Habitat 67
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Habitat 67 is a housing complex and landmark located on the Marc-Drouin Quay on the Saint Lawrence River at 2600, Pierre Dupuy Avenue in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its design was created by architect Moshe Safdie based on his master's thesis at McGill University and built as part of Expo 67. (Coordinates: )
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[edit] History
Expo 67 was nicknamed "Man and his World", taken from Antoine de Saint Exupéry's memoir Terre des hommes, (literally "Land of Men"), translated as Wind, Sand and Stars. Housing was one of the main themes of Expo 67. Habitat 67 then became a thematic pavilion visited by thousands of visitors who came from around the world. During Expo 67 it was also the temporary residence of the many dignitaries coming to Montreal.
It was designed to integrate the variety and diversity of scattered private homes with the economics and density of a modern apartment building. Modular, interlocking concrete forms define the space. The project was designed to create affordable housing with close but private quarters, each equipped with a garden. The building was believed to illustrate the new lifestyle people would live in increasingly crowded cities around the world.[1]
The complex was originally meant to be vastly larger. Ironically, the building's units are now quite expensive from demand rather than "affordable" due to its architectural cachet. It is owned by its tenants who formed a limited partnership that purchased the building from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in 1985.
[edit] Adjacent surf spot
Habitat 67 has lent its name to a standing wave in the rapids adjacent to the complex, which has become a popular destination for river surfing[2][3].
[edit] Notes
- ^ Rémillard, 195.
- ^ Surf's Up from the Montreal Mirror
- ^ Habitat 67 Wave, from www.2imagine.net
[edit] References
- Rémillard, Francois. Montreal architecture: A Guide to Styles and Buildings. Montreal: Meridian Press, 1990.
- Weder, Adele (January–February 2008). "For Everyone A Garden". The Walrus 5 (1): 88–93. http://www.walrusmagazine.com/u/register/teaser.php?ref=2008.02-architecture-montreal-habitat.
[edit] External links
- Habitat 67 Then and Now from SORELLARIUM:13
- Habitat 67 Habitat 67 web site
- Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie and Associates web site
- Habitat 67 and the Expo 67
- McGill Habitat 67 web page (in the McGill Safdie Hypermedia Archive, an Industry Canada sponsored project)
- Habitat '67 Great Buildings Online
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