Habitat

Chiamattt: 6th Jun 2007 - 00:42 GMT

I seem to remember being inside one of the units at Habitat67. I think an aunt or some sort of distant relative I don't see anymore lived there. They are cool. I wonder why more places like that aren't built?

jeeff: 6th Jun 2007 - 04:59 GMT

lucky you. there are lots of 'no trespassing' signs now, so i didn't get too close. i agree tho, i wonder why this type of design hasn't been pursued. you get high density without the stifling sameness and alienating anonymity (!) of traditional apartment buildings. computer modelling makes this kind of thing infinitely easier since 1967, and advances in materials/green technology mean that you wouldn't be limited to concrete boxes.

CE: 6th Jun 2007 - 05:17 GMT

The design proved too expensive to be produced on a mass scale and would therefore fail in its goal to make affordable housing. It takes a lot of material to make each one of those boxes.

celeste: 14th Jul 2007 - 01:34 GMT

annnnd it's super expensive to heat them in winter. if i remember right the architecht is from israel (i think jerusalem) and there's another one there, and one in barcelona maybe? something like that.
they work better in warm places.

KTMTL: 24th Jan 2008 - 17:27 GMT

The architect, Moshe Safdie, was born in Israel but he grew up in Montreal. Habitat 67 was based his master's thesis at McGil..

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Safdie