This morning, the class woke up for a delicious breakfast of toast, eggs, and bacon (among other things) before heading to Queen's University, just down the street from our Bed and Breakfast.
Like Trinity College, the university is beautiful, and quite different from our University of Colorado in Denver.
Established in the 1845 by Queen Victoria, to whom it owes its name, and opened in 1849, the university was intended to be a secular alternative to Trinity College in Dublin, which has strong religious affiliations. To read more about Trinity College, you can visit my earlier blog post here. Having visited both colleges, it was interesting to learn that Queen's was designed directly in response to Trinity. Queen's was also the first university in Northern Ireland, and the first class numbered 90. Today, it serves 24,955 students, including undergrads and post-grads. The main building of the university was designed by Charles Lanyon, a prominent architect at the time, who designed many other famous buildings including the Palm House in the Belfast Botanic Gardens, which you may remember from yesterday's blog post. Lanyon is well recognized for the magnitude and multitude of his projects, but also for the wide range of styles he was able to design in, including Victorian Gothic and Italian Renaissance, applied to buildings including churches, schools, greenhouses, and more. His works can be seen all over the UK, though the highest density of them remain in Belfast, the city he is most closely associated with. Today, he is often considered one of the most influential architects of the Victorian Era.
Like Trinity College, the university is beautiful, and quite different from our University of Colorado in Denver.
Established in the 1845 by Queen Victoria, to whom it owes its name, and opened in 1849, the university was intended to be a secular alternative to Trinity College in Dublin, which has strong religious affiliations. To read more about Trinity College, you can visit my earlier blog post here. Having visited both colleges, it was interesting to learn that Queen's was designed directly in response to Trinity. Queen's was also the first university in Northern Ireland, and the first class numbered 90. Today, it serves 24,955 students, including undergrads and post-grads. The main building of the university was designed by Charles Lanyon, a prominent architect at the time, who designed many other famous buildings including the Palm House in the Belfast Botanic Gardens, which you may remember from yesterday's blog post. Lanyon is well recognized for the magnitude and multitude of his projects, but also for the wide range of styles he was able to design in, including Victorian Gothic and Italian Renaissance, applied to buildings including churches, schools, greenhouses, and more. His works can be seen all over the UK, though the highest density of them remain in Belfast, the city he is most closely associated with. Today, he is often considered one of the most influential architects of the Victorian Era.
Seeing the imposing facade of Queen's University, it is easy see Lanyon's mastery of the Gothic style. The red brick, colored with cream accents and intricate carvings does not leave the eye wanting. From indoors, ribbed vaulted ceilings and tall windows draw in the light to create a very interesting effect. The inside courtyard is just as lovely, with pathways covered by brick arcades. There are also black bricks spelling out "VR 1848" a section of the back wall, as can be seen in the picture to the right and in the below.
These initials stand for Victoria Regina, or Queen Victoria. The "V.R." can be seen in several examples of architecture and art from the time, and today, people might recognize it from the Sherlock Holmes stories and movies, where the detective famously shoots the letters into his wall.
When it was first built, this college would certainly have been a visual sign of the prosperity of the growing, modernizing town of Belfast. Today, it is still an equally beautiful and imposing figure.
In the years it has been opened, Queen's University has grown drastically to keep up with its growing student population, and today comprises of several dozen buildings, scattered into the university neighborhood of Belfast. These buildings have a wide range of architectural styles, ranging form Victorian Gothic to 60s concrete. Most are funny modern on the inside, and serve the school a wide range of purposes for its 20 academic school departments.
When it was first built, this college would certainly have been a visual sign of the prosperity of the growing, modernizing town of Belfast. Today, it is still an equally beautiful and imposing figure.
In the years it has been opened, Queen's University has grown drastically to keep up with its growing student population, and today comprises of several dozen buildings, scattered into the university neighborhood of Belfast. These buildings have a wide range of architectural styles, ranging form Victorian Gothic to 60s concrete. Most are funny modern on the inside, and serve the school a wide range of purposes for its 20 academic school departments.
The central building houses several different conference halls, as well as an art gallery and the Great Hall, seen to the right. Many of these were designed or restored long after the college had been opened, but are built to keep in the same architectural style or tradition. In the Great Hall, one can see very famous graduates from the university, as well as portraits of the previous Chancellors. Other rooms include the Canada Room, a conference room built in honor of the many ties between the two countries. This room is used for many different purposes, and the architecture includes many nods to Canada, including maple-leaf patterns in the fixtures, maple-wood paneling, and motifs from the Canadian crest. The art gallery, called the Naughton Gallery shows a wide variety of art exhibits, changing about every month. We were able to see the current exhibition "Out of the Ordinary: Contemporary Visions of the Avant-Garde," which had some very interesting pieces.
I very much enjoyed visiting this university, and, once again, I was struck by the sheer amount of very specific, political architecture. This building is another clear example of where both the interior and exterior were meticulously planned to send a message, from the V. R. in the bricks to the maple wood in the Canada Room. Artistic choices are rarely made at random, and this university is one more example of this fact.
As far as schools go, I feel that every university has its on unique feels. Looking at Trinity College, Queen's University, and the University of Colorado, this is certainly true. Both Trinity and Queen's have a very grand, historic feel to them, while UCD is a lot more modern and urban. Trinity College also has a very traditional feel, while Queens, who's separate buildings are integrated into the city around them like UCDs, feels a lot less formal. I really enjoyed seeing both of these schools, which were equally interesting in their own ways, and offered a different view on the college lifestyle.
I very much enjoyed visiting this university, and, once again, I was struck by the sheer amount of very specific, political architecture. This building is another clear example of where both the interior and exterior were meticulously planned to send a message, from the V. R. in the bricks to the maple wood in the Canada Room. Artistic choices are rarely made at random, and this university is one more example of this fact.
As far as schools go, I feel that every university has its on unique feels. Looking at Trinity College, Queen's University, and the University of Colorado, this is certainly true. Both Trinity and Queen's have a very grand, historic feel to them, while UCD is a lot more modern and urban. Trinity College also has a very traditional feel, while Queens, who's separate buildings are integrated into the city around them like UCDs, feels a lot less formal. I really enjoyed seeing both of these schools, which were equally interesting in their own ways, and offered a different view on the college lifestyle.