By Canadian Press

Renowned architect Moshe Safdie gifts archive and Habitat 67 condo unit to McGill

Aug 23, 2022 | 9:45 AM

MONTREAL — Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie is donating his professional archive to McGill University, including his thesis that led to the Habitat 67 apartment complex in Montreal.

McGill says the collection is composed of more than 100,000 items including sketchbooks, models, drawings and correspondence related to unbuilt and built projects across the globe.

It also includes the master copy of the McGill undergraduate thesis that inspired his design for Habitat 67, which was created for Expo 67 — the 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal — and remains one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks.

Safdie is also donating his own personal unit in the visually striking complex of offset, stacked concrete cubes and interconnected walkways that he designed as a way of reimagining apartment living.

The 84-year-old has gone on to design many other notable projects including the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa; the Musée de la civilization, in Quebec City; the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum, in Jerusalem; and the United States Institute of Peace, in Washington, D.C.

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Safdie says in a statement that his McGill education has guided him throughout his professional life and that he wanted to give back to the school and to Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2022.

The Canadian Press