Red Square, officially Central Plaza, is a large open square on the campus of the University of Washington that serves as a hub for two of the University's major axes, connecting the campus's northern Liberal ArtsQuadrangle ("The Quad") with the science and engineering buildings found on the lower campus. The plaza is paved with red brick, and becomes notoriously slippery during precipitation.
During the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, the square was the site for the temporary U.S. Government Building. After the exposition closed, the building was removed and the area left an open field that eventually became known as the Suzzallo Quadrangle, after Suzzallo Library, which stood at its eastern edge.
In 1969, the field was excavated, an underground parking garage was built, and the distinctive red brick surface was laid down. Cassandra Amesely, then an editor of the student paper The Daily, convinced the student population to refer to the area as Red Square, presumably in reference to color of the brick. Whether it was also meant to refer to Moscow's Red Square in an era known for student activism is unclear.
The northwest area of the square is dominated by three brick monoliths, one of which was built to ventilate the underground garage, the other two being erected for aesthetic reasons. The northeast corner of the square features a version of Barnett Newman'sBroken Obelisksculpture.
The plaza is surrounded by the following buildings:
Red is the color of the passion (emotion), romance and sex, (because of its association with blood, which is responsible for arousal) thus the red of a Valentine heart and of a "red-light district".
In the history of Japan red is the color of military flags used by the Heike (or Taira) clan and of the Genji (or Minamoto) clan, two clans that struggled for power at the close of the Heian era, in the late 12th century.
Red is the color used for critical or important systems (such as emergency lighting) that operate in low-light or night-time conditions, as rod cells in the human eye do not respond to it and therefore does not interfere in the eye's ability to focus in dim environments.
The 1960s and 1970s are known as the "golden age" of the university due to the tremendous growth in students, facilities, operating budget and prestige under the leadership of Charles Odegaard from 1958 to 1973.
Additionally, Washington senators, Henry M. Jackson and Warren G. Magnuson used their political clout to funnel federal research monies to the University of Washington and to this day, UW is among the top recipients of federal research funds in the United States.
The University of Washington, Seattle campus is situated on the shores of Union and Portage Bays, with views of the Cascade Range to the east and the Olympic Mountains to the west.
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