Moshe Safdie: Top 10 Quotes

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Moshe Safdie is an Israeli, Canadian, and American architect and urban planner who considers himself a modernist. In honor of the outstanding master's birthday on July 14, PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA has collected his 10 best quotes about architecture and beyond.

Habitat 67, Montreal (Canada), 1967. Photo: Freien Lizenz

Architecture should be rooted in the past, but at the same time be a part of the present and focus on the future

Musée de la civilization. Quebec (Canada), 1987. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

Architecture has joined the world of fashion, but fashion goes and architecture is eternal


The Class of 1959 Chapel, Harvard Business School, Boston (USA), 1992. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

I think as an architect you need to understand the essence of the place and create a building that feels like it resonates with the culture of the place. So my buildings in India, Kansas City, Arkansas and Singapore are different because the places are very different

Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem (Israel), 1998. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

I want my buildings to take root and look like they've always been there. It is not about styling or imitating what is already there. It's about trying to mix the future and the past

Vancouver Library Square, Vancouver (Canada), 1995. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

I don't think I have a signature style that says, "This is Safdie." But I think star architects take the opportunity to go anywhere in the world to make silly buildings

Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum, Jerusalem (Israel), 2005. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

I think the greatest pleasure is when the building opens and the public takes over, you cut the umbilical cord and see the building take on a life of its own

Palm Jumeirah Gateway Mosque, Dubai (UAE), 2008. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

Architecture is not about creating the impossible, we can do it if we have enough money, tools and computers. It's about creating what's appropriate and achieving beauty through that approach

Kauffman Center for Performing Arts, Kansas City (USA), 2011. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

An artist, sculptor, writer can freely express their thoughts. They do not affect society in general. We build buildings that have a purpose, that stay there for hundreds of years or decades

Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, Singapore, 2011. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

Our idea of ​​an ideal place to live combines conflicting desires. We want to live in a small community that we can identify with, and yet we want all the amenities of a city of a million people. We want to have a very intense city life and at the same time we want open space close to us

Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore, 2018. Photo: safdiearchitects.com

He who seeks truth will find beauty. He who seeks beauty will find vanity. He who seeks order will find satisfaction. The pleasure seeker will be disappointed. He who considers himself a servant of his fellowmen will find the joy of self-expression. He who seeks self-expression will fall into the pit of arrogance