Fun facts about UCLA’s campus
You might think you know UCLA’s campus by walking it every day, but behind the brick buildings and iconic landmarks are little-known facts that even longtime Bruins miss. Keep reading for some fun facts about UCLA’s campus that might surprise you.
One obscure fact concerns the creek that runs beneath the quad in between Perloff Hall and Schoenberg Hall that causes the ground above to be unstable. As a result, the land sinks a few inches every year and every few years, a new step has to be constructed to even out the ground, hence the name “Sunken Gardens.”
For freshmen and other students unfamiliar with UCLA’s large campus, finding where your classes are can be a challenge. The next time you are lost, however, simply wave your Bruincard in the air and any good Samaritan in the vicinity will assist you in finding the building you’re looking for — it’s the True Bruin way.
Ever looked down at the Inverted Fountain from Pritzker Hall? It bears an unfortunate resemblance to a certain bathroom apparatus. This is because the architect who designed the Inverted Fountain was initially expelled from UCLA for poor grades before finishing his degree at USC. When the Inverted Fountain design contest was announced, he entered and won and in retaliation to UCLA for kicking him out, designed the fountain to look like a toilet.
The facade of Knudsen Hall, located next to the Inverted Fountain, is decorated with scientific theorem mosaics, including Einstein’s theory of relativity. However, the artist of the mosaic decided to leave off the 2 in E = mc^2 as he thought it didn’t look neat. One angry physics student drew in the missing 2 with a marker to correct the equation. Now, make sure to stop by Knudsen Hall every February 22nd (2/22) for their famous 2s day event!
When it was constructed in 1964, UCLA’s distinctive Bunche Hall actually used to face the nearby 405 freeway, but the light reflecting off of its many windows caused a glare that severely impaired drivers’ ability to see the road on sunny afternoons. Due to the amount of accidents caused, UCLA was forced to rotate the building 90 degrees to its current direction with a crane, placing it on the large concrete stilts that we see today. If you walk underneath Bunche Hall, you can still see the old elevator shafts from when the building was facing the other way.
If you’ve made it this far feeling shocked, impressed or ready to share these facts with your friends… it’s time for us to come clean. None of these facts are true. Happy April Fools’ Day, Bruins, and may these campus legends live on!
