Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University sits on the flat summit of Burnaby Mountain, its Arthur Erickson-designed brutalist campus looking out over the Lower Mainland in every direction. The views alone are worth the drive up: on a clear day you can see from the North Shore mountains across Vancouver and out toward the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.

The campus is worth exploring for the architecture — Erickson's interconnected concrete buildings, designed to make the whole mountaintop function as a unified academic community, are genuinely impressive. The Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology on campus is small but worthwhile for its Pacific Northwest First Nations collection. The university is open to visitors; just walk around.

things to do sight architecture
A story
When SFU opened in 1965, it was designed in just 18 months — a record for a full university campus. Architect Arthur Erickson created a brutalist concrete complex that has aged remarkably well: the Academic Quadrangle, with its glass-covered walkways and terraced courtyards, is consistently ranked among the finest university buildings in Canada. The university was also a hotbed of 1960s radicalism; it was once called "the most radical campus in North America."