Canadian-born architect Arthur C. Erickson (1924–2009) achieved a global reputation as an advocate of urban life. His buildings have transformed cities in Europe, Asia, and North America by reconfiguring the cultural, social, and physical qualities of their sties into new architectural landscapes. Yet Erickson's life and work have not been the subject of indepth historical and theoretical analysis. Topographies of the Modern: Architectural Landscapes of Arthur C. Erickson proposes to rectify this lacuna by positioning Erickson's contribution within Canadian and global architectural practices of the twentieth century.

Michelangelo Sabatino is associate professor at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, University of Houston. He is the author of Pride in Modesty: Modernist Architecture and the Vernacular Tradition in Italy (2010) and coauthor of (with Jean-Francois Lejeune) Modern Architecture and the Mediterranean: Vernacular Dialogues and Contested Identities (2010).