Arthur Erickson was a Canadian architect renowned for his modernist and innovative designs. His notable works include the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Simon Fraser University campus. Erickson's architecture is characterized by its integration with natural landscapes and its emphasis on creating functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces. His contributions have had a significant impact on contemporary architecture.

"Materialism has never been so ominous as now in North America, as management takes over."



"Nearly all of the advances in structural and aesthetic innovation is coming from abroad."


1

"I plead for conservation of human culture, which is much more fragile than nature herself. We needn't destroy other cultures with the force of our own."



"Bankers cannot afford to be concerned with only the economic aspects of projects. There may be serious implications on the natural environment, the urban environment, on human culture."



"Space has always been the spiritual dimension of architecture. It is not the physical statement of the structure so much as what it contains that moves us."



"The essentially unchangeable established order of things slowly disappeared and was forgotten for a while completely."



"The details are the very source of expression in architecture. But we are caught in a vice between art and the bottom line."



"Only when inspired to go beyond consciousness by some extraordinary insight does beauty manifest unexpectedly."



"The delusion of entertainment is devoid of meaning. It may amuse us for a bit, but after the initial hit we are left with the dark feeling of desolation."



"Ancient Rome was as confident of the immutability of its world and the continual expansion and improvement of the human lot as we are today."



"This great, though disastrous, culture can only change as we begin to stand off and see... the inveterate materialism which has become the model for cultures around the world."



"Roman civilization had achieved, within the bounds of its technology, relatively as great a mastery of time and space as we have achieved today."



"There is a single thread of attitude, a single direction of flow, that joins our present time to its early burgeoning in Mediterranean civilization."



"There is little doubt that we are in the midst of a revolution of a much more profound and fundamental nature than the social and political revolutions of the last half century."



"Inspiration in Science may have to do with ideas, but not in Art. In art it is in the senses that are instinctively responsive to the medium of expression."


1

"Today's developer is a poor substitute for the committed entrepreneur of the last century for whom the work of architecture represented a chance to celebrate the worth of his enterprise."


1

"The obsession with performance left no room for the development of the intuitive or spiritual impact of space and form other than the aesthetic of the machine itself."


1

"What is the thread of western civilization that distinguished its course in history? It has to do with the preoccupation of western man with his outward command and his sense of superiority."



"The innovative spirit was America's strongest attribute, transforming everything into a brave new world, but there lingered an insecurity about the arts."



"We are yet to have a conscience at all about the exploitation of human cultures."


1

"There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications."


13

"Profit and bottom line, the contemporary mantra, eliminates the very source of architectural expression."



"Rationalism is the enemy of art, though necessary as a basis for architecture."


3

"The new architecture of transparency and lightness comes from Japan and Europe."


1

"Our engineering departments build freeways which destroy a city or a landscape, in the process."

