasible in the long term. They consumed too much land, energy, and transportation. If we could reinvent the apartment building to offer the quality...

Moshe Safdie says he 'paid a price' for antagonizing post-modernism

2022-10-31T12:22:00-04:00

“In the 70s and 80s, my ideas were ignored. I was antagonistic to postmodernism [...] and I paid a price.”

The 84-year-old Habitat 67 mastermind sat down with Rowan Moore to discuss his career and new memoir If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture. Among other topics, he said he had “no idea” that his 2011 Marina Bay Sands design would become “an instant icon” and that the political situation in his native Israel brings him “great frustration” even though he believes supporters of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanction) movement are making a “stupid mistake.”

Safdie then spoke to the chilling reception that met his post-Habitat endeavors in Puerto Rico and New York, which failed to “replicate like mushrooms” as the then 30-something architect had expected. An exhibition of Safdie’s unrealized work is conveniently on display at the Boston Architectural College’s McCormick Gallery from now through January 2nd.

Relate on Archinect: ‘More Than 50 Percent Of My Work Is Unbuilt’ says Moshe Safdie in new Time-Space-Existence video

“As an architect committed to building and impacting the e...

Moshe Safdie donates entire archive to McGill University

2022-08-23T14:42:00-04:00

The professional archive of renowned Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie will now be housed at his alma mater McGill University, the school announced today.

The Habitat 67 designer will also donate his restored private apartment in the famed modular housing complex, along with the undergraduate thesis titled “A Case for City Living” that led to its inception as part of the Expo 67 exhibition in Montreal 55 years ago.

The apartment (which was not previously managed by the university) and thesis are just two of the more than 100,000 total pieces included in the donation. McGill says the archive “represents one of the most extensive and thorough individual collections of architectural documentation in Canada” and that it expects the gift to provide “an abundance of opportunity for exploration” to the university and design-minded community writ large.

Special announcement ceremony of Moshe Safdie's archive donation at McGill University. Video via McGill University on YouTube.

At th...

Construction update: Three new buildings by Safdie Architects represent the legacy of Habitat 67

2021-08-14T09:00:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has an update on three ongoing projects it says are direct ties to the lineage of founder Moshe Safdie’s seminal work that opened 54 years ago in Montreal.

New buildings in Ecuador and Sri Lanka are nearing completion, and a new development is about to break ground on the next phase of a contemporary version of the Habitat in Qinhuangdao, China.

Qinhuangdao Phase II. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

The three projects together represent “the realization of more than 50 years of study on how to improve urban living.” Each development is marked with the same stepped profile, privacy, and garden terrace design taken from the original Habitat. The sum total is a reflection of the eye-opening realizations about urban life the 83-year-old Safdie says were brought on by the pandemic.

Qinhuangdao Phase II. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Per the architect: “Over the past year, there has been a rediscovery of the interdependence between nature and society. We have seen an outcr...

Moshe Safdie's personal Habitat 67 unit completes major renovation

2018-11-26T19:26:00-05:00

Overlooking the Saint Lawrence River toward downtown Montreal, Moshe Safdie's personal duplex unit of his iconic Habitat 67 was recently renovated, in light of the monument's 50th anniversary. Perhaps what's most exciting is that the unit was donated to the public realm and is now open for scholarly research and tours.

Perched atop the residential complex on the 10th floor, the unit originally belonged to the Commissioner of Expo ’67. The two-year renovation began with researching the building's original 1967 conditions, Safdie Architects says. Addressing decades of water damage began with stripping the exterior concrete walls to allow proper repair, insulation, and waterproofing of the envelope.

Photo: Marc Cramer + Thomas Miau.

The renovation project involved a thorough refurbishing of the interior to its original condition, including the wood parquet flooring, sliding patio doors, new energy-efficient windows, kitchen cabinets and appliances (new ...

Canada Post unveils new stamp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Habitat 67

2017-05-11T13:13:00-04:00

Habitat 67—the iconic housing complex designed by Moshe Safdie for Expo 67—turned 50 this year. To commemorate the occasion, we sat down and talked with Safdie about the experience and how it influenced his career. Meanwhile, the Canada Post celebrated the anniversary by unveiling a new commemorative stamp featuring the building. Safdie himself presented it during a ceremony at the building.

Check out our interview with Safdie here.

A Brutal Youth: Memories of Growing Up in Brutalist Masterpeice Habitat 67

2017-05-02T13:30:00-04:00

“How do you live with all that cement,” my schoolmates would ask. “With delight” was the only answer. They understood once they visited.

Part childhood memoir, part ode to brutalism itself, this piece by Blake Gopnik touches on his experiences living in Habitat 67 while celebrating the return of a form that many openly reviled for decades, but have now gradually come to like, even treasure. (Of course, not all is well for brutalist forms: Tadao Ando's Piccadilly Gardens in England is slated to be demolished after vigorous complaint by local residents.) However, those buildings that have survived the wave of demolitions are being increasingly valued for their spartan, bulky beauty: Canada's government is issuing a stamp celebrating the 50th birthday of Habitat 67, and oddly enough tours of the specific apartment Gopnik used to live in will be offered to the public. As Gopnik writes:

Habitat’s 158 apartments fill 365 cast-concrete boxes, piled 11 stories high in a madcap mess of cantilevers and bridges and perilous open spaces — like (guess what) a stack of children’s blocks. For sheer sensory excitement, Habitat could ...

The NYT takes a stroll along the High Line with Moshe Safdie

2016-01-04T19:30:00-05:00

In recent years, Mr. Safdie, 77, whose visit to New York coincided with “Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie,” an exhibition through Jan. 10 at the National Academy Museum, rediscovered the merits of his Habitat 67. [...] “The term ‘starchitect’ makes me uncomfortable,” he said. “It’s superficial. It creates expectations.” “I’m not against spectacle,” he said, adding after a ruminative pause, “but for me, that’s not the journey.”

Related in the Archinect news:

Habitat 67 - Web Mash Up Documentary

2012-06-12T20:46:00-04:00

This web documentary gathers the best of online resources about the famed Habitat 67 of Montreal's World Expo 67, mashes them up and tells the modern story of how this iconic piece of architecture remains relevant in today's urban debates.

via @burnlab

Montreal landmark wins Lego contest

2012-03-07T14:16:00-05:00

A quirky Montreal landmark has won an international competition among Lego enthusiasts – but the thrill of victory has been tempered by the sting of rejection. The Habitat 67 housing complex won an internet vote, beating out iconic structures like Paris' Eiffel Tower, Rome's Coliseum and the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C.