A documentary of the life, work and vision of Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, “The Life and Times of Arthur Erickson” written and directed by Gordon McLennan, is to be broadcast on CBC television on Tuesday February 3, 2004 at 7 pm and again in June of this year. The architect’s legacy includes hundreds of buildings and such landmarks as Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Courthouse Square in Vancouver, Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall, the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, a building highly regarded by the architect’s peers in particular.
The documentary not only glides through Erickson’s buildings, recreating the experience of entering one of his creations but includes interviews with former colleagues, friends, relatives and critics. Erickson, who turns 80 in June of this year, has said, “architecture doesn’t come from theory. You have to see a building to comprehend it. Only by moving through a space do we come to understand it.” That month, the Vancouver Art Gallery will begin an exhibit of his work to coincide with his birthday.
