Victoria Times Colonist

Arthur Erickson

Architect Arthur Erickson of Vancouver has resigned his membership in the Architectural Institute of B.C., the governing body that licenses and regulates the profession. The resignation a week ago follows a six-month dispute with the AIBC over the institute's policy, introduced in 2002, making it mandatory for architects to take 18 hours of continuing education a year. The continuing-education provision includes self-directed learning that can include reading manuals, magazines or using resources available over the Internet, said AIBC executive director Dorothy Barkley. Erickson, 80, said Friday he resigned because "They were going to ask me to resign, anyway, because I'm not taking any of their courses." "For me to go back to school at my age and experience, well it's an insult," said Erickson, an architect with a worldwide reputation whose commissions have included designing Simon Fraser University, the Vancouver Courthouse and the Canadian Embassy in Washington.