Theme Pavilions
Habitat 67
Since man first moved out of his caves, he has tested many forms of sherlter: crude huts of muds, tents with skin covers, squared logs and blocks of stone.
Around a groupe of such dwelling, always near water, a village would grow, then perhaps a town, with winding path leading to the focal point of well or water's edge.
Today, Habitat 67 in Cité du Havre reveals to the fullest the extent to which man has used his ingenuity in combining sherlter with all the attributes of modern life, in a urban world in which living space is at a premium. It unites the advantages of apartments by housing many families in a small area. It answers the suburban dream of gardens. And it places every home within walking distance of stores on sherltered streets.
To the visitors approaching Habitat 67 from almost any direction, the first impression is one of the series of terraces, rising one on the other, in set-back steps, to a height of twelve stories. The most distinctive features of Habitat 67 are the manner in which terraces and homes are combined for economy of construction, and the system of roads and pedestrian streets which serve each home on the various levels.
At the ground level, a service road system connects all service areas and parking facilities. One lever above the service roads is a pedestrian plaza, and above that plastic-sherltered streets which connect all parts of the project through walk-ways and bridges. At no time is it necessary for a pedestrian to cross the service roads. To reach the home on the upper levels there are three vertical cores, where the elevators serve the horizontal pedestrian streets. For the younger shildren, unable to go alone to the park, on the ground, there are playgrounds on upper levels.
The actual housing area contains 158 housing units in 20 types, ranging from a 1-bedroom 600 ft. square unit to a 4-bedroom house of 1,700 square ft.
In its broad concept and all its details, Habita 67 is an important contribution to the study of man in the community.
( Document: Official Guide of l'Expo 67, Copyright 1967 by Maclean-Hunter Publishing Co. Ltd. )
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