Habitat ’67 celebrates it’s 50th anniversary this year, and a new exhibit explores the iconic project and the visionary architect behind it — Moshe Safdie.
Safdie moved to Montreal from Israel in 1953, where he went on to attend McGill University. The concept for Habitat evolved from his thesis project at McGill, as a major living exhibition. Despite being young and a relative new comer on the architecture scene, Safdie was put in charge of one of the biggest developments at Expo ‘67.
The main inspiration behind Habitat was to create a living/evolving building complex that merged the benefits of suburban life (gardens, fresh air, privacy, etc), with those of urban life (proximity to economic centres, the efficient use of land provided by apartment buildings, etc). Each unit is comprised of prefabricated concrete blocks, arranged to create 146 separate, yet unique residences. Safdie, now 78, still owns a penthouse apartment in the building.
This summer, as part of Montreal’s 375th celebrations, the UQAM Centre de Design is showcasing Safdie’s work and the influence this project had, not only his entire career, but on the architectural and design worlds as a whole.
The exhibition isn’t only looking back at the past, but towards the future as well. The curators have commissioned a team of architects who have spent the last two years, researching, conceptualizing and creating a reimagined version of Habitat designed for today’s world — a Habitat ’17 if you will.
Habitat ’67 vers l’avenir/ The Shape of Things to Come, is slated to open June 1st and runs through August 13th at the Centre de design de l’UQAM (1440, Sanguinet Street) — free admission. Definitely worth checking out if you want to get the story behind one of Montreal’s most iconic landmarks.
All photos curtesy of HABITAT 67 vers l’avenir The Shape of Things to Come
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