It is with regret that I report the loss of an important figurehead to our profession. Arthur Erickson passed away yesterday in Vancouver, BCV Canada. His humanistic influences to the fields of architecture and planning are deep reaching, in particular to Vancouver, as well as our region in the Pacific Northwest.

Architecture, as I see it, is the art of composing spaces in response to existing environmental and urbanistic conditions to answer a client’s needs. In this way the building becomes the resolution between its inner being and the outer conditions imposed upon it. It is never solitary but is part of its setting and thus must blend in a timeless way with its surroundings yet show its own fresh presence.

The real needs are often beyond written briefs and become apparent through discussions and demonstrations. We come with extensive and valuable experience but no baggage so that each project is approached as new and original territory, yet to be explored.

We are not peddlers of the fashionable. We believe that good design defies fashion, is truly innovative, eminently sensible, yet a source of inspiration to those who have the pleasure of living with it.

- Arthur Erickson

Being closely connected to those who knew him well and worked by his side, we send our most heartfelt condolences to his family and friends through what is surely a difficult time.

Arthur Erickson:
Arthur Erickson – Works
National Post news report