Minor Masterpieces: Inside Arthur Erickson's Dyde and Hilborn Houses

In partnership with the Grand Valley Society of Architects (GVSA)

For the 100th anniversary of the birth of Canada’s most famous and influential architect, Vancouver architecture critic/curator Trevor Boddy has prepared a special presentation about two of Arthur Erickson’s lesser-known but most important house designs—the 1962 Dyde House + Garden outside Edmonton and the 1974 Hilborn House in Cambridge, Ontario.

Boddy will provide an introduction to Arthur Erickson and his key works, followed by a special screening of Award-winning documentary Arthur Erickson's Dyde House (55 minutes) which tells the story of an undiscovered piece of history and the architects fighting for its future.

A Q&A will follow the screening.

His first masonry construction, the Edmonton 1962 Dyde House and the garden he designed around it have emerged from long obscurity to new recognition as a crucial early work, source of the famous ‘flying beams’ that define many of his later works such as the Smith House II, Robson Square and the UBC Museum of Anthropology. Completed a dozen years later, the Hilborn House in Cambridge is larger, but continues the rigour and innovation of its western cousin.

ABOUT THE FILM

Arthur Erickson’s Dyde House is the rare architecture film that drills deep into a complete design conception—clients, site, FLW-inspired concrete blocks, art in its gallery, garden carved out of the boreal bush, innovative construction details, and most of all, the strange story of Dyde being forgotten, then found again. The film won the “Best Alberta Documentary Prize” for 2023.

For background on the Dyde House’s design and the film: https://www.canadianarchitect.com/dyde-house-documentary-to-premiere-during-made-edmonton-design-week/

TREVOR BODDY (Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada) is a critic and curator of contemporary architecture and a Vancouver-based consultant to designers, developers and governments. His books, articles, exhibitions and consulting are dedicated to exploring the relationship between design and contemporary city-building. His writing on buildings and cities have been awarded the Alberta Book of the Year and Jack Webster Journalism prizes, Western Magazine Award, the RAIC Advocacy Award, and an Honorary Membership in the American Institute of Architects and the Bulgarian Union of Architects. At the 2011 UIA World Congress of Architecture in Tokyo, Boddy’s essay on contemporary design in Canada entitled “MEGA + MICRO: Canada, Innovation at the Extremes” was commended for the UIA/CICA’s Pierre Vago Prize for best architectural criticism published worldwide. His most recent books are: CITY-BUILDER: The Architecture of James K M Cheng (Images, Melbourne); Glacier Skywalk, and Stantec: Airports (both Figure 1 Press, Vancouver). In 2005 he was named Fellow of New York’s Institute for Urban Design. Currently teaching at Calgary, he has held academic positions at UBC, Oregon, Manitoba, Carleton and Toronto, and lectures globally on contemporary design.

Please note: This is an in-person event taking place in the theatre at our Central Library location (85 Queen St. N.). Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

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Reminder! We oversell these events to make sure that the most people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are only guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show starts, at which point we will start opening up available spots to the rush line.

Accessibility at Kitchener Public Library

Kitchener Public Library has assistive listening devices available for library program participants who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Please call or email us if you would like more information on this equipment, or to request to use it in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. Phone 519-743-0271 or email [email protected].

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