Moshe Safdie: The Latest Architecture and News

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Safdie Architects has officially opened the new campus headquarters for Surbana Jurong, Singapore’s leading architecture, urban design, and infrastructure firm. The project expands Safdie Architects’ vision of 'for everyone a garden' into the workplace with a design that draws on the tranquility of the site’s previously undeveloped natural setting to foster shared moments of engagement and creativity. Achieving Green Mark (Super Low Energy) certification, the campus is the flagship development of the emerging Jurong Innovation District, envisioned as the first business park set in a tropical rainforest.

The development marks Safdie Architects' sixth project in Singapore and enhances the firm's prominent built portfolio in the city-state, which already includes Marina Bay Sands, Sky Habitat, and the Jewel at Changi Airport. On the occasion of the opening, ArchDaily spoke to Charu Kokate, Partner at Safdie Architects, who leads efforts in the Singapore region, about the firm's unique development footprint and building philosophy.

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Marina Bay Sands has unveiled plans for a significant expansion project to be designed by Safdie Architects, led by Moshe Safdie, the architect of the existing structure. Featuring a luxury hotel and a 15,000-seat entertainment arena, the new intervention signals a new development phase in the evolution of the iconic landmark in Singapore. Anticipated to commence construction by July 2025, the project is slated for completion by July 2029, promising an array of new amenities and facilities for visitors to enjoy.

Habitat 67, designed by the Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie as the Canadian Pavilion for the World Exposition of 1967, was originally intended as an experimental solution for high-quality housing in dense urban environments. Safdie explored the possibilities of prefabricated modular units to reduce housing costs and allow for a new housing typology that could integrate the qualities of a suburban home into an urban high-rise.

Reflecting on the project’s significance in “A look back at habitat ’67” Safdie stated that “Habitat ‘67 is really two ideas in one. One is about prefabrication, and the other is about rethinking apartment-building design in the new paradigm.” [1]

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From October 2022 through January 2, 2023, The Boston Architectural College (BAC) and Safdie Architects will display the most groundbreaking unbuilt projects by Moshe Safdie. With Intention to Build showcases the architect's creative process throughout the 55 years of his career, including models, drawings, and various texts and photographs. The exhibition provides context and tells the story behind these radical unrealized designs that have influenced projects such as Habitat 67 in Montreal, Canada, and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

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Singapore has emerged as a global design center. As a city-state and island country in Southeast Asia, the Lion City is home to a new class of high-rise buildings, gardens and iconic landmarks. While the design world is familiar with structures like the Safdie's Jewel Changi Airport or OMA's Interlace, Singapore has also built a range of new public and civic buildings alongside extensive land reclamation projects.

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By now an architectural classic, Safdie’s Habitat ’67 represents a highly influential vision for a community-oriented, nature-infused urban housing model, and at the same time, a critical example of the possibilities of prefabrication. Fifty years after the design of Habitat ’67, Safdie is still exploring this vision of urban living, further developing the concept with projects such as Altair Residences, Qorner Tower and Habitat Qinhuangdao. Rooted in the architect’s motto - “for everyone a garden”, the new projects capitalise on outdoor terraces, natural light and ventilation, as well as communal spaces.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has announced plans for a major expansion by Safdie Architects in Arkansas. The new addition will increase the size of the current facilities by 50 percent, adding nearly 100,000 square feet to the 200,000-square-foot facility. The expansion will showcase the museum's growing collection and provide space for educational and outreach initiatives, cultural programming, and community events.

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A new webcast and podcast series, Design Disruption, has been launched by architectural writer Sam Lubell and social entrepreneur Prathima Manohar. In a partnership with ArchDaily, the first episode today at 11 am (EST) on ArchDaily, YouTube and Facebook. This episode explores high density housing with guests Moshe Safdie, founder of Safdie Architects, and Ma Yansong, founder of MAD architects. The goal of the series is to provide an international perspective on disruptive issues with guests from different continents.

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Safdie Architects’ entry for the Abrahamic Family House competition located in the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, in Abu Dhabi, brings together a mosque, a synagogue, and a church within a shared public park.

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Designed by BIG, in collaboration with Allied and Westbank, KING Toronto portrays architecture’s ability to create a community and meet the challenges faced by society nowadays. Located in Canada’s King Street West neighborhood, the project is a direct response to the context.

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Safdie Architects has completed construction of the world's tallest indoor waterfall in Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport. Featuring a lush indoor forest and a green trail of airport amenities, the Jewel Changi Airport was designed to reinvent the concourse as a public attraction. The project was built with a torus-shaped glass dome the includes an oculus at its center. Dubbed the Rain Vortex, the oculus allows water to cascade into the airport.

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Safdie Architects have announced an expansion to the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore. Linking to the existing resort and waterfront development, the project takes cues from the original three hotel towers completed in 2011. Safdie Architects will expand the existing resort with a new stand-alone hotel tower with about 1,000 suites and its own sky roof and swimming pool, as well as a 15,000-seat music arena.

Safdie Architects have unveiled details of their proposed corporate headquarters for Surbana Jurong in Singapore. The scheme seeks to reflect the mission of Surbana Jurong (Singapore’s leading architecture, urban design, and infrastructure firm) of characterizing Singapore as the “Garden City.” Located on a previously undeveloped site, the campus will “integrate harmoniously with its natural landscape” while also offering over 740,000 square feet of space for the firm’s 4000 employees. The scheme marks the first initiative for the Safdie Surbana Jurong joint venture, which was established in 2017 to develop innovative and iconic projects in Asia-Pacific.

The scheme manifests as a series of treehouse-like pavilions united by a central pedestrian “street,” all shaped by a careful examination of, and respect for, the site’s existing trees and unique flora. The result is a distinctive network of offices embedded within surrounding parkland, with the glazed pedestrian street interweaving interior and exterior landscapes.

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Moshe Safdie has been named the laureate for the 2019 Wolf Prize for Architecture. The award recognizes a winner in either painting, music, sculpture, or architecture. As one of Israel’s most prestigious international awards, the prize is bestowed upon luminaries for their accomplishments in advancing science and art for the benefit of humanity. The jury cited Safdie’s exemplary career motivated by the social concerns of architecture and his formal experimentation.