University of Washington Quad, Spring 2007

The Liberal Arts Quadrangle, more popularly known as the Quad, is the main quadrangle at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. It is often considered the school's trademark attraction. Raitt Hall and Savery Hall frame the northwestern boundary while Gowen, Smith, and Miller Halls frame the southeast. At the top of the quad sits the latest buildings on the quad, the Art and Music Buildings. The quad is lined with thirty Yoshino cherry trees, which blossom between mid-March and early April.

History

The history of the Quad traces back to the beginnings of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition campus. Although the Quad was not finished until 1950, its layout was produced as early as 1915 by its designers

Henry Suzzallo Henry Suzzallo (August 22, 1875 – September 25, 1933) was the president of the University of Washington from 1915 to 1926. He later served as director of the National Advisory Committee on Education and president of the Carnegie Foundation for ...

, an early UW President, and architect Carl Gould, who designed numerous buildings on the UW campus. In 1915, the

Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual c ...

adopted Gould's "Revised General Plan of the University of Washington", known more commonly as the Regents Plan. The first building built to enclose the Quad was Raitt Hall, which was named for Effie Isobel Raitt, director of the School of Home Economics. On a rainy day, Raitt invited legislators to the wartime shack that housed the School of Economics. Issues with the building led to the allocation of funds within the Regents Plan to build a new structure for the school. Philosophy Hall, University of Washington campus, Seattle, 1922 (COBB 345)

Philosophy Hall, University of Washington campus, Seattle, 1922 (COBB 345)

In 1920, two more structures were built in the Quad. Student payments into the University building fund financed the construction of Commerce Hall, which was completed in 1917. This method of funding also marked the first instance of tuition for higher education in the state of Washington. Philosophy Hall, whose construction was interrupted by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, was finished in 1920. It was later combined with Commerce Hall to form what is presently known as Savery Hall. Between World War I and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the University built three more structures in the Liberal Arts Quadrangle. Miller Hall, finished in 1922; Gowen Hall, finished in 1932; and Smith Hall, finished in 1939 marked the complete enclosing of the Quad. Gould and Suzzallo's plan was finished upon the construction of the Art and Music Buildings. The Art building was built in 1949 and the Music building was finished the following year in 1950. These two buildings, each with a single tenant that towers above the space between them, act as a grand gateway for those descending the three-tiered staircase into the Quad's northeastern end.

Cherry blossoms

The quad is lined with thirty Yoshino cherry trees, which draw sightseers when they blossom, typically between mid-March and early April. The cherry trees were bought by the UW in 1939 and initially planted at the Washington Park Arboretum. The trees were moved onto the campus's Liberal Arts Quad in 1962 after construction began on State Route 520, which cut across part of the arboretum. In 2014, an additional 32 trees were donated with funds from the Japan Commerce Association and will be planted at Rainier Vista and in the arboretum.

Gallery

File:U. of Wash Quad 01.jpg, File:Uwashcherry.JPG, File:UW Cherry Blossoms.jpg, File:University of Washington Quad cherry blossoms 2014 - 01 (13347862214).jpg, File:University of Washington Quad cherry blossoms 2014 - 04 (13347581233).jpg, File:University of Washington Quad cherry blossoms 2017 - 09.jpg,

References

{{Authority control Quad Tourist attractions in Seattle