Arthur Erickson (1924-2009), one of the most internationally acclaimed Canadian architects, left his mark on North American architecture during the second half of the 20th century. His major projects married robust design with an astute selection of materials.

Born in Vancouver, Erickson studied architecture at Montréal’s McGill University (B.A. Arch., 1950). He launched his international career in 1963 with his entry in the design competition for the Simon Fraser University campus in Burnaby, British Columbia, which he won with his associate, Geoffrey Massey. His design for the Canadian pavilion at Expo 67 (an inverted pyramid) and his contributions to the design of thematic pavilions (Man in the Community, Man and his Health) further added to his reputation. He later was chosen to design the Canadian pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka.

Erickson’s other well-known projects include the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (1972), Vancouver’s Robson Square complex (1973), California Plaza in Los Angeles (1980), and the Canadian embassy in Washington (1983).

Arthur Erickson began donating his designs and documents to the CCA in 1989. Some 15 subsequent contributions, related primarily to projects he worked on after the mid 1970s, have since been added to the fonds. The CCA’s Arthur Erickson archive currently contains over 15,000 drawings, 100 linear metres of textual documents, 800 photographs, and 35 study and presentation mockups. Nearly 650 projects from his Toronto, Los Angeles, and Vancouver offices are represented, making it possible to study his creative process behind residential, commercial, cultural, and museum projects in Canada, the United States, and China.

The Erickson archive is part of a research collection of nearly 145 archival fonds from Canadian architects who worked in Canada and elsewhere, primarily in the 20th and 21st centuries. Among others, the collection includes the archives of ARCOP, Wells Coates, Ernest Cormier, André Blouin, Humphrey Carver, Roger D’Astous, Gérin-Lajoie, Richard Henriquez, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, Lahaie-Ouellet, Phyllis Lambert, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, John C. Parkin, Jacques Rousseau, Saucier + Perotte, Shim-Sutcliffe, and van Ginkel Associates.