Arthur Erickson’s Dyde House

Film Screening and Q&A with Max Amerongen, Producer, Sticks and Stones, Trevor Boddy, and Dr. Lee Foote

Join us for a screening of Arthur Erickson’s Dyde House, a new documentary about an early Arthur Erickson house located just outside of Edmonton. This film tells the story of the house, its architect, the clients, and the broader context in which it was built.

In 1959, Sandy and Bobby Dyde purchased a piece of land in a forest outside of Edmonton, to protect it from encroaching development. Most of this land became the University of Alberta Botanic Gardens, but they set aside a small piece for a summer home for themselves. Bobby’s Montreal art world friends suggested they hire a young, and relatively unknown UBC architecture professor named Arthur Erickson. They asked, and he accepted.

Built shortly after the Filberg house, but before Smith II or Graham, the Dyde House was one of Erickson’s first masonry buildings, and his first project outside of BC. It shows an early example of the ‘flying beams’ that characterize his work, and demonstrates that his awareness of landscape was already in place at this early stage in his career. Just after the Dyde House was completed, the Simon Fraser University commission changed the course of Erickson’s career.

Due to the private nature of the clients, this project was not publicized, and has not been given the same coverage as his other work. The film tells the story of the house, its architect, and the broader context in which it was built.

This event is offered as a part of West Coast Modern Week. For more details about West Coast Modern Week, please visit https://westvancouverartmuseum.ca/west-coast-modern-week.