Arthur Erickson Quotes

Modernism released us from the constraints of everything that had gone before with a euphoric sense of freedom.

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

It is the mystery of the creative act that something other than our conscious self takes over.

In those countries with centuries of a craft tradition behind their building methods, techniques are tightly coordinated under the direction of the architect.

I plead for conservation of human culture, which is much more fragile than nature herself. We needn't destroy other cultures with the force of our own.

God's designs may be frequent justification for our actions, but it is we, the self-made men, who take the credit.

Does an architecture to assuage the spirit have a place?

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

Builders eventually took advantage of the look of modernism to build cheaply and carelessly.

Bankers cannot afford to be concerned with only the economic aspects of projects. There may be serious implications on the natural environment, the urban environment, on human culture.

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

Ancient Rome was as confident of the immutability of its world and the continual expansion and improvement of the human lot as we are today.

After 1980, you never heard reference to space again. Surface, the most convincing evidence of the descent into materialism, became the focus of design. Space disappeared.

The heart, not the head, must be the guide.

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

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.

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

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.

The innovative spirit was America's strongest attribute, transforming everything into a brave new world, but there lingered an insecurity about the arts.

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

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

The delusion of entertainment is devoid of meaning. It may amuse us for a bit, but after the initial hit we are left with the dark feeling of desolation.

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

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.

Illusion is needed to disguise the emptiness within.