Moshe Safdie

Moshe Safdie is an architect, urban planner, educator, and author. Over a celebrated 50-year career, Safdie has explored the essential principles of socially responsible design through a comprehensive and humane design philosophy. Safdie’s projects can be found in North and South America, the Middle East and throughout Asia. He graduated from McGill University in Montreal in 1961 and later apprenticed with Louis I. Kahn in Philadelphia.

After returning to Montreal to oversee the master plan for the 1967 World Exposition (Expo 67), Safdie established his own firm in 1964 to realize Habitat '67, an adaptation of his undergraduate thesis and a turning point in modern architecture. This modular housing complex brought him international acclaim and established his reputation as an innovator.

Over the following decades, Safdie's practice expanded globally. His diverse portfolio includes cultural, educational, and civic institutions; neighborhoods and public parks; housing; mixed-use urban centers; and airports, as well as master plans for existing communities and entirely new cities. His projects are known for their strong geometry, integration with landscape, and commitment to enhancing community and uplifting the human spirit.

Among his most iconic works are the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Vancouver Library Square, the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore.

Safdie has been the recipient of numerous awards, honorary degrees, and civil honors. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada and has received the Gold Medal from both the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the American Institute of Architects (2015). In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize in Architecture, recognized for a career motivated by the social concerns of architecture and formal experimentation. He has also received the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

A dedicated educator, Safdie has taught at McGill, Yale, and Ben Gurion Universities, and served as the Ian Woodner Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at Harvard University, where he also directed the Urban Design Program. He is the author of several influential books, including Beyond Habitat (1970), For Everyone a Garden (1974), The City After the Automobile (1997), and his recent memoir, If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture (2022).

Safdie's design philosophy is deeply rooted in the belief that architecture is a social force for good. He often refers to the "silent client"—the people who live, work, and experience a building—emphasizing that their needs must guide the design process. His work continues to inspire architects and urban planners worldwide.