This year would mark the 95th birthday of Vancouver-born architect and urban planner Arthur Erickson, who died in 2009.

Erickson designed some the Lower Mainland's most prominent structures including Robson Square and the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, both in Vancouver, and Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.

His buildings are mainly built with concrete and glass, and were designed to respond to the climate of their locations, says Donald Luxton, board member of the Arthur Erickson Foundation.

Erickson's expansive design of the three-block long Robson Square complex includes the Provincial Law Courts and can appear to have no boundaries.

"Part of it is a very conscious attempt to create a heart of the city that that expands and opens up space," Luxton told Stephen Quinn, host of The Early Edition.

The Law Courts are part of Robson Square, a three-block complex designed by Arthur Erickson between Howe and Hornby streets, south of Robson Street, in downtown Vancouver. (David Horemans/CBC)

A Brutalist?

Erickson's architecture has often been referred to as Brutalist — an architectural style that emerged in the mid-20th century and gained popularity in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Brutalist structures are made of exposed concrete and strong geometric lines. They are rarely described as beautiful.

But Luxton disagrees with that assessment of Erickson's work.

"Ever been to Simon Fraser during a snowfall? Ever been at [the Museum of Anthropology] at sunset? They are beautiful and extraordinary and very profound buildings and I think the the issue of calling Arthur a Brutalist is, to me, is kind of laughable."

The Academic Quadrangle at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. designed in 1963 by Arthur Erickson with Geoffrey Massey. (John Fulker, courtesy of the Erickson Estate Collection )

Luxton says Erickson's use of concrete was finely detailed and not in line with Brutalist trends of the mid-20th century. Instead, Luxton says the architect designed every complex and building in a way that considered the ways people use them.

"[His designs] answered questions about the nature of education, the nature of justice, the nature of culture ... what was appropriate in the 20th century to address these issues in our civic society."

Luxton says these questions are what make the Provincial Law Courts, Simon Fraser University and the Museum of Anthropology different from each other, despite being made with similar materials. Erickson played around with how to bounce light into buildings, adding to their beauty, he says.

"Arthur was always searching for a better expression of how to show the structure. The structures are usually exposed in a way that is profound."

Vancouver-born architect and urban planner Arthur Erickson died in 2009. (Arthur Erickson foundation)

Becoming urban

Vancouver was a much smaller city in the '50s, '60s and '70s than it is today. Luxton says Erickson's designs were landmarks that were startling to people at first.

"Vancouver [was] becoming a much more mature, more urban international city. All of a sudden we had some architecture that actually lived up to that."

Listen to the full interview here:

With files from The Early Edition.