Year Completed: 1873
South Hall is all that remains of UC Berkeley’s original campus. As the name suggests, it anchored the south end of the campus plan, six buildings arranged in a triangle that faced the Golden Gate. The other five caught fire, were razed as fire hazards, or were removed to make way for new iterations of the campus plan.
Architect: David Farquharson (b. 1827)
David Farquharson and his younger brother Charles immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1850. He came directly to California, and had set up an architectural practice in Sacramento by the end of 1851. He was selected to design the original master plan for UC Berkeley in 1869, by which time he had already established himself as a prolific and important contributor to Northern California architecture at the time, working in the Beaux-Arts style.
General Impressions:
South Hall is a fantasy in red brick and mansard roofs. It is distinct from all of the other buildings on campus; the brick and extensive ornamentation render it darker, heavier and haunted-looking, but in a fun way.
I counted 20 chimneys, artifacts from its former use as home to labs for the physical and natural sciences. It was also the original home of the agriculture school, evidenced by a proliferation of vegetal gewgaws on its north and south sides (it is now home to the School of Information).
The plaza in front is an unremarkable lawn, cut off from the larger green associated with the campanile, and squeezed between two sidewalks. While not necessarily a great place to hang out, it at least provides a good view of the building, and UC Berkeley’s architectural history, to the many passers-by.
Standing at the plaza of the campanile, at the heart of campus, the view down the hill and across the bay to the Golden Gate Bridge is framed by South Hall on one side, and the Bancroft Library on the other. It also sits on three major pedestrian and vehicle circulation routes through campus, making it nearly impossible to miss.
Disclaimer: this history is casually researched, and opinions are my humble own.