Habitat 67

해비타트 67

Habitat 67 is a housing complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on the bank of the Saint Lawrence River. It looks like a pile of concrete boxes stacked at odd angles, and it was designed by the young architect Moshe Safdie for Expo 67, the world's fair held in Montreal in 1967.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Country: Canada
Location: Montreal, Canada
Built: 1967

Quick answers

Where is Habitat 67?

Habitat 67 is in Montreal, Canada.

When was Habitat 67 built?

Habitat 67 was built in 1967.

An experimental housing complex of stacked concrete boxes, built for Expo 67.

It is made of 354 identical prefabricated concrete modules, each about 11.7 metres long, 5.3 metres wide and 3 metres high. They are arranged in three pyramid-like groups up to 12 storeys high, and combined into 146 homes of different sizes. Each home has its own roof garden on top of the neighbour below.

From a student project to Expo 67

The idea began as Safdie's master's thesis at McGill University. He wanted to bring the best features of a house, like gardens and privacy, into a dense apartment building. When Montreal prepared for Expo 67, he proposed his thesis as a pavilion and was given the project despite his youth. The plan first called for 1,200 homes, but money was limited, so a much smaller version of about 158 apartments was built.

Living in a landmark

The modules were made in a factory next to the site and lifted into place, an idea meant to make good housing cheaper. The complex cost roughly 22 million Canadian dollars and was paid for by the federal government. In 1985 the tenants formed a partnership and bought the building, so the residents now own it. Habitat 67 is considered an architectural landmark of Montreal.