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If Walls Could Speak
One of the world’s greatest and most thoughtful architects recounts his extraordinary career and the iconic structures he has built—from Habitat in Montreal to Marina Bay Sands in Singapore—and offers a manifesto for the role architecture should play in society
Over more than five decades, legendary architect Moshe Safdie has built some of the world’s most influential and memorable structures—from the 1967 modular housing scheme in Montreal known as “Habitat” and the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel, to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas and the Marina Bay Sands development and extraordinary Jewel Changi airport interior garden and waterfall in Singapore. For Safdie, the way a space functions is fundamental; he is deeply committed to architecture as a social force for good, believing that any challenge, including extreme population density and environmental distress, can be addressed with solutions that enhance community and uplift the human spirit. Safdie always refers to the “silent client” an architect must ultimately serve: the people who live, work in, or experience a building.
If Walls Could Speak takes readers behind the veil of an essential yet mysterious profession to explain through Safdie’s own experiences how an architect thinks and works—“from the spark of imagination through the design process, the model-making, the politics, the engineering, the materials.” Relating memorable stories about what has inspired him—from childhoods in Israel and Montreal to the projects and personalities worldwide that have captured his imagination—Safdie reveals the complex interplay that underpins every project and his vision for the role architecture can and should play in society at large. Illustrated throughout with drawings, sketches, photographs, and documents from his firm’s voluminous archives that illuminate his stories, If Walls Could Speak ends with a chapter outlining seven projects Safdie would pursue around the world if resources and will were no issue and the choices were his to make.
A book like no other, If Walls Could Speak will forever change the way you look at and appreciate any built structure.
Over more than five decades, legendary architect Moshe Safdie has built some of the world’s most influential and memorable structures—from the 1967 modular housing scheme in Montreal known as “Habitat” and the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel, to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas and the Marina Bay Sands development and extraordinary Jewel Changi airport interior garden and waterfall in Singapore. For Safdie, the way a space functions is fundamental; he is deeply committed to architecture as a social force for good, believing that any challenge, including extreme population density and environmental distress, can be addressed with solutions that enhance community and uplift the human spirit. Safdie always refers to the “silent client” an architect must ultimately serve: the people who live, work in, or experience a building.
If Walls Could Speak takes readers behind the veil of an essential yet mysterious profession to explain through Safdie’s own experiences how an architect thinks and works—“from the spark of imagination through the design process, the model-making, the politics, the engineering, the materials.” Relating memorable stories about what has inspired him—from childhoods in Israel and Montreal to the projects and personalities worldwide that have captured his imagination—Safdie reveals the complex interplay that underpins every project and his vision for the role architecture can and should play in society at large. Illustrated throughout with drawings, sketches, photographs, and documents from his firm’s voluminous archives that illuminate his stories, If Walls Could Speak ends with a chapter outlining seven projects Safdie would pursue around the world if resources and will were no issue and the choices were his to make.
A book like no other, If Walls Could Speak will forever change the way you look at and appreciate any built structure.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published September 20, 2022
49 people are currently reading
393 people want to read
About the author
Moshe Safdie
25 books16 followersMoshe Safdie was born in Haifa, Israel to a Syrian Jewish family. His family moved to Montreal, Canada, in 1953. In 1959, Safdie married Nina Nusynowicz. The couple had two children, a daughter and a son. His son Oren Safdie is a playwright who has written several plays about architecture including Private Jokes, Public Places.[2] His daughter Taal is an architect in San Diego, a partner of the firm Safdie Rabines Architects.[3]
In 1961, Safdie graduated from McGill University with a degree in architecture. In 1981, Safdie married Michal Ronnen, a photographer, with whom he has two daughters, Carmelle and Yasmin. Carmelle Safdie is an artist, and Yasmin Safdie is a social worker. Safdie is the uncle of Dov Charney, founder and former CEO of American Apparel.
In 1961, Safdie graduated from McGill University with a degree in architecture. In 1981, Safdie married Michal Ronnen, a photographer, with whom he has two daughters, Carmelle and Yasmin. Carmelle Safdie is an artist, and Yasmin Safdie is a social worker. Safdie is the uncle of Dov Charney, founder and former CEO of American Apparel.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 30, 2022
⭐️ 4.8/5
I've visited a few places designed by Moshe Safdie, and I was very excited to see his memoir available on NetGelley! In short, the book is great if, like me, you enjoy reading memoirs and have an interest in architecture.
If Walls Could Speak covers the life of Moshe Safdie, the six decades as an architect in particular, in chronological order. As an Israeli, Safdie also includes some discussion over his views on history, culture, politics, and their relationship with his career in the book.
I have visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Marina Bay Sands and Jewel Airport in Singapore, and I really enjoy those chapters in particular. At the same time, one part I like a lot is Safdie's comments on his works and the stories behind them. The book also includes a chapter talking about the "What If?" in architectural design which I find interesting to summarize the book.
Despite my limited knowledge of renowned architects and their works, it is a delightful journey to explore different phases of Safdie's career across the Americas and Asia (and his mentors, of course). The book is well-written with photos and archives from past projects. Definitely would be a plus if you have the chance to acquire a physical copy!
Thank you NetGalley & publisher for the advance read copy, and my review is provided voluntarily.
I've visited a few places designed by Moshe Safdie, and I was very excited to see his memoir available on NetGelley! In short, the book is great if, like me, you enjoy reading memoirs and have an interest in architecture.
If Walls Could Speak covers the life of Moshe Safdie, the six decades as an architect in particular, in chronological order. As an Israeli, Safdie also includes some discussion over his views on history, culture, politics, and their relationship with his career in the book.
I have visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Marina Bay Sands and Jewel Airport in Singapore, and I really enjoy those chapters in particular. At the same time, one part I like a lot is Safdie's comments on his works and the stories behind them. The book also includes a chapter talking about the "What If?" in architectural design which I find interesting to summarize the book.
Despite my limited knowledge of renowned architects and their works, it is a delightful journey to explore different phases of Safdie's career across the Americas and Asia (and his mentors, of course). The book is well-written with photos and archives from past projects. Definitely would be a plus if you have the chance to acquire a physical copy!
Thank you NetGalley & publisher for the advance read copy, and my review is provided voluntarily.
November 1, 2022
Bursting with grandeur and humanity (“megascale” architectural projects spanning five continents over fifty-fifty years): This is one of the most inspirational books I’ve ever read.
It’s also one of the most soulful – “regardless of what one thinks of the word ‘soul’” – writes architectural genius and visionary Moshe Safdie, 84, in his monumental memoir If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture. One takeaway is his asking us: When did we stop dreaming “big”?
“Unable to design in a manner that considers the benefit of the few at the expense of many,” Safdie, in essence, is asking why we always talk about what’s wrong? Why not talk about ideas to make things right, to improve the “quality” of lives? In his case, around the world. The purpose of his life’s work.
A handsome book, suffused with black-and-white sketches and illustrations of structures envisioned and realized, as well as colorful photographs, treats us to an abundance of eye-popping, fantastically complex architectural visions, projects, and stories of how they came about. A “melting-pot” mindset aimed at advancing an “exemplary public realm” in different cities, cultures, and countries on most continents on the planet.
So why isn’t his name on the tip of all our tongues? A mystery in a book intended to demystify the “mysterious” profession of architecture. “There is mystery at the heart of architecture just as there is mystery in the meaning of life,” Safdie lyrically writes. Considering architecture is “a mission, and an architect has a responsibility (to clients, to society) that transcends the self,” there will always be a mystique about creativity and spirituality.
Safdie is an ideal messenger for infusing a sense of soulfulness, spirituality in every socially-minded project he takes on.
Grounded in Israeli values of society above self, he was born in Haifa, Israel when it was governed by the British Mandate for Palestine and when Israel became an independent nation in 1948, “an extraordinary experience.” Even as a boy he “loved domes. There is a spiritual element, I am sure – circularity symbolizes unity.” In chapters titled “Old City, New City,” “Faith and Peace,” “Does God Live There,” and throughout his life’s story, Safdie has sought to “create places of spiritual uplift.” None more profound than designing the Children’s and Transport Memorials on the Yad Vashem Memorial Site (and the Yad Vashem History Museum he redesigned) in Jerusalem to honor the estimated one-and-half to two million children who perished during the Holocaust. (His mother-in-law, a Hungarian Jew, survived the Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp.)
Eyeing a “natural rock archway” on the “ridge of the Mount of Remembrance,” his team dug into, under, and across those hills brilliantly “creating a large chamber as a place of reflection.” An underground room in which a candle flickered and twinkled like millions of stars in the heavens symbolizing each of the children who vanished. The Transport Memorial is chilling too, seeing “one of the freight cars that carted people to the death camps” high on a hill.
For drastically different “building art” with a spiritual quality take a look at his Infinity Pool at the Marina Bay Sands hotel resort complex in Singapore:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/greenke...
An example of a project yet to come to fruition is in Abu Dhabi expanding the sacred dimension, the Abrahamic Family House. “A complex that would incorporate a mosque, a church, and a synagogue.”
While it would be easy to devote this entire review to Safdie’s mind-boggling, wide-ranging, and “far-reaching” projects described in chapters structured around them, this memoir is SO much more than even that. A few more images below to give you more of a sense of the magnitude, diversity, and uniqueness of the work of Safdie Architects (architecture is a highly collaborative process), to include museums; historical/cultural/religious/peace centers; public/island/Arctic housing complexes; libraries; academic/government properties; and airports.
In 1953, Safdie’s family left Israel for Montreal, Canada when conflicts between Arabs and Israelis intensified. He’s also a US citizen, living near Harvard where he teaches at their Graduate School of Design and Safdie Architects is based (offices in Israel and Canada too). Having lived in different cultures on different continents, and studied and traveled to a slew of other nations, his life is as rich and extraordinary as his groundbreaking work. He’s met, worked with, and befriended people from many walks of life – famous architects, presidents, prime ministers, royalty, diplomats, artists, writers, journalists, corporate leaders, developers, composers, and musicians. The story of Yo-Yo-Ma playing his cello in Safdie’s redesigned (within limits) 1753 historic home in Cambridge, Massachusetts is one of many joys he expresses. (He seems almost amazed himself at how opening higher-to-the-sky glass windows in his living room created even more “dynamism” than the space already had.) Another relationship, with Yitzhak and Leah Rabin, is movingly described.
Actually, everything in this book moves us in one way or another.
Safdie says architecture “thinks in three dimensions,” mixing math, engineering, and spatial skills with aesthetic, artistic ones. Yet, he also says, “Every aspect of knowledge and life – the sciences, the social sciences, the humanities – can come into play in the course of creating a building.” It’s these higher-purpose dimensions that touch us deeply about a man who comes across as feeling things deeply. These we might call socially conscious, environmental, philosophical, and spiritual dimensions.
When Safdie describes himself as a “modernist architect” as opposed to a postmodernist, a trend he bucked for a “permissiveness” that led to structures that lacked meaning, he embraces these added dimensions. How to explain how uplifting to be introduced to a man who sticks to his principles and values time and time again? You see this in the way he approaches opportunities for all his projects, even in countries like China, Iran, and the Philippines where he questions whether he should “work for any regime with whose governance” goes against his democratic values? If he sees “ordinary people” can gain something he proceeds.
For instance, a project in China on a site called Emperor’s Landing, “a quintessential megaproject” on the scale of lower Manhattan, allowed an opportunity to break ground in a country closed off to most. It’s also a striking example of what Safdie refers to as “multi-use” projects within an urban design.
Safdie’s fame kicked off with Habitat ’67 in Montreal timed to their Expo. A stark contrast to “soul crushing” public housing projects that “devastated” him, believing this is not “how people want to live.” (Other Habitat housing complexes have been built and are in the works.)
“Architecture is labor-intensive and time-intensive.” Passion-intensive, long-term planning intensive, and humbling-intensive too, because you can work on a project for years, believe in it wholeheartedly, invest significant funds in, and then for a variety of reasons it’s postponed or abandoned, such as a war, financial crisis, and “geopolitics.”
Forty years ago Safdie wrote a beautiful poem that tells you a lot about his character, humility, and humanity. The lines relate to seeking truths: “He who seeks truth shall find beauty; and “through nature, the nature of the universe and the nature of the man, we shall seek truth.”
“Nature’s way” is also a defining element, connecting the “sheltered world indoors” with the “natural world outdoors.” There’s always a “garden or a courtyard,” water if possible – a fountain, waterfall, pool. The “sound of moving water” at the Ben Gurion International Airport, “performs a kind of magic for the soul” (see https://www.aiq.co.il/su_article.php?...).
In his most visionary chapter “What If?” we’re implored to “dream big.” With our imaginations stirred, we think If Only.
Lorraine (EnchantedProse.com)
It’s also one of the most soulful – “regardless of what one thinks of the word ‘soul’” – writes architectural genius and visionary Moshe Safdie, 84, in his monumental memoir If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture. One takeaway is his asking us: When did we stop dreaming “big”?
“Unable to design in a manner that considers the benefit of the few at the expense of many,” Safdie, in essence, is asking why we always talk about what’s wrong? Why not talk about ideas to make things right, to improve the “quality” of lives? In his case, around the world. The purpose of his life’s work.
A handsome book, suffused with black-and-white sketches and illustrations of structures envisioned and realized, as well as colorful photographs, treats us to an abundance of eye-popping, fantastically complex architectural visions, projects, and stories of how they came about. A “melting-pot” mindset aimed at advancing an “exemplary public realm” in different cities, cultures, and countries on most continents on the planet.
So why isn’t his name on the tip of all our tongues? A mystery in a book intended to demystify the “mysterious” profession of architecture. “There is mystery at the heart of architecture just as there is mystery in the meaning of life,” Safdie lyrically writes. Considering architecture is “a mission, and an architect has a responsibility (to clients, to society) that transcends the self,” there will always be a mystique about creativity and spirituality.
Safdie is an ideal messenger for infusing a sense of soulfulness, spirituality in every socially-minded project he takes on.
Grounded in Israeli values of society above self, he was born in Haifa, Israel when it was governed by the British Mandate for Palestine and when Israel became an independent nation in 1948, “an extraordinary experience.” Even as a boy he “loved domes. There is a spiritual element, I am sure – circularity symbolizes unity.” In chapters titled “Old City, New City,” “Faith and Peace,” “Does God Live There,” and throughout his life’s story, Safdie has sought to “create places of spiritual uplift.” None more profound than designing the Children’s and Transport Memorials on the Yad Vashem Memorial Site (and the Yad Vashem History Museum he redesigned) in Jerusalem to honor the estimated one-and-half to two million children who perished during the Holocaust. (His mother-in-law, a Hungarian Jew, survived the Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp.)
Eyeing a “natural rock archway” on the “ridge of the Mount of Remembrance,” his team dug into, under, and across those hills brilliantly “creating a large chamber as a place of reflection.” An underground room in which a candle flickered and twinkled like millions of stars in the heavens symbolizing each of the children who vanished. The Transport Memorial is chilling too, seeing “one of the freight cars that carted people to the death camps” high on a hill.
For drastically different “building art” with a spiritual quality take a look at his Infinity Pool at the Marina Bay Sands hotel resort complex in Singapore:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/greenke...
An example of a project yet to come to fruition is in Abu Dhabi expanding the sacred dimension, the Abrahamic Family House. “A complex that would incorporate a mosque, a church, and a synagogue.”
While it would be easy to devote this entire review to Safdie’s mind-boggling, wide-ranging, and “far-reaching” projects described in chapters structured around them, this memoir is SO much more than even that. A few more images below to give you more of a sense of the magnitude, diversity, and uniqueness of the work of Safdie Architects (architecture is a highly collaborative process), to include museums; historical/cultural/religious/peace centers; public/island/Arctic housing complexes; libraries; academic/government properties; and airports.
In 1953, Safdie’s family left Israel for Montreal, Canada when conflicts between Arabs and Israelis intensified. He’s also a US citizen, living near Harvard where he teaches at their Graduate School of Design and Safdie Architects is based (offices in Israel and Canada too). Having lived in different cultures on different continents, and studied and traveled to a slew of other nations, his life is as rich and extraordinary as his groundbreaking work. He’s met, worked with, and befriended people from many walks of life – famous architects, presidents, prime ministers, royalty, diplomats, artists, writers, journalists, corporate leaders, developers, composers, and musicians. The story of Yo-Yo-Ma playing his cello in Safdie’s redesigned (within limits) 1753 historic home in Cambridge, Massachusetts is one of many joys he expresses. (He seems almost amazed himself at how opening higher-to-the-sky glass windows in his living room created even more “dynamism” than the space already had.) Another relationship, with Yitzhak and Leah Rabin, is movingly described.
Actually, everything in this book moves us in one way or another.
Safdie says architecture “thinks in three dimensions,” mixing math, engineering, and spatial skills with aesthetic, artistic ones. Yet, he also says, “Every aspect of knowledge and life – the sciences, the social sciences, the humanities – can come into play in the course of creating a building.” It’s these higher-purpose dimensions that touch us deeply about a man who comes across as feeling things deeply. These we might call socially conscious, environmental, philosophical, and spiritual dimensions.
When Safdie describes himself as a “modernist architect” as opposed to a postmodernist, a trend he bucked for a “permissiveness” that led to structures that lacked meaning, he embraces these added dimensions. How to explain how uplifting to be introduced to a man who sticks to his principles and values time and time again? You see this in the way he approaches opportunities for all his projects, even in countries like China, Iran, and the Philippines where he questions whether he should “work for any regime with whose governance” goes against his democratic values? If he sees “ordinary people” can gain something he proceeds.
For instance, a project in China on a site called Emperor’s Landing, “a quintessential megaproject” on the scale of lower Manhattan, allowed an opportunity to break ground in a country closed off to most. It’s also a striking example of what Safdie refers to as “multi-use” projects within an urban design.
Safdie’s fame kicked off with Habitat ’67 in Montreal timed to their Expo. A stark contrast to “soul crushing” public housing projects that “devastated” him, believing this is not “how people want to live.” (Other Habitat housing complexes have been built and are in the works.)
“Architecture is labor-intensive and time-intensive.” Passion-intensive, long-term planning intensive, and humbling-intensive too, because you can work on a project for years, believe in it wholeheartedly, invest significant funds in, and then for a variety of reasons it’s postponed or abandoned, such as a war, financial crisis, and “geopolitics.”
Forty years ago Safdie wrote a beautiful poem that tells you a lot about his character, humility, and humanity. The lines relate to seeking truths: “He who seeks truth shall find beauty; and “through nature, the nature of the universe and the nature of the man, we shall seek truth.”
“Nature’s way” is also a defining element, connecting the “sheltered world indoors” with the “natural world outdoors.” There’s always a “garden or a courtyard,” water if possible – a fountain, waterfall, pool. The “sound of moving water” at the Ben Gurion International Airport, “performs a kind of magic for the soul” (see https://www.aiq.co.il/su_article.php?...).
In his most visionary chapter “What If?” we’re implored to “dream big.” With our imaginations stirred, we think If Only.
Lorraine (EnchantedProse.com)
October 9, 2025
If we seek truth, we shall find beauty.
--Moshe Safdie
I have mixed feelings about Moshe Safdie after reading If Walls Could Speak. I have been in several of the spaces he speaks about in his memoir, and have great respect for his design abilities. The values he brings to the forefront of his projects which always feature light and nature contribute to their success and appeal. Safdie obviously works hard (well into his 80s) and enjoys great accomplishment. I found some of his opinions hard to take. Unsolicited, he wrote a letter to the eminent American architect, Philip Johnson, denigrating a building Johnson designed. Safdie managed to bash Johnson twice more in his book. (I understand that we don't all share the same tastes.) I think Safdie could have kept this sort of opinion for his close ones. This was just one opinion of his I opposed.
I do like the layout of the book. Safdie includes many photographs and sketches he made on site for projects he is beginning. I loved reading about his process. He goes into detail describing sketching, model building, and presenting to clients. Safdie insists on going to the site when possible and walking it to get a feel for it.
--Moshe Safdie
I have mixed feelings about Moshe Safdie after reading If Walls Could Speak. I have been in several of the spaces he speaks about in his memoir, and have great respect for his design abilities. The values he brings to the forefront of his projects which always feature light and nature contribute to their success and appeal. Safdie obviously works hard (well into his 80s) and enjoys great accomplishment. I found some of his opinions hard to take. Unsolicited, he wrote a letter to the eminent American architect, Philip Johnson, denigrating a building Johnson designed. Safdie managed to bash Johnson twice more in his book. (I understand that we don't all share the same tastes.) I think Safdie could have kept this sort of opinion for his close ones. This was just one opinion of his I opposed.
I do like the layout of the book. Safdie includes many photographs and sketches he made on site for projects he is beginning. I loved reading about his process. He goes into detail describing sketching, model building, and presenting to clients. Safdie insists on going to the site when possible and walking it to get a feel for it.
June 12, 2024
I waffled between 3* and 4* stars with this autobiography of architect, Moshe Safdie. This book concentrates on his career in the industry and moves over his personal life in a quick gloss. While the book reads smoothly, if you're not so interested in the nitty gritty of architecture than you can lose interest. I like the design of the book with wide white space margins that have photos, sketches, etc added. It gave the work a feel of being a scrapbook. I found it interesting that many of his projects occur in countries or with governments that could be considered dictators or are using billions of dollars on exotic projects while the needs of the country are not met. He certainly seemed to know or have connections to an enormous number of worldly movers and shakers. But, I'm usually skeptical of autobiographical tomes and so take them all with a bit of grain of salt attitude.
March 22, 2023
If Walls Could Speak is a thoughtful and immersive review of Moshe Safdie's career in architecture. He shares the motivations and design philosophy behind his most iconic projects while presenting the international context which influenced the final designs. His analysis of Canadian business culture in the twentieth century is revealing and helps the reader better understand Safdie's international experience. There were moments where I questioned why the author was sharing certain details but I think that is endemic of the memoir genre. Overall, I would recommend the book to those interested in engineering and building design which actively considers impacts on stakeholders.
September 26, 2022
I honestly was not aware of who Moshe Safdie was. I saw this book and looked him up, and wowzers, I recognized quite a few iconic buildings that he designed and was stunned that he was the architect behind them, so I just had to read this. He states in the Acknowledgments section that, "This memoir is primarily a chronicle of my life as an architect. Although by necessity it touches on many personal details, its focus is on the making of architecture." He isn't wrong. This book is his memoir, starting at his childhood in Israel and following him as he moved and started designing what would become statement buildings that defied modern conventions of brick and mortar, and made the buildings become almost alive with possibilities of combining suburban life and urban nature in ways that haven't been done before. He's truly a creative genius. I was even surprised to see that he mentioned meeting Paul Rudolph, a name with historical meaning where I live, and I can see how easily one could be influenced in that field with Moshe Safdie leading the way. I found this book to be very informative of not only how he began in thinking and shaping his vision, but also the bumps and bruises along the way. I never knew that in his field, most projects were won by contests that cost quite a bit of money, time, and talent. It isn't surprising, but not being in that field, I was unaware of that aspect. A brilliant memoir of the humility of a man who continues to push the envelope of what our living spaces could be while still defining his own role in the field.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*
April 2, 2023
"...one sign of a good building is if it looks good as a ruin."
I come from a small Canadian town that has been slowly tearing down it's downtown over the last half century and replacing the buildings with either sheet metal boxes or nothing at all. The town continues to sprawl to the south with identical houses hidden behind big garages. The town is ugly, and architecture is not something I ever thought much about until visiting Europe and seeing that things could look nice and that that's something worth doing.
Moshe Safdie has written a book here that was totally accessible to an architecture newb like me but I get the feeling people with more knowledge would get even more out of it than I did. I'd say it's around a third personal memoir and two thirds memoir of his buildings. The perfect mix. Besides a general story of the buildings, he focuses on a different aspect of the making of them in each chapter. One building he'll focus more on the design process, another he'll talk about the political hurdles before building. Another about what makes a good client. The buildings that don't end up getting built are just as interesting as the ones that did.
Besides one small section of one chapter that reprinted snippets from old articles critiquing postmodernism (zzzzzzzzz) the book zips along so easily. Safdie is a talented writer and this book could have been terrible under a different writer. Instead, I didn't want it to end, which is not usual for me. 350 pages seemed short, and I hope he writes another book. I think he still has lots more to say.
I come from a small Canadian town that has been slowly tearing down it's downtown over the last half century and replacing the buildings with either sheet metal boxes or nothing at all. The town continues to sprawl to the south with identical houses hidden behind big garages. The town is ugly, and architecture is not something I ever thought much about until visiting Europe and seeing that things could look nice and that that's something worth doing.
Moshe Safdie has written a book here that was totally accessible to an architecture newb like me but I get the feeling people with more knowledge would get even more out of it than I did. I'd say it's around a third personal memoir and two thirds memoir of his buildings. The perfect mix. Besides a general story of the buildings, he focuses on a different aspect of the making of them in each chapter. One building he'll focus more on the design process, another he'll talk about the political hurdles before building. Another about what makes a good client. The buildings that don't end up getting built are just as interesting as the ones that did.
Besides one small section of one chapter that reprinted snippets from old articles critiquing postmodernism (zzzzzzzzz) the book zips along so easily. Safdie is a talented writer and this book could have been terrible under a different writer. Instead, I didn't want it to end, which is not usual for me. 350 pages seemed short, and I hope he writes another book. I think he still has lots more to say.
March 6, 2023
An elegant and sensitive memoir by Architect Safie written for those who have an interest in architecture. This fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the author's architectural projects throughout the world also explains the influence of personal philosophy, politics, luck, vision, weather (and an almost endless list of other variables) on the design and building of structures.
Food: Oreos, stacked creatively, would be a fine snack while reading.
Food: Oreos, stacked creatively, would be a fine snack while reading.
December 8, 2023
I borrowed this book because I've visited one of the buildings that this architect has designed. Funny enough, be doesn't talk about that building in this book. Regardless, it was an interesting and informative book on his life and his beliefs. I like that he not only talks about his successes, but also acknowledges his failures. The chapter on (the failures of) American infrastructure was especially interesting.
February 10, 2025
Excellent. I haven’t read any autobiographies of architects but, as someone who loves architecture, having a first-hand recounting of the thought processes behind designing impressive buildings all over the world was both eye opening and inspiring. I loved the tie ins of pictures and blueprints. I also loved the connections between his works and how you can trace his development over the years. This was also a quick and fairly easy read. Highly recommend.
November 11, 2023
I am an architectural aficionado. I am a fan of Moshe Sadie’s work. I have visited a few places designed by Moshe Sadie. I utterly enjoy reading his memoir. It is like talking a walk with Moshe through 60 years of his marvelous career, reviewing his timeless work, and discussing with him about history, culture, politics that shaped his view and art. Love the book!
January 2, 2025
I've been interested in the work of Moshe Safdie since I was a young girl, so I was eager to read his book. The book started out slow--in particular I didn't like the prologue, but as it progressed, it became more personal and interesting. I particularly enjoyed learning about projects that I'm familiar with, the rationale for why he made certain design choices, and the photos and sketches.
June 21, 2023
Moshe Safdie, architect, Renaissance man. His autobiography is a trip through the life of an erudite, talented and thoughtful man. His many architectural projects are described and explained. It’s not just about the result, it’s about the process and the aspiration. Fascinating and enlightening.
December 16, 2022
Insightful autobiography by one of the world's foremost architects. Lesson learned: have great connections at the highest level of politics.
December 31, 2022
Wonderful insights into architecture from a thoughtful, talented and innovative Canadian who shares with us a global view of first rate projects.
September 5, 2023
Very good overview of his career. The National Gallery of Canada is a superb building.
Also, I laughed out loud when I read the Martha Stewart interview anecdote.
Also, I laughed out loud when I read the Martha Stewart interview anecdote.
January 30, 2024
This is an amazing book on architecture - written as an artform--
March 7, 2025
I found Safdie’s memoir fascinating. I learned so much about the architectural process that I never knew. I particularly admire his sensitivity to place.
July 21, 2025
This guy is a good architect. Insightful notes on his process and his architectural philosophy, which seems underrepresented in our modern architectural landscape.
March 9, 2024
Excellent memoir by an innovative and thoughtful architect who has made revolutionary buildings that bring nature into his work. Well written and worth a read
May 9, 2023
3.5*
As I was reading this I couldn’t help but think: damn I can’t believe I met the legend himself. Safdie’s words came alive as he designed arguably Singapore’s most iconic buildings, leaving his stamp also on places in Boston like the HBS campus and the Habitat by the Charles River. This was also a gift from a classmate, so all these contextual factors matter in creating a slightly emotional experience while reading the book.
Some parts of the book felt dry, especially for someone without an architecture background. But for most parts I enjoyed reading about how technical the work can be (not just artistic), how much time and effort goes into research, and how many good projects do not materialise.
As a Singaporean, I enjoyed reading about Safdie’s relationship with Liew Mun Leong, the failed HDB project in Simpang, and about the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark:
As a HBS student who enjoyed the underground tunnels, the mosaic in Morgan Hall, and the exceedingly beautiful Chapel, I enjoyed reading about the circumstances of their construction:
1. Moshe joined at a time when there was no central plan for architecture and the faculty was too dispersed/ cliquey
2. They connected the buildings by underground tunnels (!!) originally meant for service staff
3. Expanding Morgan Hall & designing the atrium with 4th century Roman mosaic
4. Chapel belongs to the class of 1959 as that was the class of the then-Dean (John McArthur)
5. The chapel was circular so the events can be organised flexibly, to face different directions for religious/ circular reasons
6. That it is a space for concert due to acoustics is an afterthought.
As I was reading this I couldn’t help but think: damn I can’t believe I met the legend himself. Safdie’s words came alive as he designed arguably Singapore’s most iconic buildings, leaving his stamp also on places in Boston like the HBS campus and the Habitat by the Charles River. This was also a gift from a classmate, so all these contextual factors matter in creating a slightly emotional experience while reading the book.
Some parts of the book felt dry, especially for someone without an architecture background. But for most parts I enjoyed reading about how technical the work can be (not just artistic), how much time and effort goes into research, and how many good projects do not materialise.
As a Singaporean, I enjoyed reading about Safdie’s relationship with Liew Mun Leong, the failed HDB project in Simpang, and about the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark:
We now considered another issue: where these things [swimming pools, gardens, and other outdoors spaces] would go, given that the site was now occupied by three buildings rather than one [to avoid the Chinese wall, and cutting off the downtown’s view of the open sea]? Standing by the model, with its three towers, I remember saying to myself, Well, why not? I took a long piece of balsa wood that was on the table and put it across the top of the towers. […] The fengshui master was averse to this symmetry. In response, we moved the Skypark off-center, so that one end of it was almost flush with the side of the southern tower, and at the north tower it was cantilevered out to a distance of about 210 feet. Suddenly, the design became dynamic — the whole message of the building changed. There was a whoosh. It was in motion — a powerful symbol of a dynamic Singapore. It was as if the park had become a skateboard.
Of course, whoooosh is easier to say than to build. […] The technical issues any project presents can be trivial or hugely significant. For example, each of the three hotel towers could sway as much as two feet in a major storm or earthquake. I recall the test being made by the Arup engineers of the SkyPark’s cantilever. With rock music blaring, some 150 engineers were jumping up and down at the tip as others took seismic measurements. At one point it started oscillating, like a diving board. I was there at the tip, being interviewed by Martha Stewart. As the cantilever started oscillating, she threw down the microphone and took off for the main tower. (The engineering passed the test)
[…] Sheldon Adelson himself hated the sky park, calling it a stupid idea. “And anyhow,” he went on, “Asians don’t swim much.”
As a HBS student who enjoyed the underground tunnels, the mosaic in Morgan Hall, and the exceedingly beautiful Chapel, I enjoyed reading about the circumstances of their construction:
1. Moshe joined at a time when there was no central plan for architecture and the faculty was too dispersed/ cliquey
2. They connected the buildings by underground tunnels (!!) originally meant for service staff
3. Expanding Morgan Hall & designing the atrium with 4th century Roman mosaic
4. Chapel belongs to the class of 1959 as that was the class of the then-Dean (John McArthur)
5. The chapel was circular so the events can be organised flexibly, to face different directions for religious/ circular reasons
6. That it is a space for concert due to acoustics is an afterthought.
October 15, 2023
To call this a memoir would be to understate the elegant design of this book, much like calling Habitat '67 "housing" would undersell its value in building community, access to nature, and other intangible elements of things we need to make a "home" (of course, having never seen Habitat in person, this comparison relies entirely on Safdie's description.)
With beautiful prose, Safdie takes readers through his life and career. Along the way, he lays down a treatise of what it means to build something: a structure, an atmosphere, a society. I had never before reflected on the extent to which architecture touches every aspect of life: our relationship with each other, our politicians and laws, and our environment plays out in what we decide to plan (or not) and build (or destroy). I will never look at a city, or even a single building, the same way.
With beautiful prose, Safdie takes readers through his life and career. Along the way, he lays down a treatise of what it means to build something: a structure, an atmosphere, a society. I had never before reflected on the extent to which architecture touches every aspect of life: our relationship with each other, our politicians and laws, and our environment plays out in what we decide to plan (or not) and build (or destroy). I will never look at a city, or even a single building, the same way.
March 21, 2023
Learned about the back and forth communication between architects, their team, the person or entity that commissioned the build and oh my goodness the time it takes for project completion. Used google often to learn terms I’ve not heard of then had to feebly try to envision in my mind. Good book, for me not an easy read.
November 5, 2022
really enjoyed this
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