[ebooks] Nikon D90: Focal Digital Camera Guides by Corey Hilz at Arts-Photography

Description

Arthur Erickson; Canadas pre-eminent philosopher architect; was renowned internationally for his innovative approach to landscape; his genius for spatial composition; and his epic vision of architecture for people. Among his most celebrated large-scale works are three that helped to define Vancouvers urban landscape: Simon Fraser University; on Burnaby Mountain; the Robson Square complex at the heart of the city; and the exquisite Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Travel was key to Ericksons creative process; floating high above the clouds on extended airline flights; he made preliminary drawings on vellum with his fine-point black felt-tip pen; designing influential works not only for other parts of Canada-including Torontos widely admired Roy Thomson Hall--but for sites in the U.S.; Britain; and the Middle and Far East. Erickson worked chiefly in concrete; which he called "the marble of our times;" and wherever they appear; his buildings move the spirit with their poetic freshness and their mission to inspire. But he was also a controversial figure; more than once attracting the ire of his fellow architects; and his professional achievements were tarnished by the excesses of a complicated personal life that resulted in a series of tawdry bankruptcies. In a fall from grace that recalls a Greek tragedy; Canadas great architect-a handsome; elegant man who lived like a millionaire and counted among his close friends Pierre Trudeau and Elizabeth Taylor-eventually became homeless and penniless.This first full biography of Erickson; who died in 2009 at the age of eighty-four; traces the architects life from its modest origins to his emergence on the world stage. Author David Stouck; acclaimed for his earlier biographies of Ethel Wilson and Sinclair Ross; demonstrates here once again why his work has been praised as imaginative; incisive and compelling. Grounded in interviews with Erickson and his family; friends and clients; as well as the resources of extensive public archives; TITLE is both an intimate portrait of the man and a stirring account of how Erickson made his buildings work. Beautifully written and superbly researched; it is also a provocative look at the phenomenon of cultural heroes and the nature of what we call "genius."