The idea of turning water into land has fascinated humanity for centuries. The Netherlands, for example, as one of the pioneers in the subject, have about 20% of their territory reclaimed from the sea or lakes using dikes as methods to stop the water and dry the surfaces. Technological development over time, however, has made this practice increasingly popular. Today, China is one of the countries leading the ranking, as well as urban centers in the global south, highlighting cities in West Africa, East Asia, and the Middle East. These megalomaniacal landfills are mainly created in places where there is an extensive coast, but not enough land to meet their needs. The uses accommodated in the new area are diverse, ranging from the creation of luxury residences to an entertainment archipelago with hotels, restaurants, theaters, and shops. Despite the significant gains in the commercial and tourism sector, the environmental degradation of this scale of intervention is constantly being discussed, with damages ranging from gentrification, expulsion of native communities, and annulment of their means of subsistence, to the destruction of entire ecosystems. This situation has guided cities in the search for less aggressive solutions for their expansion needs, such as the development of what is now called "aquatic urbanism." In it, circular and zero-waste systems, as well as closed-loop water systems, net-zero energy, innovative mobility, and regeneration of coastal habitats are integrated. As technology advances in the same proportion as environmental concern and climate change increase, iconic landfills built in recent decades are important examples that can guide strategies on what to do and, above all, what not to do in new land expansions over the sea. Bearing this in mind, check out some of the most striking examples below. **Palm Jumeirah, Dubai** Talking about megalomaniacal landfill projects and not mentioning the "palm tree" of Dubai is impossible. The project took nine years to build, starting in 2001. Its area covers 31 km2 including the main trunk, 17 branches, and a semicircular wall with side openings. The extension houses luxurious residences on the "leaves" and a hotel at the seafront, all connected by a surface train generating a landscape worthy of a science fiction movie. The project cost approximately US$12 billion, and with the amount of stone and sand used in it, it would be possible to build a 2-meter wall that would encircle the Earth three times. Among many impacts on the ecosystem, the most commented is how the project hindered the circulation of seawater, altering the marine ecosystem and generating bad odor. **Eko Atlantic City, Nigeria** Nigeria seems poised to surpass South Africa and become the largest economy on the continent thanks to oil. However, the country faces many common problems in our era: rising sea levels, swells, and devastating floods. In this context, Eko Atlantic is a multibillion-dollar project that promises to protect against marine erosion. With 10 km2, the idea of the project, which is still under construction, is to offer housing for 250,000 people and employment for more than 150,000 distributed among parks and other services. The project advances full of criticisms, with scholars affirming that the nearly 3km wall, nicknamed the "Great Wall of Lagos," will serve to contain the advance of water in the same proportion as it will segregate the space, creating a closed and financially accessible city that will only "save" those living in it from the floods. **Marina Bay, Singapore** Singapore's history is marked by numerous territorial expansion interventions that seek to deal with an interesting paradox: surplus money and limited land. In total, the country, currently 700 km2, has already managed to increase 25% of its territory. There is a public policy of "land reclamation," which makes the island advance 40 cm per year into the sea, according to local journalists (the number is contested by the government, which cites an annual average of 2 cm). This has led Indonesia and Malaysia, the most affected countries, to temporarily ban the import of sand to Singapore. Within this controversial context, Marina Bay, started in 1969, is an icon of the country. Built on a 3.6 km2 landfill, the region has become one of the country's main destinations in terms of restaurants, hotels, and attractions, materializing an investment of S$4.5 billion. The bold urban design was combined with iconic architectures, such as the Marina Bay Sands and the world's largest infinity pool, elevated to 200 meters, designed by Safdie Architects. However, plans for territorial expansion over the sea still continue. **Parque do Flamengo, Brazil** Inaugurated in 1965 in Rio de Janeiro, the popularly known Aterro do Flamengo, with 1.3 km2, was built on the sea with material from the dismantling of a nearby hill. Both the park and the intervention in the hill were part of a municipal plan to solve the city's traffic problem, avoiding the high cost of expropriations necessary to widen the main roads in the area. Its construction marked the modernization of Rio de Janeiro and represents an interesting example of large-scale landfill that assumes a public and cultural vocation. In addition to the roads that cross its extension, the area is also marked by large vegetated masses - a project by landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx - cut by curved walkways that lead to the sea. Among them, cultural buildings and sports facilities are spread out. In 2012, the park received the title of World Heritage in the category "Urban Cultural Landscape," granted by UNESCO.
Safdie Architects: The Latest Architecture and News
Interview with Charu Kokate of Safdie Architects: Designing for Community
Safdie Architects has officially opened the new campus headquarters for Surbana Jurong, Singapore’s leading architecture, urban design, and infrastructure firm. The project expands Safdie Architects’ vision of 'for everyone a garden' into the workplace with a design that draws on the tranquility of the site’s previously undeveloped natural setting to foster shared moments of engagement and creativity. Achieving Green Mark (Super Low Energy) certification, the campus is the flagship development of the emerging Jurong Innovation District, envisioned as the first business park set in a tropical rainforest.
The development marks Safdie Architects' sixth project in Singapore and enhances the firm's prominent built portfolio in the city-state, which already includes Marina Bay Sands, Sky Habitat, and the Jewel at Changi Airport. On the occasion of the opening, ArchDaily spoke to Charu Kokate, Partner at Safdie Architects, who leads efforts in the Singapore region, about the firm's unique development footprint and building philosophy.
Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Announces Expansion Project by Safdie Architects
Marina Bay Sands has unveiled plans for a significant expansion project to be designed by Safdie Architects, led by Moshe Safdie, the architect of the existing structure. Featuring a luxury hotel and a 15,000-seat entertainment arena, the new intervention signals a new development phase in the evolution of the iconic landmark in Singapore. Anticipated to commence construction by July 2025, the project is slated for completion by July 2029, promising an array of new amenities and facilities for visitors to enjoy.
Foster + Partners, UNStudio, and MAD Architects Amongst World Architecture Festival 2023 Shortlist
The 2023 World Architecture Festival (WAF) shortlist has been announced, highlighting the most impressive architectural projects worldwide. This announcement precedes the live event, which will be held in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands from November 29th to December 1st. WAF is a live-judged architectural awards program where finalists present their projects to a panel of judges during the international festival. Some of the finalists on the shortlist include Foster + Partners, Biroe Architecture, COX Architecture, Dabbagh Architects, MAD Architects, and more.
Prairie New School: Kansas City’s Architectural Renaissance
The American Midwest is making a new name for itself. While cities like New York and Los Angeles are known as global design capitals, dynamic modern architecture has begun emerging across the country’s fly-over states. Advocating world-class architecture, sustainability, and craft, Kansas City has become a leader in great American design.
BIG and Safdie Architects Unveil Two Residential Towers in the Ecuadorian Capital
Quito-based developer Uribe Schwartzkopf unveiled two residential projects in the capital of Ecuador: IQON designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, and QORNER, by Safdie Architects. IQON represents BIG’s first project in South America and the tallest building in Quito. QORNER proposes a mix of residences of varying dimensions, complete with amenities such as private terraces, gyms, spas, and pools. To create an engaging interface with the city fabric, a mix of shops, restaurants, and commercial spaces are proposed at the street level.
"With Intention to Build", Moshe Safdie’s Exhibition of Unbuilt Projects Opens in Boston, USA
From October 2022 through January 2, 2023, The Boston Architectural College (BAC) and Safdie Architects will display the most groundbreaking unbuilt projects by Moshe Safdie. With Intention to Build showcases the architect's creative process throughout the 55 years of his career, including models, drawings, and various texts and photographs. The exhibition provides context and tells the story behind these radical unrealized designs that have influenced projects such as Habitat 67 in Montreal, Canada, and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
Compact Bigness: How Safdie Architects Realize Megaprojects Without a Mega Office
Safdie Architects is a research-oriented architecture and urban design studio active in a wide variety of project types, scales, and sectors. Safdie Architects’ global practice is directed from its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, with satellite offices in Jerusalem, Shanghai, and Singapore. Projects are designed, managed, and executed by a global team that hovers around 65 people! The practice is organized as a partnership and operates in the model of an intimate design studio environment. The firm's partners – many of whom joined Safdie shortly after graduation – have been working together for decades.
Safdie Architects Designs a Garden-Hospital in Cartagena, Colombia
The Serena del Mar Hospital Center (CHSM) is the first hospital designed by Safdie Architects. Focusing on the human being, the concept revolves around the idea that "access to nature and natural light are vital in creating improved therapeutic experiences for patients, families and staff alike". Seeking to provide a sense of well-being that leads to better clinical outcomes, the hospital has started opening in phases to the public, earlier this year. The firm's first project in Latin America is not the only one, in fact, Safdie Architects are working on Qorner, a residential project under construction in Quito, Ecuador, and the Albert Einstein Education and Research Center in Brazil, to be inaugurated in early 2022.
Safdie Architects Reiterates the Ideals of Habitat 67 in Three New Projects
By now an architectural classic, Safdie’s Habitat ’67 represents a highly influential vision for a community-oriented, nature-infused urban housing model, and at the same time, a critical example of the possibilities of prefabrication. Fifty years after the design of Habitat ’67, Safdie is still exploring this vision of urban living, further developing the concept with projects such as Altair Residences, Qorner Tower and Habitat Qinhuangdao. Rooted in the architect’s motto - “for everyone a garden”, the new projects capitalise on outdoor terraces, natural light and ventilation, as well as communal spaces.
Open Air: New Ways We Can Live Together in Nature
“We need a new spatial contract." This is the call of Hashim Sarkis, curator of the Venice Biennale 2021, as an invitation for architects to imagine new spaces in which we can live together. Between a move towards urban flight and global housing crises, the growth of more low-rise, dense developments may provide an answer in the countryside. Turning away from single family homes in rural areas and suburbs, modern housing projects are exploring new models of shared living in nature.
Safdie Architects Reveals Designs for Mixed Use Urban Development in Toronto
Safdie Architects have released the images of 'ORCA Toronto', a mixed-use urban development with an integrated park in the heart of downtown Toronto. The project covers 6.5 hectares (65,000 sqm) west of the CN Tower, 4.5 hectares (45,000 sqm) of which are dedicated to the publicly-accessible urban park, while 2 hectares (20,000 sqm) are for residential, commercial, retail, and transit facilities. The proposed project reconnects the downtown area to the city’s waterfront, promising to become a vital hub that animates the underutilized parts of the city.
Safdie Architects to Design Major Crystal Bridges Expansion
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has announced plans for a major expansion by Safdie Architects in Arkansas. The new addition will increase the size of the current facilities by 50 percent, adding nearly 100,000 square feet to the 200,000-square-foot facility. The expansion will showcase the museum's growing collection and provide space for educational and outreach initiatives, cultural programming, and community events.
Design Disruption Explores High Density Housing with Moshe Safdie and Ma Yansong
A new webcast and podcast series, Design Disruption, has been launched by architectural writer Sam Lubell and social entrepreneur Prathima Manohar. In a partnership with ArchDaily, the first episode today at 11 am (EST) on ArchDaily, YouTube and Facebook. This episode explores high density housing with guests Moshe Safdie, founder of Safdie Architects, and Ma Yansong, founder of MAD architects. The goal of the series is to provide an international perspective on disruptive issues with guests from different continents.
Safdie Architects Propose Conceptual Design for the Abrahamic Family House
Safdie Architects’ entry for the Abrahamic Family House competition located in the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, in Abu Dhabi, brings together a mosque, a synagogue, and a church within a shared public park.