Wilson Plaza - UCLA's Front Porch
Photo: Simon Cobb, CC0 (cropped)
A stop on UCLA Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.
This wide plaza at the foot of the long brick staircase is Wilson Plaza, the place where UCLA gathers. Rallies, concerts, festivals and club fairs fill it through the school year, and on a quiet day it's a good spot to sit and watch campus go by.
The plaza took shape in 1932, when two gymnasiums rose beside it. One, the old Men's Gym, is now the Student Activities Center. That is where John Wooden's early teams played, in a stuffy, crowded hall fans called the B.O. Barn, until Pauley Pavilion opened in 1965. The other, the former Women's Gym, is now Glorya Kaufman Hall, home of the dance department, and it was put to use during the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.
The space was long known as Janss Plaza. In 2000 it was renamed for Bob and Marion Wilson, two UCLA graduates who spent decades raising money for the university. Before you climb, look up the steps toward the old brick core of campus, the view that greets new students every fall.
Getting here: Walk back east past the bear and continue north to the open plaza at the foot of the big brick staircase, about four minutes.
Did you know?: Glorya Kaufman Hall was the first core academic building at UCLA to be named for a woman.
Photo op: From the middle of the plaza, frame the long staircase rising toward the top of the hill.
More on Wikipedia: Student Activities Center · John Wooden · 1932 Summer Olympics
Stops on this tour
- Royce Hall - Two Towers, Not Twins
- Powell Library - Where Fahrenheit 451 Was Typed
- Inverted Fountain - Where the Water Falls In
- Kerckhoff Hall - A Widow's Gothic Gift
- Ackerman Union - The Campus Living Room
- Bruin Bear - Two Tons of Bronze Mascot
- Pauley Pavilion - The House Wooden Filled
- Wilson Plaza - UCLA's Front Porch
- Janss Steps - 87 Steps and a Legend
- Fowler Museum - World Art Behind Brick Arches
- Murphy Sculpture Garden - Masterpieces Under Jacarandas