The Dung Gate project represents Moshe Safdie's extensive work in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The gate, linking the old and the new cities of Jerusalem, was in urgent need of restoration to increase headroom and the construction of a "service" building adjacent to the wall intended to re-activate the area surrounding the gate. The site was steeply sloped and therefore the roof of the proposed structure was designed as a pedestrian pathway joining the existing Roman Cardo to a series of stepped landscaped terraces and a piazza on the roof of the service building.

Located on a prominent site at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers, this 9 million-square-foot mixed-use project has a strong presence as the apex of the city's peninsula. The Chaotian Gate ("gate to heaven"?), foremost of the traditional city gates, is a place of both ceremony and commerce. Recalling sailing ships on the river, the project symbolizes both Chongqing's noble trading past and its fast-growing future as one of China's largest modern cities. An ensemble of slender towers contains a mixture of office, residential, and hotel spaces. The towers, arranged in a prow-like arc, imply a great city surging forward. The outer curving glass facades, which face the water to the north, evoke an ancient sailing fleet. The south-facing facades of the interior towers center on the axis of Chaotianmen Plaza, forming stepped gardens that meet the ground. At the base of the towers, an expansive park knits together the greenery from the building facades with gardens, pools, and public circulation. This large landscaped park gently slopes to the north, offering dramatic tower-framed views of the water and more intimate views of the city to the south. Beneath the park level, a podium contains five levels of public space, including retail and cultural facilities as well as land and water transportation hubs. Bridging the center towers at level 45 is a 300-meter-long enclosed glass conservatory that contains hotel public areas and amenities, including an deck that can be enjoyed throughout all seasons of the year. Major thoroughfares feed urban activity from the south as retail streets and grand arcades, fusing the project to the city.

This nondenominational sacred and meditative building juxtaposes two very different spaces. A terraced garden rich in flowering trees offers a place for personal contemplation. Through its glazed, pyramidal roof visitors see the changing seasons of the campus outside. A 100-seat sanctuary contained by rounded, apselike concrete walls, rises to a height of 27 feet. For maximum flexibility this sanctuary room has no dominant axis; it frequently functions as a home for musical performances of varying sizes. Skylights flood the walls with light from above and large-scale prisms fixed in the skylights refract the sun's full spectrum. The exterior of the building is a cylindrical oxidized copper drum penetrated on the west by the garden space. A tower timepiece marks the entrance to the chapel.

Simple moves of form and orientation combine to create a unique place for contemplation and gathering in a busy campus setting. Skylights and prisms wash glowing patterns of light across the chapel walls throughout the course of the day.

Crystal Bridges, both a museum and a cultural center, is located in a ravine with a creek fed by Crystal Springs. Two suspended-cable-and-wood buildings span the ravine, creating two ponds. These structures serve as dams as well as bridges.

The design protects the natural beauty of the site and emphasizes a strong sense of place, employing indigenous materials such as wood, fieldstone, and limestone aggregate. Building walls are concrete with wood inlays, and laminated wood beams compose the roofs. The liberal use of glass throughout the complex provides transparency and enhances views of the site.

The museum comprises a number of independent structures that form a series of pavilions over and alongside the ponds. The two bridge buildings are located at opposite ends of the north pond. The gallery bridge contains galleries while the entry bridge houses reception, dining, and hospitality facilities. The great hall, a multipurpose public space, is surrounded on three sides by the south pond. Additional structures, nestled into the sloping terrain on both sides of the ravine, contain galleries, function rooms, classrooms, a library, curatorial spaces, and administrative offices. In contrast to the convex roofs of the bridges, the concave roofs of these structures visually retain the steep slopes of the site.

Located on a broad hillside site adjacent to Chongqing’s well-known Eling Park, the design for the Eling Residences grows out of and echoes the dramatic natural topography of the site.

The buildings are organized with terracing villa units climbing the rock slopes and stepping up to the crest of the hill where, along the ridge line, two dome-shaped structures overlook the city. The location and organization of the low-rise terraced buildings endows each of the 126 apartments with natural daylight and affords uninterrupted views of the Yuzhong Peninsula and the Yangtze River. Interwoven with the buildings is a lush landscape comprised of cascading gardens, terraces, overlooks, stairs, and promenades for the residents to enjoy.

At the western edge of the site, a prominent 4-story clubhouse stands as a beacon for the project, signifying the entrance to both Eling Park and the development.

The terraces of the hilltop units provide uninterrupted views to the Yangtze River and city beyond. Each terrace serves as an extension of the apartment, maximizing residents’ access to light and air. Planters are integrated along the length of the terraces, and climbing plants will grow up the trellises to provide additional shading.

Corrour Estate evokes the tradition of great Scottish houses and weaves together remnants of the original Victorian-era great house on the site, destroyed by fire in 1940. A glass-vaulted Great Hall forms the center of the house and is flanked by two masonry volumes, one rectangular, the other cylindrical. These volumes are penetrated by glass structures that are, respectively, conical and pyramidal. Surviving original granite outbuildings accommodate kitchens and other back-of-house functions. The split-face granite surfaces of the new structure match those of the original. The hunting lodge is sited so that each of the eight guest suites have views of Loch Ossian, while walkways and terraces afford views of the surrounding Highlands. In approving the design, The Royal Fine Arts Commission of Scotland noted that the complex is 'destined to become one of the few examples of world-class 20th-century architecture in Scotland.'

The Colegio Hebreo School Complex is a coeducational school providing facilities for 2,100 students, from kindergarten through preparatory levels. The program called for classrooms for each level of schooling, offices, administrative and service areas, a cafeteria, a library, and an indoor facility. It was requested that each classroom have an outdoor area which allowed for both indoor and outdoor teaching. A network of covered arcades led from the main courtyard to secondary courtyards for each of the three academic levels. Classrooms were terraced to form roof gardens for the rooms below, also affording many rooms with views of the surrounding landscape.

This project consists of 267 units of housing designed to be occupied by moderate income, permanent residents who are employed in the Aspen area. The three-story structures utilize prefabricated modular wooden units, completed off-site, to reduce on-site construction time which is limited due to weather conditions. The buildings are clustered around open spaces and have glass enclosed terraces which overlook panoramic views of the resort community of Aspen and Aspen Mountain. The units are entered from parking areas at the rear of the complex. The project was realized during the 1984 construction season.

Located on a triangular parcel, Cambridge Center was designed as a mixed-use development project in a area known as Kendall Square. Safdie's master plan called for several mid- and high-rise office and research buildings, a 25-storey hotel, and a street-level retail centre. The hotel encloses Cambridge Plaza and is the primary public focal point of the complex. The plaza paving and features were designed by world-renowned artist Karl Schlamminger of Germany.

Alston and Elivor Callahan owned a piece of property atop Red Mountain overlooking Birmingham, Alabama. The Callahans requested a house that would give them the sense of living in a control tower, similar to the one at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, to overlook the city. Safdie's proposal comprised of a series of intersected cubes rotated at 45 degrees with the horizontal. The unique geometry with an elongated rectangular plan suited this unusual site. The design approach resulted in an extroverted yet transparent building that commands its surroundings.