Habitat, Montreal 1967

Habitat is a mega structure built of 158 randomly stacked, modular concrete box houses. The method and type of this structure were seen to be the way of the future.

Moshe Safdie designed this mega structure for the Montreal Expo of 1967. In an early phase of design, the structure consisted of a structural skeleton into which the boxes would be inserted. Later in the design process, this was modified so that the boxes were stacked in a stepped, ziggurat-like profile.

The result was an eleven-storey disorderly array of boxes resembling Italian hill towns.

365 modular units make up 15 different apartment sizes varying from 600-1800 sq. ft. to total 158 apartments in all. (Initially, Safdie planned on 900 apartments.) Each apartment has a roof garden and playgrounds and "pedestrian streets" interspersed between the complex formation. Core structural elements house elevators and secure the units through tension rods and cables.

Safdie's intention was for this to become the prototype for new methods of housing construction; however the cost and time associated with building this structure showed it not be an improvement from traditional methods. Though certainly, the innovations of Habitat are necessary for further studies in prefabricated construction methods, they are still in need of greater development to be feasible.

I think a success of this building is how it is a high density development without the monotony and banality of many similar developments. The roof gardens and the ever-changing vistas and perspectives create a dynamic and harmonious assemblage. Habitat is said to be simple and disciplined in its parts but complex and chaotic in its whole. Thus, Habitat, becomes an interesting social study as much as it is a study of method.

In the mega scale, modular buildings could be integrated into and even become cities--one giant structure built of stacked blocks. The adaptabiliy in terms of customization and size of these modules would allow for several activities to coexist wihin the same network. Transportation would occur within and on the megastructure that holds all the modules in place.