Habitat 67 is a housing complex and familiar landmark located in Montreal, Canada. The complex was built as part of Expo’67 – one of the world’s largest universal expositions. Its striking design was created by architect Moshe Safdie based on his master’s thesis at McGill University. 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.

Habitat is a model community constructed along the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, composed of 354 prefabricated modules which combination form a three-dimensional space structure. The modules, or “boxes” as they are known, are connected in varying combination to create 158 residences ranging from 600 ft2 to 1,700 ft2.  Moshe Safdie’s creation — a four-block-long row of 158 prefabricated rectangular houses stacked seemingly randomly in a pyramid — is both highly praised and harshly criticized by architects, planners and politicians. “Safdie’s dwelling complex “Habitat” was designed to give “privacy, fresh air, sunlight and suburban amenities in an urban location.” It was designed as a permanent settlement and consists of 158 dwellings, although originally it was intended to provide 1,000 units. The resulting ziggurat was made up of independent prefabricated boxes with fifteen different plan types.”
— Dennis Sharp. Twentieth Century Architecture: a Visual History. p281.