Robson Square
Arthur Erickson · Vancouver, Canada · 1983
Robson Square turns a large governmental and judicial program into a terraced public landscape rather than a conventional civic monument. Arthur Erickson sinks much of the complex below street level and uses broad stairs, planted roofs, waterfalls and linked plazas to connect the courthouse, public spaces and surrounding streets. Concrete structures become retaining walls for the landscape, allowing movement across and through the complex. Completed in phases by 1983, Robson Square is a landmark of Vancouver urbanism and Erickson’s landscape-centered approach to architecture.