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Speaker at the April 13th 2025 Sunday Meeting 10am to Noon

The Imagining and Making of a University Campus at Santa Cruz

Speaker: Frank Zwart

How was it that the University of California first came to Santa Cruz? UCSC Campus Architect and alumnus Frank Zwart will tell the story of the concerted efforts of the Santa Cruz community to convince the University of California to establish a new campus here, the University’s comprehensive site-selection process that led to the decision to create UC Santa Cruz, and the University’s first steps in building its new home. 

Plan for UCSC as proposed in 1963.  Note that nearly the entire area was to be covered with buildings.  Today 45% of the campus is Natural Reserve. Only 20-25% of the campus land has roads or buildings.

Frank Zwart arrived at UCSC ‘s Cowell College in 1967 and graduated four years later with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He earned a masters degree in architecture from Princeton University, then returned to campus in 1988 after working with architectural firms in Princeton, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Aptos, Philadelphia, and Carmel.

Zwart arrived at UCSC ‘s Cowell College in 1967 and graduated four years later with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He earned a masters degree in architecture from Princeton University, then returned to campus in 1988 after working with architectural firms in Princeton, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Aptos, Philadelphia, and Carmel.

Zwart has been instrumental in the making UC Santa Cruz a model of environmental stewardship as campus populations grew and aging existing buildings required renovation. Through the tenures of seven chancellors, Zwart served as an articulate and committed advocate for the campus’s founding values: site stewardship, thoughtful growth, and design excellence.”

Would you like to recommend a guest speaker? Please email Barry Bowman at bbowman@ucsc.edu.