International Architecture to Be Exhibited at Its Home Base

Safdie’s hypothetical Habitat of the Future. Image courtesy of Safdie Architects.

World-renowned architect Moshe Safdie’s design philosophy can be described in two words: progressive contextualism.

Defined as “the belief that a building should be an extension of its physical, historical, and cultural environments,” this concept will help to illustrate Safdie’s growth throughout his career in an upcoming exhibit at the BSA Space entitled Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie.

Safdie, who was born in Israel, is an urban planner, architect, author, and teacher all rolled into one. After graduating from McGill University in 1961, he went on to oversee the plan for Montreal’s 1967 World Exhibition, and later worked to reshape the city of Jerusalem. Safdie brought his architecture firm to Somerville in 1978, where it is presently based.

Moshe Safdie designed the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. Image by Timothy Hursley.

The BSA’s exhibit will showcase more than 100 of Safdie’s works spanning five decades, from his formative period in the 1960s and early 1970s to his most recent projects. While the exhibition is divided into five parts, its concluding section, called “Habitat of the Future,” builds on two years of Safdie’s design research. The hypothetical creation is a reimagining of a housing complex Safdie built in 1967, and proposes new strategies to address population density in cities.

Various sketches, drawings, photographs, videos, and scale models will be on display, depicting some of Safdie’s most notable works. They include the United States Institute of Peace Headquarters in Washington D.C., the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, and others.

In 2015, Safdie was awarded the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects—the highest AIA honor.

“We are delighted to have Global Citizen exhibited in our hometown of Boston, a city we have called home for the last 36 years,” said Safdie in a release. “We are particularly happy that it is at BSA Space where we can share our work across the globe with our Boston colleagues.”

“Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie” will be on view at the BSA Space from March 16 through May 22.

United States Institute of Peace, Washington D.C. Image by Timothy Hursley.

Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, Jeruslaem. View at end of prison. Image by Timothy Hursley.