Arthur Erickson Quotes

The tourist transports his own values and demands to his destinations and implants them like an infectious disease, decimating whatever values existed before.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Life is rich, always changing, always challenging, and we architects have the task of transmitting into wood, concrete, glass and steel, of transforming human aspirations into habitable and meaningful space.

There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications.

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.