Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie, CC, FAIAis an Israeli/Canadian/American architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. He is most identified with Habitat 67, which paved the way for his international career...
NationalityIsraeli
ProfessionArchitect
Date of Birth14 July 1938
CountryIsrael
architecture arrogance considers fall fellow himself joy nature pit seeks servant shall truth universe
He who seeks truth, shall find beauty. He who seeks beauty, shall find vanity. He who seeks order, shall find gratification.He who seeks gratification, shall find disappointment. He who considers himself a servant of his fellow beings,shall find joy of self expression. He who seeks self expression, shall fall to the pit of arrogance. Arrogance is incompatible with nature. Through nature, the nature of the universe and the nature of man,we shall seek truth. If we seek truth we shall find beauty.
architecture faster profession
Architecture is changing faster than some other professions.
fashion world architecture
Architecture has joined the world of fashion, but fashion is passing and architecture is timeless.
architecture urban worthy
We are producing urban places which are disjointed and disconnected and not worthy of our civilisation
past architecture should
Architecture should be rooted in the past, and yet be part of our own time and forward looking.
attempt diplomat expansive inherited life lower mediator mission narrative portion represents site structure symbolic weave
We inherited a site with a large, bunker-like structure and made every attempt to weave it into the narrative of the project. The lower portion of the building, with its militaristic past, represents the first portion of Rabin's life as a warrior. The upper portion of the building, with its mission of education, its expansive views, and symbolic dove's wings, represents the diplomat and mediator that he became.
bringing combining daylight dollars greatly improve millions project save street
Bringing it to street level, combining it with a park, you bring daylight into it. It's airy. So we save tens of millions of dollars and greatly improve the project experience.
I have a passion for libraries. They are potentially real community centers.
except gulf hard israeli negatively persian projects
Except for the projects in Israel, my being Israeli has contributed negatively to my global activity. It is hard for me, for example, to get projects in the Persian Gulf emirates.
anywhere architects opportunity produce seized star
I don't think I have a signature style that announces, 'This is a Safdie.' But I think star architects have seized an opportunity to go anywhere in the world to produce meaningless buildings.
country environment
I grew up in a country where the environment was very social justice-oriented.
A house is not a machine! It's something else for living - but not a machine.
affect express society stay
A painter, a sculptor, a writer, they can express freely. They don't affect society as a whole. We build buildings that have a purpose, that stay there for hundreds of years or decades.
countries history
Countries and places have a history, a story, and a culture.