A new palace is coming to Season 6 of the Game of Thrones. Vaes Dothrak, the Dothraki city, will be based on works by the late, great Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, the show’s set designer says.

The Vancouver native’s designs include its Robson Square, Law Courts and the famed Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. In Toronto, he designed Roy Thomson Hall. In Washington, D.C., he designed the Canadian Embassy. In all, he designed or master-planned 500 buildings worldwide.

His credo was to design to the site. The structure “is never solitary but is part of its setting and thus must blend in a timeless way with its surroundings yet show its own fresh presence.”

Deborah Riley (who also did sets for Moulin Rouge, 21 Grams and the opening ceremony of the Olympic summer games in Sydney) is an Australian architect and designer in charge of GofT’s set design. She tells Curbed.com that she often references real-world architecture as a means of defining different locations.

....

One of Arthur Erickson's iconic designs is the Museum of Anthropology on the campus of University of British Columbia. There's no word on which of Erickson's designs will influence the look of Vaes Dothrak.
One of Arthur Erickson's iconic designs is the Museum of Anthropology on the campus of University of British Columbia. There's no word on which of Erickson's designs will influence the look of Vaes Dothrak.