Habitat 67
Moshe Safdie'S Housing Complex For Expo 67, Built From 354 Stacked Prefabricated Concrete Modules; A Permanently Occupied Private Residence And One Of The Most Recognisable Buildings In Canada · Montreal, Quebec
MOSHE SAFDIE WAS TWENTY-FIVE AND HAD JUST FINISHED HIS ARCHITECTURE THESIS when Expo 67 built it. Habitat 67 is THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR IDENTICAL PREFABRICATED CONCRETE BOXES, cast on site and stacked in a stepped, apparently improvised pile so that every one of the hundred and fifty-eight apartments gets a garden on the roof of the one below and light from several directions. The idea was mass-producible housing that gave apartment dwellers what suburbs gave everyone else. The economics never worked and it was never repeated, which is the tragedy and the reason it is famous: it is a prototype with no production run. It is also NOW AN EXPENSIVE PRIVATE CONDOMINIUM AND PEOPLE LIVE IN IT - you cannot wander in, and the residents are tired of being photographed. Look at it from the outside, which is the correct way to see it anyway.
2600 avenue Pierre-Dupuy, Cite du Havre, Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
THERE ARE NO VISITOR HOURS BECAUSE THERE IS NO PUBLIC ACCESS. HABITAT 67 IS A PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING, occupied full-time, and the interior, the terraces and the walkways are all private property - DO NOT WALK IN. The building is seen from the outside, from the public road and paths around Cite du Havre, from the Old Port across the water, and from the river; all of that is free and open at any time. GUIDED TOURS HAVE RUN OCCASIONALLY AND IN VERY LIMITED NUMBERS, usually in summer, sometimes including one apartment - these sell out immediately, are not a standing programme, and should be confirmed rather than assumed. Some architecture festivals and open-house weekends have included it. Boat tours of the Old Port pass close and are the best view most people will get.