Biography: Arthur Erickson

While Arthur Erickson left an indelible mark on the field of architecture, designing buildings wasn’t always what the Canadian icon aspired to do.

Erickson was born in Vancouver, B.C., in 1924. His father had lost both his legs during the First World War, and the family’s home was organized for his ease and comfort, with landscape paintings adorning the walls.

In his youth, Erickson enjoyed drawing and painting. At age 13, he used National Geographic photos to paint fish on his bedroom wall.

His talents earned him the opportunity to exhibit some of his oil pastel abstracts at the Vancouver Art Gallery at age 16. He attracted the attention of Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris, who introduced him to progressive thinkers in the arts.

Erickson went on the University of British Columbia where he studied Asian languages. In 1943, he joined the Canadian Army, and served in Malaysia and India. Two years later, he had risen to the rank of captain in the Canadian Intelligence Corps.

Erickson was set for a career in diplomacy, but while reading a copy of Fortune magazine in 1947, his plan changed. The magazine featured pictures of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert house, Taliesin West, and Erickson was captivated.

He turned his attention to architecture, and in 1950, he graduated from McGill University with a degree in architecture and began a two-year journey through Europe and the Middle East.

He worked in London for the architect son of the legendary Sigmund Freud before returning home, where he worked for several large architectural companies. He was fired twice.

In 1952, Erickson began working with architect Geoffrey Massey, designing houses for friends and wealthy customers. Erickson returned to the University of British Columbia in 1957 as an associate professor.

In 1963, Erickson and Massey won a competition to design Simon Fraser University in Burnaby B.C., and their award-winning design garnered international attention.

Erickson began designing other landmarks in Vancouver, such as the Vancouver Law Courts and Robson Square, and UBC’s Museum of Anthropology.

He went on to design the San Diego Convention Center, Napp Laboratories in Cambridge, England, the Canadian Chancery in Washington, D.C., California Plaza in Los Angeles, Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Kuwait Oil Sector Complex in Kuwait City and Kunlun Apartment Hotel Development in Beijing.

Erickson was awarded the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects in 1986, but then his career appeared to stagnate. Each of his offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles and Saudi Arabia went bankrupt after 1989.

Erickson declared personal bankruptcy in 1992 after accumulating more than $10.5 million in debt.

He worked on several Middle East projects throughout the 1990s that never materialized, and being in his 70’s, his career appeared to be winding down.

But Erickson bounced back, and designed the acclaimed Waterfall Building in Vancouver and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington.

Throughout his 50-year career, Erickson became known as the “concrete poet,” because of his innovative concrete designs.