University of California, Irvine Campus
Recently I attended a computer conference at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) which I found to have a beautiful campus. There were a variety of trees, colorful flowers, and interesting buildings.
At the center of UC Irvine is Aldrich Park with the academic buildings in a circle around the park. The University planners conceived of this as helping students to discover ever-expanding concentric circles of knowledge. The undergraduate schools are nearer the park while graduate and professional schools are further away.
Various events are held in the park one of which is what the blue canopy is for. The trees also help to provide shade.
In some places there are groups of the same tree like these near the edge of the park.
This Doctorbush in the park was in bloom.
UC Irvine has 24,000 trees in its campus. Aldrich Park has 11,050 trees and shrubs with 53 varieties of trees a number of which can be seen here.
I thought this Ficus macrophylla (Moreton Bay fig) had an interesting branch structure.
This Honeysuckle was in a shady spot in the park.
Near one of the entrances to the park is the Jao Family Sculpture Garden. It provides a relaxing contrast to the stress of exams. The statues highlight important figures from Chinese culture. In the foreground is Qu Yuan, a Chinese statesman who also wrote poems. On the right is Magu, the goddess of longevity. On the left is Li Bai, a poet.
The fourth statue is philosopher Lao Zi who is primarily known as a writer.
Beyond the statues some of the walkways in the park can be seen. The original plan of the park did not specify walkways but the paths the early students made were used to create the park’s pathways.
Some Bougainvillea was in bloom. If you look closely there is a hummingbird near the top right flowers.
Accessibility is important at UC Irvine as can be seen by this spiral ramp leading to a pedestrian bridge.
This view from the opposite direction shows the road and part of the bridge.
From the bridge is this view of the Irvine Barclay Theatre.
Most of the buildings have different designs of Modernist/Futurist and Postmodern buildings. Behind the Laurel Wilkening Rose Garden is Aldrich Hall which is headquarters for UC Irving’s administrative offices.
Some buildings like the Langson Library have been seen in sci-fi movies like Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972).
A Red Crape Myrtle in bloom near the Langson Library.
The New Swan Theater is a theater in the round and this summer included performances of The Tempest and The Taming of the Shrew.
A view inside showing some of the seating around the outside.
McGaugh Hall is home to the Department of Biology.
Ayala Sciences Library is the largest and newest library on campus.
Bearded Iris in bloom.
A group of Bearded Iris.
The computer conference was held at Henry Samueli School of Engineering. It was for Drupal which is Content Management Software (CMS) for creating websites and web applications.
Even the staircase in the Engineering Hall has a stylish glass covering.
Outside the Engineering Tower is a seating place with power, network access, and cell phone charging. Very nice.
The conference was held between terms so students were not on campus. However there were campus tours which the group in the distance was taking part in.
UC Irvine’s mascot is Peter the Anteater which was chosen shortly after the campus opened in 1965. This is Myrmey who is more than 100 years old and finally found its way to UC Irvine in 1988 and has been there ever since.
More Information:
UC Irvine website
UC Irvine Wikipedia article
Architecture and Landscape of UC Irvine information
New Swan Theater website
UC Irvine at the Movies information
