The Architecture of Moshe Safde Essay -- Architecture

Moshe Safdie is an architect who really examines how a building can shape an area. Not only how the space may look but its functionality, impact on the environment, and impact on the surrounding community. He seeks to engage and enrich the communities making unique and inviting spaces to fit the needs of each project. (Safdie Architects) One of Safdie's most well known buildings is Habitat 67 (or Habitat). The concept of Habitat began in Safdie's master's thesis. He submitted the idea to the 1967 World Exhibition and, when it was accepted, established his own firm to help see its completion. (Safdie Architects) A series of carefully planned and stacked concrete blocks, Habitat seeks to create a space where every resident of the apartments would have access to natural lighting and a private garden area. It was the building that launched Safdie into a very successful career at a fairly young age (being 29 when it was built). The use of natural light and intimate spaces inside larger vessels have carried throughout all his work regardless of exterior design. (TED) Due to his Jewish heritage and early success, he established a second office in Jerusalem in order to help restore the city. (Sheets) In 1976, one of the projects he received was an extension of Yad Vashem Holocaust museum to be dedicated to the one and a half million children that died during the Holocaust. He felt there were already so many museums dedicated to information about the Holocaust that he wanted to take a different approach to this one. Instead of old clothing and drawings of the survivors, he proposed they tunnel into the hill to a cave below and using images such as photographs and a single candle to convey the heaviness of the loss of the children. T... ...ometimes I don't like the messages I see, pieces such as Serrano's Piss Christ conveys a message that a Jackson Pollack just doesn't. Pendulums can only swing so far before they come back. The art world, like everything, reflects this. It seems the reverse has already began in many ways though only the future will say for sure. Works Cited Arc Space. 1 August 2005. 1 June 2012 . Architect's Newspaper. 1 June 2012 . Safdie Architects. 31 May 2012 . Saieh, Nico. ArchDaily. 26 July 2010. 1 June 2012 . Sheets, Hilarie M. "Architectural Extrovert." ARTnews April 2011: 60-63. TED. March 2002. 31 May 2012 . The Architecture of Moshe Safde Essay -- Architecture Moshe Safdie is an architect who really examines how a building can shape an area. Not only how the space may look but its functionality, impact on the environment, and impact on the surrounding community. He seeks to engage and enrich the communities making unique and inviting spaces to fit the needs of each project. (Safdie Architects) One of Safdie's most well known buildings is Habitat 67 (or Habitat). The concept of Habitat began in Safdie's master's thesis. He submitted the idea to the 1967 World Exhibition and, when it was accepted, established his own firm to help see its completion. (Safdie Architects) A series of carefully planned and stacked concrete blocks, Habitat seeks to create a space where every resident of the apartments would have access to natural lighting and a private garden area. It was the building that launched Safdie into a very successful career at a fairly young age (being 29 when it was built). The use of natural light and intimate spaces inside larger vessels have carried throughout all his work regardless of exterior design. (TED) Due to his Jewish heritage and early success, he established a second office in Jerusalem in order to help restore the city. (Sheets) In 1976, one of the projects he received was an extension of Yad Vashem Holocaust museum to be dedicated to the one and a half million children that died during the Holocaust. He felt there were already so many museums dedicated to information about the Holocaust that he wanted to take a different approach to this one. Instead of old clothing and drawings of the survivors, he proposed they tunnel into the hill to a cave below and using images such as photographs and a single candle to convey the heaviness of the loss of the children. T... ...ometimes I don't like the messages I see, pieces such as Serrano's Piss Christ conveys a message that a Jackson Pollack just doesn't. Pendulums can only swing so far before they come back. The art world, like everything, reflects this. It seems the reverse has already began in many ways though only the future will say for sure. Works Cited Arc Space. 1 August 2005. 1 June 2012 . Architect's Newspaper. 1 June 2012 . Safdie Architects. 31 May 2012 . Saieh, Nico. ArchDaily. 26 July 2010. 1 June 2012 . Sheets, Hilarie M. "Architectural Extrovert." ARTnews April 2011: 60-63. TED. March 2002. 31 May 2012 .