Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between The Lines

Overview

A documentary that explores the life and legacy of Arthur Erickson, Canada's most acclaimed architect of his time, with a focus on his identity as a gay man in a profession and era where "being gay was bad for business." Renowned for shaping Vancouver’s landscape with masterpieces like Simon Fraser University, UBC’s Museum of Anthropology, and Robson Square, Erickson’s modernist-brutalist style bore classical roots. While he kept his personal, professional, and family lives largely separate, his partner Francisco Kripacz, considered the love of his life, designed interiors for many of his projects. The documentary also examines Erickson’s fall from grace in the 1980s and '90s, his struggles during the AIDS crisis that claimed many close to him, and his professional resurgence in his later years.

Cast