A-Z

Genetics & Plant Biology

Built 1990. One of four circa-1990 building projects aimed at revitalizing the biological sciences on the Berkeley campus, this building houses classrooms, laboratories, and office space.

Building Details

Floors: 3

Accessible entrances: The first floor has four separate buildings that contain classrooms. The doors to the classrooms are usable but do not automatic openers.

Restrooms: Usable restrooms are located on the first floor.

Designated waiting area: The Designated Waiting area is located...

Evans Hall

Built 1971. Original home of much of the computer infrastructure on campus, the building gets poor reviews because of its dark, closed-in design, its massive scale, and its unfortunate location spoiling the main east-west axis of the campus and what was intended to be a spectacular view out to the Golden Gate. Named for Griffith Evans, math department chair from 1934-49.`

Building Details

Floors: 12

Accessible entrances: There is a usable entrance on the east side of the building on level one that provides an automatic opener. The north side...

Cory Hall

Built 1950. Named for Clarence L. Cory, dean of the College of Mechanics and a faculty member for almost 40 years, Cory had a fifth floor added in 1985, the exterior of which features a computer chip-inspired design motif. The building houses a state-of-the-art electronic micro-fabrication facility and labs devoted to integrated circuits, lasers, and robotics. Cory has the dubious distinction of being the only site bombed twice by "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski in the 1980s.

Building Details

Floors: 9

Accessible entrances: The automatic...

Bauer Wurster Hall

Built 1964. Although home to Berkeley's architecture department, Bauer Wurster is often voted Berkeley's ugliest building for its Brutalist, bare concrete appearance. But some of the "ugliness" is a result of functionality, like the concrete sunshades over windows to minimize energy costs. It was named for William Wurster, dean of the School of Architecture and its successor, the College of Environmental Design (1950-62), and his wife, lecturer Catherine Bauer Wurster.

Building Details

Floors: 11

Accessible entrances: The west entrance on the...

Barker Hall

Built 1964. Designed by William Wurster and named for Horace Albert Barker, a biochemist specializing in metabolism.

Building Details

[under construction]

Etcheverry Hall

Built 1964. The first UC-built building on the north side of Hearst Ave., it was named for Bernard Etcheverry, professor of drainage and irrigation and chairman of the department for nearly three decades. It once held a functioning nuclear reactor in its basement and a research wind tunnel, both now dismantled.

Building Details

Floors: 7

Accessible entrances: There are two entrances to the main level (level three) on the east side of the building usable from the sidewalk via staircase only. The wheelchair usable entrance is on the south side...

Dwinelle Hall

Built 1952. With more than 300,000 square feet of office and classroom space, an infuriating room-numbering system, and a layout often likened to a maze, Dwinelle is the second largest building on campus. It is named for John W. Dwinelle, a UC regent, state assemblyman, and author of the 1868 "Organic Act" establishing the University of California. In the center is Ishi Court, named in honor of a Native American "found" by anthropologist Alfred Kroeber near Oroville, CA, in 1911 and brought to live in the UC Berkeley Museum of Anthropology.

Because of its site on a hill, Dwinelle...

Giauque Hall

Built 1954. Chemist William F. Giauque won the Nobel Prize in 1949 for low-temperature research. Labs in the largely underground building conduct research into properties of matter at supercold temperatures.

Building Details

Floors: 4

Accessible entrances: The main entrance is located in the Hilderbrand Breezeway. The lab can also additionally be accessed by taking either the Latimer or Hilderbrand elevators to the basement and using a connecting tunnel.

Restrooms: The nearest accessible restrooms are located in...

Woo Hon Fai Hall

Built 1970. Woo Hon Fai Hall is the former home of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. The 103,000-square-foot concrete structure opened its doors to the public in 1970. Considered the masterpiece of San Francisco architect Mario Ciampi (1907–2006), the building is often cited as the best application of the midcentury Brutalist style to museum architecture. The building was named Woo Hon Fai Hall in 2011 in honor of the father of David Woo, a Hong Kong–based businessman and Cal alum who began his career as an architect on the Ciampi project.

Building Details

[under...

Women's Faculty Club

Built 1923. The wood-framed structure designed by John Galen Howard includes living rooms, a lounge, and dining rooms.

Building Details

[under construction]