University of Washington

The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a major public research university in the Seattle metropolitan area. Also known as Washington or UW (pronounced U Dub) and locally as The U, it is the largest university in the Pacific Northwest and one of the oldest public institutions of higher education on the West Coast of the United States. The university is made up of three campuses with its flagship campus in Seattle's University District, and upper division campuses in Tacoma and Bothell. The University of Washington has been coined as one of the "Public Ivies" - a public university that provides an "ivy league" collegiate experience.

Campus setting and architecture

The University of Washington, Seattle campus is situated on the shores of Union and Portage Bays, with views of the Cascade Range to the east and the Olympic Mountains to the west. Its most popular views are from Suzzallo Library, which has a vista of Mount Rainier to the southeast, the Quad and its Yoshino cherry trees that bloom spectacularly each spring to the north, and Red Square spreading out in front of it to the west.

Related Topics:
Union - Portage Bay - Cascade Range - Olympic Mountains - Suzzallo Library - Mount Rainier - Cherry trees - Spring - Red Square

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The main campus is bounded on the west by 15th Avenue N.E., on the north by N.E. 45th Street, on the east by Montlake Boulevard N.E., and on the south by N.E. Pacific Street. East Campus stretches east of Montlake Boulevard to Laurelhurst and is largely taken up by wetlands and sports fields. South Campus occupies the land between Pacific Street and the Lake Washington Ship Canal which used to be a golf course and is given over to the health sciences, oceanography, fisheries, and the University of Washington Medical Center. West Campus is less of a separate entity than the others, many of its facilities being on city streets, and stretches between 15th Avenue and Interstate 5 from the Ship Canal to N.E. 41st Street.

Related Topics:
Laurelhurst - Wetland - Lake Washington Ship Canal - Golf course - Health sciences - Oceanography - Fisheries - University of Washington Medical Center - Interstate 5

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The oldest building on campus is Denny Hall. Built in 1895 in the French Renaissance style, it was named in honor of Seattle pioneers Arthur A. and Mary Denny. It served as the core of the University for many years. After other structures were erected near Denny Hall with apparently little overall planning, the Board of Regents determined that a master plan was needed. Early plans, including a preliminary proposal by John C. Olmsted, stepson of renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, had little impact.

Related Topics:
1895 - French Renaissance - Arthur A. - Mary Denny - John C. Olmsted - Landscape architect - Frederick Law Olmsted

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Instead, it was the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition that defined much of the campus' future layout. The exposition plan, also designed by John C. Olmsted, defined the University's major axis on the lower campus. Oriented to the southeast, it provides the University with its primary vista of Mount Rainier on clear days. Most of the University's science and engineering buildings line this axis.

Related Topics:
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition - Mount Rainier - Science - Engineering

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After the exposition, the Board of Regents sought a master plan that would unite the newly developed lower campus with the original buildings of the upper campus including Denny Hall. Rejecting a further proposal from Olmsted, the regents instead turned to local architects Carl F. Gould and Charles H. Bebb. Their proposal was accepted, and came to be called the Regents' Plan. It specified a northeast-southwest axis on upper campus around which would be centered the University's liberal arts departments. This axis joins the lower campus axis laid down during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition at an open space left behind after a large temporary structure built for the fair was torn down. This space was later paved with a distinctive red brick and has come to be known as Red Square. Some of the buildings from the exposition were kept by the university and have been retrofitted over the years since. One of these is Architecture Hall.

Related Topics:
Carl F. Gould - Charles H. Bebb - Liberal arts - Brick - Red Square - Architecture Hall

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Bebb and Gould's plan also called for all future construction to adhere to a Collegiate Gothic style. This style is best exemplified on the University campus by the early wings of Suzzallo Library, the University's central library.

Related Topics:
Collegiate Gothic - Suzzallo Library

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New construction in the 1960s saw a deviation from the Collegiate Gothic style as specified in the Regents' Plan. Business facilities on the upper campus, science and engineering structures on lower campus, and a new wing of Suzzallo Library, were all built in a modernist style, as was a unique, glass-walled building housing an experimental nuclear reactor. The reactor opened in 1961; a small radiation leak in 1972 resulted only in a temporary shutdown, but security concerns eventually led to it being decommissioned. As of 2005 it is in the process of being dismantled. http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/dec04/backpages.html

Related Topics:
1960s - Modernist - Nuclear reactor - 1961 - Radiation - 1972 - As of 2005

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An apparent attempt to harmonize future development with the Regents' Plan can be seen in the University's most recent construction, including the final wing of the library and a new generation of science and engineering buildings.

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Most of the streets and major walkways on campus are named after the state's counties. Major exceptions are Memorial Way, named in honor of members of the UW community who died in World War I, and George Washington Lane.

Related Topics:
Street - Walkways - Counties - World War I - George Washington

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Other attractions on campus include the Henry Art Gallery and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.

Related Topics:
Henry Art Gallery - Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

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