Quotes by Arthur Erickson

About Arthur Erickson:

Arthur Charles Erickson was a Canadian architect and urban planner. He studied Asian languages at the University of British Columbia, and later earned a degree in architecture from McGill University.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

Arthur Erickson

Part of our western outlook stems from the scientific attitude and its method of isolating the parts of a phenomenon in order to analyze them.

Arthur Erickson

With production alone as the goal, industry in North America was dominated by the assembly line, standardization for mass consumption.

Arthur Erickson

Architecture doesn't come from theory. You don't think your way through a building.

Arthur Erickson

Great buildings that move the spirit have always been rare. In every case they are unique, poetic, products of the heart.

Arthur Erickson

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

Arthur Erickson

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.

Arthur Erickson

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

Arthur Erickson

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

Arthur Erickson

Vitality is radiated from exceptional art and architecture.

Arthur Erickson

We are stymied by regulations, limited choice and the threat of litigation. Neither consultants nor industry itself provide research which takes architecture forward.

Arthur Erickson

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.

Arthur Erickson

Does an architecture to assuage the spirit have a place?

Arthur Erickson

The way of architecture is the quiet voice that underlies it and has guided it from the beginning.

Arthur Erickson

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.

Arthur Erickson

Whenever we witness art in a building, we are aware of an energy contained by it.

Arthur Erickson

We settled this continent without art. So it was easy for us to treat it as an imported luxury, not a necessity.

Arthur Erickson

Our settlement of land is without regard to the best use of land.

Arthur Erickson

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

Arthur Erickson

You have to see a building to comprehend it. Photographs cannot convey the experience, nor film.

Arthur Erickson

Author Bio

  • NameArthur Erickson
  • DescriptionCanadian architect and urban planner
  • AliasesArthur Charles Erickson
  • BornJune 14, 1924
  • DiedMay 20, 2009
  • CountryCanada
  • ProfessionArchitect
  • AwardsAIA Gold Medal; Molson Prize; Companion Of The Order Of Canada