Habitat 67
I was looking for apartments for sale in Montreal when I found one located in Habitat 67. I hadn’t heard of the place before but now that I read about it I think it would be a really funky place to live in. Habitat 67 which is pictured above was built in 1967 but it looks like it could have been built today. Here is some info I found on it on Wikipedia.
It was designed by architect Moshe Safdie based on his master’s thesis at McGill University. It was designed to integrate the variety and diversity of scattered private homes with the economics and density of a modern apartment building. Modular, interlocking concrete forms define the space. The complex was built as part of Expo ‘67. The project was designed to create affordable housing with close but private quarters, each equipped with a garden. The complex was originally meant to be vastly larger. It also failed in its goal of being affordable as the building is today quite elite.
Anyway the apartment I found is a 3 bedroom flat and costs $399,000 Canadian. Its expensive for a 3 bedroom flat and I can’t afford it but its nice to know that a piece of architectural history can be purchased for that amount. Check out the Habitat 67 website for more pictures and info. [Link]
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20 Comments, add your own...
1. unknown | July 24th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Mark do you start to thinking about moving to Canada?
2. Mark | July 24th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
not now, but maybe sometime in the future like 5 years from now or something. been living in kuwait all my life so it would be good to try something new.
3. Dubai Sunshine | July 24th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
The location of these apartments is great too….in Nun’s Island, barely a 10-minute car ride from downtown.
I don’t know how big these are though from the inside…and given the recent hike in real estate prices in Montreal, I think $399,000 ain’t all that bad :)
4. Sven Patrick Larsen | July 24th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Habitat 67 was built as part of Expo ‘67, the World’s Fair that was held in Montreal in 1967 to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the founding of Canada.
It’s on an island off of the main island that Montreal is built on but it is connected to the city by a metro (subway). It’s also right next to the Grand Prix circuit so for one week of the year it would be fairly noisy!
5. moocherx | July 24th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
i wish someone would have the vision to try something like this in kuwait. I mean, it’s not like there isn’t enough concrete…
6. Marzouq | July 24th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
This style of building has been used greatly in Holland, I think it was developed in holland! they use it greatly, and I know an architect that knows how this system is developed, the point of it is that it can made very quickly, a good infrastructure, and it can be moved into different cube shapes as you see safely! its pretty cool! the one in holland is built over the water and it looks pretty damn cool!
7. DocXray | July 24th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Mark, you will be interested an article which appeared this morning on the CBC news: http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/07/23/safdie-resort-singapore.html. You should also be aware that during the past year, real estate prices in Canada have sky-rocketed. $399K for a 3-bedroom Habitat condo is no longer considered expensive. I would question why the price for a Habitat condo is so low!
Ray M
8. J | July 24th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
If u want to live here u need a car cause the neighborhood is sooo queit and gives u an isolated feeling from the downtown, although it’s just across the river. If u like queit instead of the bustling downtown I agree Nun’s island is a lot better.
9. Roba | July 24th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Awesome.
10. fractal00 | July 24th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
freaking awesome.. bas freakin expensive for 3 bedroom house
11. Marzouq | July 24th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
fractal that is cheap as hell! a two bed room town house costs 900′000 in santa clara california where I lived!
400′000 for a four bedroom is cheap is as hell!
12. diesel | July 24th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
Safdie is a very abled Israeli architect, but some architects like this particular building and some don’t. Its been described as being bulky and rigid in design. Tell us Mark on what you finally decide on.
13. Mark | July 24th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
? i wasnt considering of buying the flat lol i was just looking
14. A .Aldousari, MD | July 24th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
I happened to pass by it yesterday. It’s pretty cool. Every apartment functions like a private villa; no window is overlooking another window; each “villa” has its own backyard patio. And prices are really cheap for such apartment in Montreal.
What I did not like about it is the location. It lies in the closest part of Nun’s Island to Downtown Montreal, which is around 10-15 minute drive to the city. It is on a river, but unfortnatey, the segment of the river it overlooks is being used some factories for industrial transport purposes.
I’d suggest you look for an apartment in the mainland. Good luck.
Yours,
Abdulrahman
15. Delicately Realistic | July 24th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Funk-aaaaaaaaaaa-y!
16. princess | July 24th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
Speaking as an architect, I think this may be one of the best designed complexes in the world, especially since it was done in the late 60’s. Hat’s off to the architect! So LeCobusier
17. Equalizer | July 25th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
I think the design is definitely different, but nonetheless innefficient. The trend of “designer” real estate projects will in the future appear to be nothing but blobs of concrete and steel structures. The aesthetic part of design has to be timeless and culturally relative and sensitive to local architectural elements. To see such a blob of concrete in a beautiful, historic city like Montreal is in my view disastrous. This project might have a better place in Dubai, where local architectural footprints are wiped out by similar concrete and steel monstrosities. Like Vogue magazine puts it ” a skyline on crack”
18. barhim | July 30th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
salvck;;,nkkncc
19. Killer | October 4th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
There’s no way a 3 bedroom apartment there goes for $400k. It must be around $1 million. I saw an ad where they were renting a 2 bedroom for around $4k/mo.
20. Monett | January 11th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Some additional infos on this building.
Built in 1967 as part of Expo 67. This building is not located on Nun’s Island but on a manmade island right across old Montreal. No metro available there but a shuttle bus connects the building to downtown Montreal. Ride time is approximately 10 minutes.
Each cube is 600 sqare feet (55 sq.meters)
Appartments are usually configured as 2 or 3 cubes combination. Due to increase in real estate prices in Montreal the $400K is extremely conservative. In fact you would have to spend $475K-$600K for a two cube appartment in 2008. This price is in line with any other luxury building in Montreal. For more info and picture, go visit the official site of the building http://www.habitat67.com
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