University of Western Australia

UWA is the most beautiful university campus of the many Australian universities I've visited over the years. And I'll boldly claim, without nearly enough evidence, that it's one of the most beautiful 20th century university campuses in the world. It's certainly up there with Stanford University where I studied briefly in 2005. Stanford in Palo Alto, California is situated in a similar climate to Perth and it's architecture is also similar - what the Americans call Mission Revival and in the case of UWA is described as Renaissance Romanesque Revival. This style is characterized by the use of limestone, brick, and Donnybrook stone, as well as elements like tile roofs and colonnade details, all inspired by Southern Italian and Sicilian architecture whereas the Stanford style is influenced by Spanish church architecture. In both cases, it's a response to the mediterranean climate of  California and South West Australia.

Winthrop Hall

Of course, mistakes were made on campus in the 1950s and 60s when architects were determined to be 'modern' but from the 70s on, the look of buildings turned back to that golden limestone/orange tile look. Added to this aesthetically pleasing style, the campus, minutes away from Matilda Bay, has shady trees and expanses of lawn. They were, and I assume still are, the site of tutorials, of relationships starting and breaking, of revolution being plotted, of hangover recovery. I can still picture Tom Stoppard playing cricket on James Oval one Festival summer. The University describes its campus as "buildings in a park" which captures the feeling well. Shady and calm.