Archinect - News

Safdie Architects stacks vertical gardens in new Shanghai tower complex

2024-07-22T16:07:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has shared photos of their latest contribution to Shanghai's Luwan district, the new LuOne Mixed-Use Complex, after its construction was completed in the past year.

Featuring an eight-story bronze colonnade-lined retail component and a 35-story office tower, the project “answers the pressing need for connection to nature and a place of community within Shanghai’s urban core,” in the words of Senior Partner Christopher Mulvey.

Image: Shao Feng. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Accordingly, the tower’s southwestern edge includes a glass-enclosed “corner garden” running vertically with a series of seven four-story garden spaces stacked to create the appearance of plant life ascending or “climbing” the length of its facade.

Image: Shao Feng. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

The 484,000-square-foot tower was designed to complete the program, which began with the construction of the 1.5 million-square-foot retail galleria in 2018...

Safdie Architects will expand Marina Bay Sands for 2029

2024-04-08T13:02:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has announced plans for a programmatic expansion of their previous Marina Bay Sands design in Singapore.

The scheme calls for the addition of a new luxury hotel tower with a sky roof, a 15,000-seat entertainment venue, and further spaces reserved for work, retail, and dining.

The project is being undertaken to provide a boost to Singapore’s tourism sector, which is considered lagging behind other destinations in the Asia-Pacific region in spite of strong post-pandemic numbers. (The resort has drawn more than 470 million visitors since its opening, according to a press release from its Las Vegas-based management group.)

Rendering of the new entertainment arena. Image courtesy Marina Bay Sands

"The all-suite hotel tower will set new standards of hospitality, the state-of-the-art arena will help attract the highest-caliber global entertainment events and artists, and the additional convention and exhibition space will extend the success of Singapore as a leading MICE d...

Safdie Architects shares construction update for Crystal Bridges Museum expansion

2024-04-04T12:41:00-04:00

The multi-year expansion of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is moving forward with an anticipated completion in 2025. Safdie Architects has shared photos of its construction progress via an Instagram post published Wednesday, April 3rd, from the site in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The project adds two new galleries worth a total of 100,000 square feet to the campus, increasing the size of its existing exhibition spaces by 65% while adding another 50% to its overall footprint. Safdie has been working on a master plan for the site, which includes the original pavilions he completed in 2011, for over 25 years.

Watch him speak with the museum's founder, Alice Walton, about its design here.

The project will culminate as his second American museum expansion following his work for the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts in 2003.

Next up, the firm is working on a new ski resort/residential concept in Vermont with PWP Landscape Architecture.

View this post on Instagram ...

Safdie Architects completes integrated Surbana Jurong Campus in Singapore

2024-03-14T17:18:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has just announced the completion of their Surbana Jurong Campus project in Singapore. The 742,000-square-foot design for the Surbana Jurong corporation aims to establish a better work-life balance for employees while connecting to its natural rainforest setting.

The design brief calls for elevating ten pavilions of five and seven stories apiece along a linear arch to allow plantings to grow up from beneath and eventually envelop the offices, creating a "treehouse" effect for its users. Architects say this provides an alternative to "traditional, internally focused buildings." Charu Kokate, a Senior Partner at Safdie Architects, said the design "was guided most essentially by the people whose work and lives intersect there."

Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects

As such, the project features a selection of workplace wellness considerations meant to stimulate socialization, increase creativity, ...

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...

Your next job could be as a model maker at Safdie Architects

2023-05-11T12:52:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for an AI-Related Architectural Intern at DVLPR, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Digital Fabricator / Model Designers at Safdie Architects.

The role, based in Safdie’s Boston office, calls for a “creative, entrepreneurial, and detail-oriented individual” to assist in exploring the “spatial, tectonic and material properties of designs through the planning and production of digital, 3D printed, fabricated and handcrafted models, as well as scale mock-ups.” Among the skills and qualities sought in applicants are a passion for model making, experience operating digital tools such as laser cutters and 3D printers, and a knowledge of AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino, and Adobe Suite.

Archinect Feature: Archinect's Guide to Job Titles: Model Maker

Why the role interests us

The role of model makers in design practices, and the design culture at Safdie Architects, are topics our editori...

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 on making the iconic spaces that have defined his career

2022-09-27T09:00:00-04:00

On the heels of Safdie’s massive donation to his alma mater McGill University, the 84-year-old architect sat down with CNN in Singapore to dissect his career and discuss his new memoir If Walls Could Speak out next week from Grove Atlantic.

The creator of the iconic Marina Bay Sands (which is about to begin work on a $1.35 billion expansion he says will not include an extension of its famous skybridge) touched briefly on impressive recent designs around Asia, including the Jewel Changi Airport, Habitat Qinhuangdao, and Raffles City Chongqing before veering off into an assessment of the region’s labor markets. He then reasserted the idealism that helped define his career and lamented the contemporary faddish use of biophilia — an element critical to the philosophies that are inherent in his garden-lined residential designs.

“There's a cynicism about so many architects...

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...

Safdie Architects completes Albert Einstein Education and Research Center in São Paulo

2022-07-25T17:13:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has completed a new verdant medical school and research building with a distinctive domed glass roof in São Paulo.

Conceived as an urban oasis, the Albert Einstein Education and Research Center (AEERC) is the latest initiative of Brazilian healthcare institute Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Albert Einstein. It is slated to be one of Latin America’s most advanced institutions for medical research and study.

Photo by Timothy Hursley. Courtesy of Safdie Architects

The Center is located in São Paulo’s Morumbi district, adjacent to the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein. The AEERC is the first medical school established by a private hospital in Brazil. Safdie Architects also worked in collaboration with Perkins&Will, who led the programming and interior planning of the classrooms and labs.

Photo by Timothy Hursley. Courtesy of Safdie Architects

The integration of nature throughout the spaces of the facility is at the core of the project’s design. The centerpiece of the...

Wealth is cemented at the top as starchitects continue to see gains

2021-11-22T14:32:00-05:00

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, a new list from therichest.com has ranked the world’s top ten architects in terms of their total net worth.

Big A architecture remunerates extraordinarily well for some, with the total list’s net worth nearing three-quarters of a billion USD.

Norman Foster took the top spot with an estimated net worth amounting to $250 million. The outspoken 86-year-old has had a windfall of big development contracts in the past few years, which has helped him maintain the position he has held for parts of the last two decades.

Frank Gehry came in a distant second with around $100 million in total worth. Gehry was followed quickly by Moshe Safdie, who also hit the $100 mark, although it was not clear which methodology was used to delineate the two (some publicized estimates have Safdie’s worth significantly higher at around $150 million). Oculus designer Santiago Calatrava was the only other architect to hit the nine-figure plateau. His estimated net ...

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...

Safdie Architects' design for the ORCA mega-development in downtown Toronto finally clears a major hurdle

2021-06-18T21:17:00-04:00

A new multibillion-dollar development has been approved in Toronto, clearing the way for what could potentially be the latest in a string of high-profile projects, including 55 Yonge and Gehry's King Street West, altering the city’s skyline over the next decade.

Situated above a 10.5-acre park that straddles the King West district between the city’s downtown and waterfront, the proposed Over Rail Corridor Area (or ORCA) aims to create a mega-district west of the CN Tower by decking eight residential towers along a 16.5-acre railyard site that will add 3,000 new units of housing connected to the park via series of ramps and elevators.

A view of the interlinking towers, courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Safdie Architects is responsible for the multi-use development that will incorporate shopping and office space into the residential design in what the architect hopes is going to unite the continent’s, reportedly, most diverse city.

"Our design aspires to forge a reconnection in the commun...

Sir David Adjaye receives RIBA Gold Medal at illustrious virtual event

2021-05-28T17:14:00-04:00

Earlier this week, on May 26th, celebrated Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye formally received the 2021 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Royal Gold Medal in a virtual ceremony. Surprise luminaries from around the world, including former U.S. President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono, participated to congratulate Adjaye on his historic accomplishment.

Calling in from Ghana, Adjaye received his award from the UK’s high commissioner to Ghana, Iain Walker, on behalf of the Queen.

Sir David Adjaye receives the RIBA 2021 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, presented by the British High Commissioner Iain Walker. Image: RIBA/Francis Kokoroko 2021

“It’s incredibly humbling and a great honor to have my peers recognize the work I have developed with my team and its contribution to the field over the past 25 years,” Adjaye said upon hearing the news that he received the Royal Gold Medal. “Architecture, for me, has always been about the creation of beauty to edify all people...

Moshe Safdie to expand Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art by 50%

2021-04-07T15:42:00-04:00

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas announced today that it is planning an expansion overseen by its original architect, Moishe Safdie, that will allow significantly more room for showcasing its collection and for education, cultural programming and community events.

Ten years after the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened in Bentonville, Arkansas, Safdie Architects has been tasked to lead a major expansion project that will increase the size of the institution by roughly 50%, adding new galleries, educational facilities, and community spaces.

Construction is expected to kick off in early 2022 and conclude in 2024.

Watch Moshe Safdie explain the proposed expansion in the video below.

Safdie Architects opens world's longest sky bridge in China

2020-06-09T18:41:00-04:00

A new 300-meter-long sky bridge connecting four skyscraper towers at the Safdie Architects-designed Raffles City Chongqing has made its public debut.

The tube-shaped bridge is lifted 250 meters into the sky and contains a bevy of recreational and tourist-oriented programs, including a 270-degree vantage over the city. The viewing deck features an all-glass platform and is currently open with reduced capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

View down the length of the sky bridge. Image credit: Tang An Bing 唐安冰.

View inside the sky bridge. Image courtesy of CapitaLand.

The sky bridge represents the marquee attraction at the massive 1,127,000-square-meter development, which also features a multi-story, 220,000-square-meter shopping mall at its base, 1,400 luxury housing units, a hotel, and 150,000 square meters of Grade-A office space, all spread out across eight towers.

View of the observation platform. Image courtesy of CapitaLand.

Six of the concrete towers rise 250-meters each while th...

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing now (partially) open

2019-11-18T20:06:00-05:00

At a total investment of 24 billion yuan (S$4.65 billion), the 1.12 million square metre (sq m) Raffles City Chongqing is Singapore’s largest single development in China. In addition to the 235,000 sq m retail podium, the integrated development comprises the 201 unit Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence, 380 room InterContinental Raffles City Chongqing hotel, 150,000 sq m of Grade A office space and 1,400 luxury residential apartments.

After reaching structural completion only a few months ago, the Safdie Architects-designed $3.4 billion Raffles City Chongqing megadevelopment recently celebrated its phased opening. An earlier September soft opening of the enormous five-story shopping mall reportedly attracted a whopping 900,000 people in one weekend, according to the Singapore-based developer CapitaLand.

View this post on Instagram Located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, Raffles City Chongqing is sited upon the historic Chaotianmen Gate, originally built in 314 BC. Integrated with a transportation hub, it includes a subway station, bus interchange, ferry terminal and cruise center—continuing the site’s long history as one of the busiest docks in China. #Chongqing #capitaland #rafflescitychongqing #safdiearchitects #chaotianmen #moshesafdie
A post shared by Safdie Architects (@safdiearchitects) on Jul 23, 2019 at 1:50pm PDT

A record-setting sky bridge, similar to but bigger a...

Junkspace No More: Qatar's Plagiarism accusation highlights new status for airports

2019-11-09T09:00:00-05:00

A recent report in Bloomberg News detailing accusations that Safdie Architects' much-Instagrammed Jewel Changi Airport design had been lifted from a proposed expansion to Doha's Hamad International Airport highlights the changing status of airport design.

The accusation was quickly debunked, as Safdie's designs date back to 2013 prior to the Doha airport proposal, but the dust-up itself, as Bloomberg's Adam Minter points out, signals that "Airports, though, are no longer mere transit nodes. Over the past few decades, countries throughout Asia and the Middle East have come to see them as tools for advancing their ambitions and expressing their national self-conceptions. In short order, they’ve become audacious sources of soft power."

View of the Jewel Changi Airport, designed by Safdie Architects. Image © Changi Airport Group.

With the worldwide proliferation of iconic airport designs and the growing (and environmentally problematic) proliferation of air travel, airports have taken o...

Planned cable-car network over Jerusalem divides the public

2019-09-16T19:51:00-04:00

Israeli authorities have approved a plan to build a cable car to the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world, by 2021. It’s the first phase of what proponents envision as a fleet of cable cars crisscrossing the locus of sacred sites known as the Holy Basin.

NYT architecture critic Michael Kimmelman explains the controversial plan for a cable-car network, envisioned to connect significant Jewish religious sites in Jerusalem while bypassing Palestinian neighborhoods, and how the concept contributes to a "Disneyfication" of the Holy City as much as Israel's "architecture of occupation."

"Trumpeted by right-wing Israeli leaders as a green solution to the challenges of increased tourism and traffic in and around the Old City," Kimmelman writes, "the plan has provoked howls of protest from horrified Israeli preservationists, environmentalists, planners, architects and others who picture an ancient global heritage site turned into a Jewish-themed Epcot, with thousands of passengers an hour crammed into huge gondolas lofting across the sky."

Israeli-born Canadian architect Moshe Safdie is among the vocal opponents of the cable car.

LAX ranked worst airport in the world; Safdie's new Singapore airport is best

2019-06-12T16:47:00-04:00

There are uglier airports and airports with fewer amenities; there are airports that are older and airports that are more rundown; there are airports with ruder staff and airports with cruder passengers. There are, without doubt, by almost all measures, worse airports in this world. Except by one measure—an exceedingly crucial measure. In fact, behind safety, it’s almost certainly the most important measure: getting in and getting out.

Fodor's Travel Guide has ranked Los Angeles International Airport as the worst airport in the world, due in large part to the "improbably stupid design of its catastrophic horseshoe motor-loop."

The airport's design is attributed to noted Los Angeles architect and urban planner William Pereira, who also designed Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Tehran International Airport in Iran, and Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, among others. The latter site features the same horseshoe design as LAX, while the two other airports are designed along linear, single-loaded paths. Like LAX, however, Don Muang Airport is designed with a double-decker arrangement that separates arrivals and departures. Don't tell Fodor's!

Safdie Architect's Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore is among the best in the world, Image courtesy Wikimedia user Matteo Morando.

The best airport on Fodor's list? Safdie Architects' recently-completed Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore, of course. The 1.46 million-squa...

The Jewel of Singapore, the newest addition to the Changi Airport dazzles visitors and locals alike

2019-04-12T16:27:00-04:00

Singapore is already known for its mesmerizing structures. However, the country wanted to make sure Singapore isn't only a great place to visit, but stopover! With international travel increasing over the years airports are becoming more than just lines and terminals. Many airports are becoming hubs for shopping, cuisine, and must-see attractions. Airport execs are now exploring new ways for airports to be "experienced, turning them into new "lifestyle hubs."

Jewel Changi Airport. Image courtesy of Changi Airport Group

Canopy Park Image courtesy of Changi Airport Group

One of the world's most multi-faceted airports, no pun intended, the Jewel Changi Airport has 280 new retail stores and restaurants which make up the ten-story facility. With the structure split five feet above and five feet below ground, the airport has become the most luxurious airport in the world. New attractions include the Canopy Park which is said to open...

Moshe Safdie's glass Jewel at Changi Airport to open on April 17

2019-03-29T20:24:00-04:00

The much-anticipated Jewel Changi Airport, with more than 280 shops and food and beverage outlets, will open its doors to the world on April 17....The highlights include a five-storey garden with 2,500 trees and 100,000 shrubs, with two walking trails. There is also a 40m-high Rain Vortex - the world's tallest indoor waterfall.

Moshe Safdie's Chongqing megadevelopment—featuring the world's highest, tower-spanning sky bridge—reaches structural completion

2019-02-25T14:37:00-05:00

It has been exactly one year since the enormous eight-tower Raffles City Chongqing development announced that it set the world record for the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers when it successfully hoisted the three middle segments of the ensemble's signature '9th horizontal skyscraper' into place.

Raffles City Chongqing - Aerial view of The Crystal sky bridge. Video via CapitaLand on YouTube.

Like a Marina Bay Sands on steroids, 'The Crystal' sky bridge—also designed by Safdie Architects—measures 300 meters in length, 32.5 meters in width, 26.5 meters in height, and links six of the eight skyscrapers 250 meters high up in the Chongqing sky.

The two 350-meter high supertall skyscrapers are now Chongqing’s tallest buildings and among the tallest towers in China. Image: CapitaLand.

"Upon Raffles City Chongqing’s structural completion, we are now focusing on the interior fit-out works, including transplanting trees to enliven The Crystal sky bridge, which will feature t...

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 ...

Moshe Safdie's National Medal of Honor Museum is off to a rocky start

2018-07-13T14:45:00-04:00

It isn't often that architect Moshe Safdie is sent back to the drawing board. But that's exactly what happened earlier this year when his soaring vision for the National Medal of Honor Museum clashed with a local height ordinance. [...] planning commission in the Charleston suburb of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, unanimously denied its Safdie-concieved proposal because it would exceed by 75 feet the elevation limit on land zoned for no more than 50 feet.

"Ultimately, it all came down to a lack of communication," writes Jolee Edmondson. "What has transpired in Mount Pleasant underscores the importance of builders engaging in community outreach before submitting a formal plan for public property. Safdie's design was unveiled in 2015, but it was mainly confined to the foundation's website."

Moshe Safdie discusses the donut-shaped Jewel addition to the Changi Airport in Singapore

2018-05-31T15:47:00-04:00

A 250-meter-long bouncing net three stories above ground. A 50-meter-long suspended bridge with glass-panel flooring. Walking trails amongst a lush jungle of animal-shaped topiaries in a five-story terraced garden. A 40-meter-tall waterfall cascading from an opening in a vaulted glass roof canopy. An art sculpture made up of four giant, integrated slides. And that's just scratching the surface.

Safdie Architects's $1.27 billion Jewel Changi is the latest addition to Singapore's impressive Changi Airport. This donut-shaped structure will function as a central hub connecting three of the airport's current four terminals. Safdie's design features five stories of retail, gardens and restaurants, as well as a hotel with a five-story underground parking lot.

Safdie Architects's Jewel Changi addition to the Singapore Changi Airport. Image: Jewel Changi Airport Devt.

The domed structure consists of glass panel latticework framed in steel, producing a delicate covering over the space and allowing in plenty of light for the expansive gardens within.

Jewel Changi by Safdie Architects section view.

Jewel Changi also boasts a large mall within the gardens to attract both visitors and locals, further solidifying the airport as not only a function of travel but also a destination. T...

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

2018-03-13T16:13:00-04:00

After half a century working in architecture, Moshe Safdie remains one of the world’s most influential modernists. Winner of the prestigious AIA Gold Medal, Safdie is known for his environmentally-ambitious projects and bold forms. In this new short video from the Time-Space-Existence series, produced by PLANE—SITE, Safdie ponders on his own legacy and that of his Habitat 67, the designs that will never be built, and what he believes has made his work so timeless.

Columbus Center (unbuilt). Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

National Library of Israel (unbuilt). Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Born in 1938 in Haifa, Moshe Safdie is an Israeli-Canadian architect, urban planner, and educator. After graduating in Architecture from McGill University in Montreal, Safdie was an apprentice to Louis Kahn. Safdie is most well-known for his iconic, cellular and prefabricated units for living, Habitat 67, designed early in his career in 1967. Shortly afterward, in 1970, he established a Jerusalem off...

Marina Bay Sands 2.0: Moshe Safdie sets record for tallest sky bridge with new "horizontal skyscraper" in Chongqing

2018-02-26T13:57:00-05:00

Construction of The Conservatory sky bridge has given Raffles City Chongqing the title of development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers. [...] Designed by Moshe Safdie, Raffles City Chongqing also consists of a 350-m supertall skyscraper, which currently holds two records for being China’s tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building.

Image: CapitaLand

If you thought Marina Bay Sands' sky bridge in Singapore was pretty impressive, hold your breath now for its younger, bigger sibling, Raffles City Chongqing, currently growing towards the sky in Central China.

Also designed by Safdie Architects, the 1.12 million sqm megadevelopment's centerpiece are four 250-tall skyscrapers holding up an enormous 300m-long and 30m-wide curved sky bridge—taller (of course) than its Singapore inspiration and now also holding the world record as the development with the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers.

Image: CapitaLand

To make the project further stand out, the developers also threw in a couple of supertall 350m-tall apartment towers—one of which already topped out and took the title of China's tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building.

Image: CapitaLand

"Hoisting the three middle steel segments of The Conservatory—each weighing up to 1,100 tons—to the designated height of 250 m marks a world firs...

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 ...

Archinect - News

Safdie Architects stacks vertical gardens in new Shanghai tower complex

Safdie Architects will expand Marina Bay Sands for 2029

Safdie Architects shares construction update for Crystal Bridges Museum expansion

Safdie Architects completes integrated Surbana Jurong Campus in Singapore

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

Your next job could be as a model maker at Safdie Architects

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

Moshe Safdie on making the iconic spaces that have defined his career

Moshe Safdie donates entire archive to McGill University

Safdie Architects completes Albert Einstein Education and Research Center in São Paulo

Wealth is cemented at the top as starchitects continue to see gains

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

Safdie Architects' design for the ORCA mega-development in downtown Toronto finally clears a major hurdle

Sir David Adjaye receives RIBA Gold Medal at illustrious virtual event

Moshe Safdie to expand Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art by 50%

Safdie Architects opens world's longest sky bridge in China

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing​ now (partially) open

Junkspace No More: Qatar's Plagiarism accusation highlights new status for airports

Planned cable-car network over Jerusalem divides the public

LAX ranked worst airport in the world; Safdie's new Singapore airport is best

The Jewel of Singapore, the newest addition to the Changi Airport dazzles visitors and locals alike

Moshe Safdie's glass Jewel at Changi Airport to open on April 17

Moshe Safdie's Chongqing megadevelopment—featuring the world's highest, tower-spanning sky bridge—reaches structural completion

Moshe Safdie's personal Habitat 67 unit completes major renovation

Moshe Safdie's National Medal of Honor Museum is off to a rocky start

Moshe Safdie discusses the donut-shaped Jewel addition to the Changi Airport in Singapore

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

Marina Bay Sands 2.0: Moshe Safdie sets record for tallest sky bridge with new "horizontal skyscraper" in Chongqing

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

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

Moshe Safdie-designed Raffles City Chongqing now (partially) open