Vancouver Sun

Before dismissing "the clam" -- a massive, $40-million-plus wooden roof Premier Gordon Campbell hopes to erect over Robson Square -- as an aesthetic disaster, consider this important fact. It turns out that Arthur Erickson, the man who created Robson Square, has been closely consulting on the facelift -- costing at least $87 million -- to the city's landmark. The B.C. government has, in fact, been counting on the master architect supporting this expensive revamping of Robson Square in time for the 2010 Olympic games. If I were the premier I'd be assuming Erickson's support, too, given the architect's name is on the drawings. But Erickson may not be signing off on the remake after all. Putting a roof over Robson Square has created widespread consternation in Vancouver's design community, as well as the public. Erickson is now said to be ambivalent about the new design. And who can blame him? No architect wants to be associated with a project that might be seen as diminishing his own creation.