Friday 26 September 2008

More SFU


The AQ, Acadaemic Quadrangle, is the centrepiece of SFU and a great place to take pictures.

I tried lots of my famous arty cockeyed stuff but settled on a straight forward view that I think gives a sense of the shape and size of the building. As the name implies, it is a continuous square. Entry to the courtyard is from below the elevated structure. 

I cropped this to 16x9. I also diddled with other adjustments which changed it but did nothing to improve it. 

The campus is on the top of Burnaby Mountain and the views can be amazing. I may sneak in other shots taken here in the future and I'll try to get back on a brighter day. It was windy, wet and fairly cold up there on Wednesday.

This is one of Arthur Erickson's most famous creations with his trademark 'tons of exposed concrete'.

Architect: Arthur Erickson
Completed: 1965

Thanks for all the helpful tips on my posting problems. At the last minute I did get Blogger to upload directly from the Pictures folder. It took a loooong time. I guess size does matter.

9 comments :

Laurie Allee said...

Wow, that is a true 1960s design, isn't it? I love the crisp feeling here -- all those squares and rectangles, that leftover space-age sense of order. I can imagine people shouting a conversation to each other from those faaaaaaaaar away park benches!

Do ducks hang out here? All the water features in Los Angeles are teeming with ducks.

Bob Crowe said...

Wayne - thanks for your comment today. The stadium was indeed closed. There was an open house for season ticket holders (we mostly give the tickets to clients). Got to go in the Cardinals' locker room, dugout, etc. Check tomorrow's post.

I've been to Vancouver enough to know what SFU stands for without looking it up. It's a very attractive campus. Of course, there's also UBC with the fabulous anthropology museum. We always enjoy visiting your city.

Wayne said...

Laurie, there is absolutely no evidence of ducks. Or geese, which usually take over any public green space larger than a postage stamp. I can think of two explanations off the top of my head. There will be a lot of foot traffic through here when students are on the move. There's no indication at the moment but it occurs to me that there may be fountains/nozzles under the surface and if there were they might discourage waterfowl.

S.T. I'm more partial to UBC. I guess we're awfully lucky both main campuses are in geographically phenomenal locales. I personally feel way too much is made of this in Vancouver as if having water and mountains is somehow and excuse for doing a lousy job of managing housing for the homeless, transit, health care, and so on. Sorry these rants take hold of me and I become powerless to stop them.

Thanks you guys.

Anonymous said...

That looks great cropped. And rant away - it's good to get a local's view of what's going on. I've only been to Vancouver as a tourist (and loved it!), so it's good to hear about the undercurrents that a tourist wouldn't necessarily pick up on.

Virginia said...

Wayne, I hear you about the homeless and other rants. I have recently had an opportunity to work with and photograph a local group that works with the homeless and disadvantaged. IT has opened my eyes to an area that I had distanced myself from. Thankfully there are wonderful organizations in my hometown that are addressing this much needed concern. Thanks to my CDP blog I am now able to participate.

Thanks for pointing this out .

• Eliane • said...

It's so geometric - I like the angle you chose to emphasize that aspect. Reminds me of Mies vdR, but horizontal.

Saretta said...

Wow, those university students are really lucky to have such a nice, big green space on their campus!

Hilda said...

That's such a wonderful place to have on campus! Do a lot of students hang out here between classes? I know I would have!

Guy D said...

Definately one of the nicest campus' in the country

Thanks for sharing

Cheers

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