Boxes upon boxes upon boxes
By Christa Terry
For some reason, these stacked apartments bring to mind a mainstream version of the redneck manse, but the reality is a touch more upscale than that. Habitat 67 in Montreal was built by architect Moshe Safdie as a prototype for affordable modular living spaces. Alas, the individual units–situated as they are on the Marc-Drouin Quay on the Saint Lawrence River–are now quite expensive. Pity, that.
This snapshot of Habitat 67 comes from a slideshow of gravity defying structures on PointClickHome. My favorites are the Cactus House in Rotterdam, Netherlands and the extreme tree house in Irian Jana, Indonesia. I should add that I wouldn’t even know about gravity defying houses if it weren’t for a wonderful blog that everyone should be checking out regularly, A Daily Dose of Architecture.
(I’d say more about everything and anything, but I’m tremendously sick. Bleah.)
April 30th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Funnily enough, this just doesn’t appeal to me the way the Redneck Manse did. I think it may be the fact that every unit is the same brown and it winds up looking a bit like a sculpture made of shoeboxes to me. It is, however, an interesting architechtural feat.
Perhaps if it was more colorful, it would appeal to me more.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:31 am
They also leak. And there’s no way to get anywhere from home except by car, which in Montreal is a pain in the ass.
Twistie, they look a whole lot less boring in person–they seem to receed and come forward, and the sunlight makes the browns all different shades. But still, given the price, plumbing and roofing issues, and the fact that a lot of the original spaces got chopped up into smaller apartments….nah.