University of Washington Campus
The UW campus is worth a stroll just to admire the handsome architecture and landscape design. The main plaza, cheekily known as Red Square due to its brick pavement, is a good hub for taking in some highlights. In the northwest corner, the building to the left of the three slender towers is Odegaard Library, home to the visitors center, where you can pick up a campus map. On the square’s east side is its most striking building, Suzzallo Library, an example of “collegiate Gothic” design that would fit in at Oxford or Cambridge (or Hogwarts). It’s open to the public and worth going inside to check out the ornate, church-like Reading Room, with its vaulted ceiling and stained glass.
To the right of Suzzallo as you face it from the square is Rainier Vista, a downward-sloping, third-of-a-mile walkway that perfectly frames Mt. Rainier on the horizon. It’s Seattle’s best-composed view of the mountain.
Left of Suzzallo, a sidewalk leads to the Quad, four academic buildings surrounding a large lawn with 29 cherry trees. When the trees blossom in April, people from far and wide throng here to revel in the beautiful scene.
