Built for Expo 67, the world's fair in Montreal, this housing complex grew out of the master's thesis Moshe Safdie wrote at McGill University. He was given the project despite his youth and inexperience, an opportunity he later called "a fairy tale."
Habitat 67 is made of 354 identical prefabricated concrete boxes, stacked in different combinations into three pyramid-like clusters on the bank of the Saint Lawrence River. The stacking lets each home sit on the roof of the one below, so every apartment has at least one private garden terrace.
The original plan called for 1,200 homes, but funding allowed only a fraction of that. Since 1985 the complex has been owned by its residents, and it is a protected heritage building.
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