Architect; Died May 20 , 2009. Arthur Erickson, who has died in Vancouver aged 84, was an architect and urban planner whose modernist structures sought to respond to natural conditions. Erickson's buildings include the Canadian embassy in Washington, California Plaza in Los Angeles, Napp Laboratories in Cambridge, England, Kuwait Oil Sector Complex in Kuwait City and Kunlun Apartment Hotel Development in Beijing. Erickson's innovations won him numerous awards including the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal, the French Academy of Architecture Gold Medal, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal.