ARTHUR ERICKSON - BUILDINGS IN DIALOGUE WITH EN...

Recently I have been studying various buildings designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson (1924-2009). Erickson became a big name in west coast modernism just after the middle of the last century, and many of his smaller houses caught my attention. There are undoubtedly some beautiful spaces here.

Erickson was especially concerned with how a building could be integrated with its context, as a specific response to its environmental conditions. He was also very aware of the value of good design as a source of inspiration in everyday life. While sketching some of these, I often thought, "I wish I could build like this today" (laughs). It is difficult to find construction drawings of these older houses (they probably either do not exist or have never been digitalised), but it appears that many of these buildings are mostly uninsulated. There often appear to be structural elements that are exposed to the weather on one side and directly to the interior on the other, a building method which presents a whole host of technical disadvantages for all of its possible aesthetic benefits. It is curious that it was accepted to build like this even only a few decades ago, but today we would be required to establish at least an insulated buffer on the outside of the beams and columns (even if they are made of wood), which essentially entails some form of external cladding which would render impossible a similar pure expression of structure.

I have deep respect for artist personalities like Arthur Erickson that manage to maintain creative enthusiasm and continually develop over a lifelong career. I find a lot of inspiration in people like him, who are clearly driven by a set of internal personal ideals and have something that they want to say.