Arthur Erickson contemplates a model of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. The museum was recently reopened after a seismic upgrade led by architect Nick Milkovich, who worked extensively with Erickson, including on the original museum project. Photo by Glenn Baglo for the Vancouver Sun (jan 13, 1973). Courtesy Arthur Erickson Foundation
Fittingly for a shape-shifting city with a celluloid skin that has played countless other places in Hollywood movies, centenary celebrations for architect Arthur Erickson in his hometown kicked off with a film festival.
As I watched Erickson?s architecture?Simon Fraser University, Robson Square, the Macmillan Bloedel building?come to life on the screen, I realized how ubiquitous his buildings are. They are not only touchstones in my childhood memories of growing up here, but also integral to the very civic fabric of this place. As film fest curator Trevor Boddy pointed out, ?LA got Arthur before Vancouver did.? Buildings that were taken for granted (or even ridiculed) by Vancouverites were long celebrated in the City of Angels, where Erickson once had an office and friendships with the likes of Shirley MacLaine.
Indeed, when I first met Arthur in 1997 in Singapore, where his international reputation still preceded him, Canadian publications weren?t interested in features on his latest projects. Magazines in Europe wanted to publish his late career works, but a shadow from his bankruptcies still hung over his s...