Arthur Erickson

“The obsession with performance left no room for the development of the intuitive or spiritual impact of space and form other than the aesthetic of the machine itself.”

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

“The great dream merchant Disney was a success because make-believe was what everyone seemed to need in a spiritually empty land.”

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

“Materialism has never been so ominous as now in North America, as management takes over.”

“We can appreciate but not really understand the medieval town. We cannot comprehend its compactness, the contiguity of all its buildings as a single uninterrupted whole.”

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

“We have today a fairly thorough knowledge of the early Greco-Roman period because our motivations are the same.”

“Nowhere has specialization penetrated so deeply into the building professions as North America.”

“We find Japan a little more difficult to understand because it has proven its 20th century prowess though the ancient traditions still persist.”

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

“Compared to industry in Europe or Japan, where industry was based on a craft tradition, we are sadly behind.”

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

“Nearly all of the advances in structural and aesthetic innovation is coming from abroad.”

“No amount of thought can ever reveal what comes unexpectedly.”