Arts and Literature in Canada:Views from Abroad, Les arts et la ...

The Architecture of Arthur Erickson: Redeeming Modernity2. Few cultural critics have resisted citing the influence of architectural theorists andarchitecture as progenitors of postmodern sensibilities; recurrent references to RobertVenturi and Charles Jencks, the Piazza d'Italia and the Portland Municipal Services Buildingappear in the cultural studies literature (see especially, Jameson, 1991; Harvey, 1989; Gitlin,1989; Jameson, 1983; and Habermas, 1981). The media hype that accompanied the rise ofpostmodernism was also considerable. It is worth recalling, especially with regard to thepopularization of postmodernism through its architectural imagery, that Phillip Johnson'sAT&T Tower graced the cover of New York Magazine in 1978 and that the shelter magazine,Metropolitan Home, was virtually born of the earliest impulses of postmodern design.3. The discrete construction of the modernism/postmodernism dialectic affords a reasonableframework for juxtaposing problems of formal expression and period specific architecturalideology that are raised directly by the nature of Arthur Erickson's work. Themodernism/postmodernism dialectic is but one of several conceptual juxtapositions thatform key conceptual points of departure for considering postmodernism as a culturalconstruct. A parallel breakdown of clearly-cut distinctions between high culture and mass,or popular culture, is also prominent in the postmodern discourse, (see especially Huyssen,1986). The socio-economic construction of postmodernism focuses on the emergence ofnew features of culture in a contemporary society dominated by multi-national corporatecapitalism, and mass-mediated, consumer-oriented communication systems, (see especiallyJameson, 1983; Harvey, 1989; and Habermas, 1975). While this broader contextualframework informs the consideration of Erickson's work, it also mandates an in-depthdiscussion of the cultural problematics of Canada positioned in a larger North Americansituation that deeply affects its socio-economic and political situation which is beyond thescope of this essay.4. For an informative review of the history of modernity which explores and contextualizes theimplications of postmodernism's reactionary, anti-modernist stance see Habermas, 1981.5. See especially Jameson, 1991, chapter 2, “Theories of the Postmodern.” Like manypostmodern critics in the cultural studies arena, Jameson is insufficiently informedconcerning the domain of architectural history which his work appropriates; evidence of thisis his continual conflation of the contributions of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and FrankLloyd Wright into a singular doctrine of modern architecture.6. It can be argued that the historiography and monuments of modern architecture, particularlyin North America, demonstrate considerable awareness of regional specificity. Indeed,regionalism, which connotes neither “modernism” nor “postmodernism” per se, necessarilyincorporates the heterogeneity of conflicting styles; the “modern” works of Wright, LouisKahn and Richard Neutra, to cite a few key examples, together with those of Erickson,provide cases in point. However, universal principles underlie regional concerns in thearchitecture of such modernists; regional determinants of culture and site can act in consortwith the non-indigenous factors of tectonics, space and expression.7. I refer here to Charles Jencks's declaration of the death of Modern Architecture on July 15,1972 with the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project (Minoru Yamasaki, St. Louis,Missouri, 1952-55). Hailed as an exemplar of modernism as dictated in Le Corbusier'sprinciples for mass housing, the project won a prestigious design award from the AmericanInstitute of Architects at the time of its design in 1951. Barely 20 years later, the 14-story slabliketowers were vandalized to such a degree that, in spite of concerted, and expensiverehabilitation efforts, the mutilated projects were deemed unsalvageable. The building's“universal” modern style proved to be at odds with the architectural codes and expectations ofits low-income inhabitants (see Jencks, 1977, p. 9).8. Although Erickson's dismissal of the stage-set qualities of such works was broadly cast,much of his wrath was directed toward Michael Graves's winning scheme for the widelypublicized 1979 Portland Municipal Services Building competition. Erickson's entry to thiscompetition was not successful, and he decried Graves's failure to comprehend fully thecontext and sense of place of the Pacific Northwest. Graves's scheme, completed in 1982, is ablock-like tower, rising from a colonnade that hugs the street; decorated with swags,garlands, and pilasters abstracted from a Classical vocabulary of design, it is painted in thepastel shades often associated with postmodern architecture of the early 1980s. In contrast,the Erickson scheme, which featured an arcade, considerably recessed from the street,41