The first new building constructed on the campus after its founding in 1963, the Science Wing (original the Andrews Building) was design by John Andrews in the brutalist style and completed in 1964. The building, along with the adjacent Humanities Wing, were constructed with long open hallways down the center with overlooking balconies designed to look like city streets.
The exterior and hallways can be seen above as the M.C.R. Embassy in The Expanse, 89th Precinct in Shadowhunters, and F.B.I. Academy in Hannibal.
The building can also be seen in Enemy and Stereo.
My favourite place to study on campus is the SW hallway with its rows of study stations. It is a place where I can relax after a busy morning of work, lectures and various school events. The deep desks provide enough room for me to both eat and set up my laptop. The perfect day is when I am able to find a station that is beside a window and is close to an electrical outlet. With a guaranteed power supply, I know that I can stay indefinitely. It is an added bonus when I manage to get a padded chair with armrests, adding comfort to my work. On the rare occasion when I hit the study station jackpot, of an outlet, padded chair and window, I give thanks to the study gods for their generosity. More often than not though I am left with a mixture of the aforementioned study station perks. I will get a power outlet, but no padded chair; or I will get a padded chair but it is close to the doors, so every few minutes I feel a gust of cold winter air or the waft cigarette smoke.
Finding the perfect spot is a process that requires two parts judgment and one part luck. Much like cars looking for a parking space at Yorkdale mall around Christmas time, students will go up and down the hall looking for the best possible spot. I often make the conscious effort to walk faster than other students in order to claim available openings. My heart sinks every time I see a perfect spot that is seemingly unoccupied, but upon closer observation, it is missing a chair or is claimed by a coat or book. The judgement involved comes from passing up a less desirable station in hopes of finding a better one done the line. Normally, my perseverance pays off but there have been times I am left to eat my lunch in the back of a lecture hall.
The thing that makes the study stations so desirable is the variety of things that I can do there. Their primary purpose is to provide study space, but if you observe the students seated in this area you will quickly learn that is not SW’s only function. I choose this location to eat because it is more private and comfortable than the tables in the student center; other students watch Netflix, play video games, skype family or friends and many often sleep. I once even saw a student doing needlepoint while watching what looked like a Chinese soap opera. Although the area is designed for a singular purpose, it has become an area of fluidity where numerous different activities occur.
The attraction of this multi-purpose area can also be its most unpleasant quality. Finding a place to study can be an ordeal. It is a topic of contention for those who are at school to study and instead of watch Netflix or play video games. I get irritated when I have a two-hour break between classes and not able to find a spot to do homework. I even get aggravated to see precious spots going to students that are not using study spaces for their intended purpose. Having to write a paper sitting on the ground or in the back of the classroom, because someone just had to get their needlepoint done, always puts me on edge. Of course, this is a double standard because when I find a space, I selfishly do whatever I want without any consideration for the frustration of others.
There is also an unwritten code of ethics associated with the study stations. One of the biggest unwritten rules that must be followed is the guarding of someone else’s stuff. Regardless of what they are doing or how long they might be, if someone asks you to guard their property, you must comply. There is no penalty if you refuse or if the individual's stuff gets stolen, but it is still something that you agree to without hesitation. If you have to leave before they get back, you are expected to assign someone else to be the stranger's protective guardian.
On a daily basis, hundreds if not thousands of students walk through the Science Wing hallway. They rush past without considering the areas various purposes and meanings. They do not see this as a place of relaxation for the science student after two labs and a midterm. They do not see this as a place of contention, between those that are seated and those that claim priority. There is no understanding of the unofficial code of conduct that governs an otherwise ungoverned location. Between the rows of the study stations in SW lies the diversity of student emotions and standards.
Woman meets a fish monster. Woman falls in love with fish monster. Woman plots against government to help fish monster escape captivity and torture. It is a tale as old as time.
Elisa and Giles live in apartments over a movie theater. The exterior of the theater is Massey Hall downtown while the interior is the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre a few blocks away.
Elisa gets off the bus at the research facility where she cleans located at the Science Wing of the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Giles takes Elisa to The Lakeview Restaurant to get pie and Giles makes eyes at the cute guy behind the counter.
The bus carrying Elisa to work drives down Eastport Drive in Hamilton.
Elisa and Zelda have lunch in the cafeteria located in the Humanities Wing.
Giles’ latest design is rejected by the design firm in Hamilton City Hall.
Dr. Hoffstetler returns home to the Suffolk Apartments where he finds some men waiting for him.
He then waits at the Lakeshore Sand Company to be picked up for his covert meeting with his handler.
Strickland drives his fancy new car down Lake Shore Boulevard East towards Cherry.
Elise scouts out the canal at the Works and Environmental Systems lot on Keating Channel looking for a place to release the creature when the waters rise.
Woman meets a fish monster. Woman falls in love with fish monster. Woman plots against government to help fish monster escape captivity and torture. It is a tale as old as time.
Holden, Naomi, and Amos search Ganymede with Prax for signs of his daughter Mei while Alex tries to find a way through the Martian no-fly zone and Bobbie searches for clues on what killed her team.
Coming to school so early that I was the only one at the Science Wing. Sitting in front of this locker every morning from 7 to 7:15 just listening to my iPod while reading angsty Chiitaro fics. I've missed doing that.
