"I try to think that anything I do--it could be a house, it could be a small kindergarten--must reach for the kind of spiritual in the sense of the uplifting and make you feel better as a human being."
To mark the 50th episode of Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk, legendary architect Moshe Safdie joins the program for a wide-ranging discussion and rare look into the depths of one of the world's great visionaries of buildings. What is the role of an architect? What does the intersection of utility and art look like? Can a physical structure ever contain the spiritual power that great music possesses? How does a master architect, who must delegate, inspire, and ultimately empower those around him, resemble a great maestro standing on the podium in front of an orchestra? This is a must-hear conversation for art lovers the world over.
Moshe Safdie is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. Over a celebrated 50-year career, Safdie has explored the essential principles of socially responsible design with a distinct visual language. A citizen of Israel, Canada and the United States, Moshe Safdie graduated from McGill University. After apprenticing with Louis I. Kahn in Philadelphia, Safdie returned to Montréal to oversee the master plan for the 1967 World Exhibition. In 1964 he established his own firm to realize Habitat ’67, an adaptation of his undergraduate thesis and a turning point in modern architecture. Author of four books and a frequent essayist and lecturer, Safdie’s global practice includes projects in North and South America, the Middle East, the developing world and throughout Asia and Australia. Projects span a wide range of typologies, including airports, museums, performing arts, libraries, housing, mixed use and entire cities. His honors include the Companion of the Order of Canada, the Gold Medal from both the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the American Institute of Architects, la Medaille du Merité from the Order of Architects of Québec, Canada, and Israel’s Rechter Prize. The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum awarded Mr. Safdie the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2016.
