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
children growing-up sleep
I want my children to be able to meet and play and communicate with many other children on their own, not only when they are driven somewhere. I want them to grow up in an environment that is not just a place where people sleep but where people work.. and where people enjoy themselves.
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.
cities contribute enormous oppressive vast
We live in a complicated, oppressive world with enormous cities and vast populations, and I try to contribute by making it more light and open and calm.
article identity israeli written
My identity is always at the forefront, and I also think that every article that is written about me refers to me as an Israeli architect.
adapting blend future root trying
I want my buildings to take root and look as if they've always been there. It isn't about pastiche or adapting what's already there. It's about trying to blend the future and the past.
area
This is going to make the whole area airy, exciting, green, a place they want to be in.