New documentary about Arthur Erickson looks at the legend's professional and personal lives
Subtitled Beauty Between the Lines, film by Danny Berish and Ryan Mah digs deeper than the architect’s portfolio
Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines. Photo via Black Rhino Creative
Architecture & Design Film Festival: Vancouver presents Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines on November 6 at 6 pm at the Hollywood Theatre; November 9 at 4:30 pm at VIFF Theatre 1; and November 10 at 7:15 pm at VIFF Theatre 1. VIFF Centre presents the film from November 15 to 22.
ARTHUR ERICKSON WAS a legend, and now he’s the subject of a new documentary by two B.C. filmmakers.
Danny Berish and Ryan Mah are the creative forces behind Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines. Kicking off the Vancouver programming of the Architecture & Design Film Festival, the release features exclusive material from Erickson’s personal archives and looks at his professional and personal lives. Some segments from the architect’s personal memoirs are voiced by an AI program, with permission from his family.
Among the interviewees in the film are writer-editor Hugh Brewster; Raymond Massey, the son of Geoffrey Massey, Erickson’s former business partner; architects James K.M. Cheng, Keith Loffler, and Nick Milkovich; artist Douglas Coupland; Emily Erickson McCullum, Erickson’s niece; and Geoffrey Erickson, his nephew.
The film travels as far back as Erickson’s days in elementary school and to the stage in his career where he had offices in Los Angeles and the Middle East; it pores over his bankruptcy, the period when he lost his licence to practice, and his lack of money, despite his tremendous success; and it delves into his relationship with the love of his life, interior designer Francisco Kripacz. There are scenes from the heady ’70s at Erickson’s beachfront home on Fire Island, a preeminent gay resort in New York. The film divulges how tight Erickson was with former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, and looks at the ravages of AIDS on his community. He once told a friend that being gay was bad for business. The work touches on his dementia and final days in a nursing home. It all paints a portrait of a man who greeted life with kindness, humour, insight, and acceptance.
Among the projects that the film covers are coups like Simon Fraser University, the Museum of Anthropology (MOA), Robson Square, and the Vancouver Law Courts, as well as residences such as the Filberg House, Catton House, Dyde House, Graham House, and Killam-Massey House. There is footage of the Canadian Government Pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka and of the MacMillan Bloedel Building, among many others.
“I’m originally from Montreal, and it might be hard to believe but before moving here I had never heard of Arthur Erickson before,” Berish says in a phone interview with Stir. “Our office was right by the Waterfall Building, and I loved spending time at Robson Square and I loved going to the MOA. When I found out that all those buildings, the throughline was Arthur, I thought that was incredible.
“Everyone who speaks to his architecture and design talks about his love of incorporating nature, and his ability to lay a building in harmony with the site. But I thought what was interesting was as much harmony as he made with the site, he was also able to change the overall context of a place. The Law Courts and Robson Square really define the downtown core; it’s not just about one’s experience going through the buildings, but how it changed the overall context and the space. So we were motivated to make the documentary.”
Arthur Erickson. Photo via Black Rhino Creative
Adds Mah: “I think most documentarians are always struggling for archival material, but there was an endless amount, from his personal letters to personal photographs, passport photos, stuff no one had ever seen, and we had the blessing from the family so it just made sense to make it.”
While there have been other documentaries made about Erickson, most have focused on his portfolio and his building philosophies, and not his private life.
“It’s really a love story,” Mah says. “The love for architecture, but also the people he worked with, and most importantly his lifelong partner who has seldom been mentioned in the media. That’s who we really wanted to focus on. Francisco also had a really creative influence on Arthur. Especially in his later years, you can see their styles merge together, and they worked really well together.” 
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