IJCS/RIÉCsurmounted by a massive office block, rema<strong>in</strong>ed em<strong>in</strong>ently modern <strong>in</strong> its urban p<strong>la</strong>nn<strong>in</strong>gsensibilities, starkly geom<strong>et</strong>ric mass<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> re<strong>la</strong>tively unarticu<strong>la</strong>ted elevations.9. In this respect, analysis of Erickson's architecture also benefits <strong>from</strong> the conceptualframework of critical regionalism. To a great extent, critical regionalism, which “mediatesthe impact of universal civilization with elements derived <strong>in</strong>directly <strong>from</strong> the peculiarity of aparticu<strong>la</strong>r p<strong>la</strong>ce, ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a high level of critical self-consciousness” (Frampton, 1983, p.16) may be considered a sub-text of the postmodern discourse. Regionalism appears <strong>in</strong> thema<strong>in</strong>stream discourse of postmodernism; see for example “Neo-Vernacu<strong>la</strong>r” <strong>in</strong> Jencks,1977. In view of the dist<strong>in</strong>ctive <strong>and</strong> varied character of <strong>Canada</strong>'s natural environment <strong>and</strong> itscultural aff<strong>in</strong>ities, it cont<strong>in</strong>ually emerges as an important construct of p<strong>la</strong>ce <strong>and</strong> identity forCanadian architecture. See Trevor Boddy, “The Bush League: Four Approaches toRegionalism <strong>in</strong> Recent Canadian Architecture,” Center, A Journal for Architecture <strong>in</strong>America, 3 (1987), pp. 100-108, <strong>and</strong> Ethel Goodste<strong>in</strong>, “Contemporary Architecture AndCanadian National Identity,” American Review of Canadian Studies, 18 (1988), pp. 127-159.10. Erickson notes that the design of the museum was <strong>in</strong>fluenced by the image of a photographdepict<strong>in</strong>g an early Indian vil<strong>la</strong>ge situated b<strong>et</strong>ween the edge of the forest <strong>and</strong> the edge of thesea.11. Although the heroic architect is a dom<strong>in</strong>ant figure <strong>in</strong> the historiography of the ModernMovement, <strong>in</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>, the role of the autonomous technocrat, a self-effac<strong>in</strong>g team p<strong>la</strong>yer <strong>in</strong>the usual structure of North American architectural firms, is also important to consider.12. In a critique of Erickson's Canadian Chancery, Toronto Star art <strong>and</strong> architecture criticChristopher Hume confronted the sem<strong>in</strong>al question, “How do you say ‘Canadian’ <strong>in</strong>architecture,” suggest<strong>in</strong>g that it is impossible to ascerta<strong>in</strong> exactly what constitutes“Canadian” <strong>in</strong> Canadian architecture. Cultural cliches, such as log structures or tipis, arecerta<strong>in</strong>ly not the answer. See Toronto Star, 10 February 1989.ReferencesColl<strong>in</strong>s, Jim. Uncommon Cultures. New York <strong>and</strong> London: Routledge, 1989.Erickson, Arthur. Address to the Annual Me<strong>et</strong><strong>in</strong>g of the American Institute of Architects, June1986. Cited <strong>in</strong> Erickson, Forg<strong>et</strong> the Past Before It Strangles Us Aga<strong>in</strong>. F.W. DodgeConstruction News, 25 July 1986.________. The Architecture of Arthur Erickson. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988.Frampton, Kent. Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Po<strong>in</strong>ts for an Architecture of Resistance. InH. Foster (Ed.), The Anti-Aesth<strong>et</strong>ic. Essays on Postmodern Culture (pp. 16-30). PortTownsend, WA: Bay Press, 1983.Gitl<strong>in</strong>, Todd. Postmodernism Def<strong>in</strong>ed At Last. Utne Reader, July/August 1989: 52-61.Gramsci, Antonio. Selections <strong>from</strong> the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. London: Lawrence<strong>and</strong> Wishart, 1971.Habermas, Jurgen. Modernity versus Postmodernity. New German Critique 22 (W<strong>in</strong>ter 1981) 3-14.________. The Legitimization Crisis. Boston: Beacon Press, 1975.Harvey, David. The Condition of Postmodernity. Oxford: Basil B<strong>la</strong>ckwell, 1989.Huyssen, Andreas. After the Great Divide, Modernism, Mass Culture, Postmodernism.Bloom<strong>in</strong>gton <strong>and</strong> Indianapolis, IN: University of Indiana Press, 1986.Ig<strong>la</strong>uer, Edith. Seven Stones, A Portrait of Arthur Erickson. Vancouver, B. C. <strong>and</strong> Seattle, WA:Harbor Publish<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> University of Wash<strong>in</strong>gton Press, 1981.Jacobs, Jane. Death <strong>and</strong> Life of American Cities. New York: V<strong>in</strong>tage Books, 1961.Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernism <strong>and</strong> Consumer Soci<strong>et</strong>y. In H. Foster (Ed.), The Anti-Aesth<strong>et</strong>ic.Essays on Postmodern Culture (pp. 52-61). Post Townsend, WA: Bay Press, 1983._________. Postmodernism or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham, NC: DukeUniversity Press, 1991.Jencks, Charles. The Language of Post-Modern Architecture. New York <strong>and</strong> London: Rizzoli,1977.Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report On Knowledge (Geoff Benn<strong>in</strong>gton<strong>and</strong> Brian Massumi, Trans.). M<strong>in</strong>neapolis: University of M<strong>in</strong>nesota Press, 1979).Norberg-Schultz, Christian. Intentions <strong>in</strong> Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1965.Ricoeur, Paul. Universal Civilization <strong>and</strong> National Cultures. In History <strong>and</strong> Truth (Charles A.Kelbley, Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1965.42
The Architecture of Arthur Erickson: Redeem<strong>in</strong>g ModernityStern, Robert A.M. The Doubles of Postmodernism. In Andreas Papadakis <strong>and</strong> Harri<strong>et</strong> Watson(Eds.), New C<strong>la</strong>ssicism (pp. 167-175). New York: Rizzoli, 1990.Venturi, Robert. Complexity <strong>and</strong> Contradiction <strong>in</strong> Architecture. Garden City, NY: Doubleday,The Museum of Modern Art Papers on Architecture, 1966.Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown <strong>and</strong> Steven Izenour. Learn<strong>in</strong>g From Las Vegas. Cambridge,MA: MIT University Press, 1972.43
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