Otago University

Image Credit: Te Papa [Otago University, Dunedin], circa 1879, Dunedin, by Burton Brothers studio, maker unknown. Te Papa

The University of Otago officially opened in 1871. Then, shops, banks and courts all closed so the citizens could take part in the festivities celebrating the founding of a university that proved to be the star in a system of free education based on the Scottish model. Students today would scorn the word ‘free’ - education is one of Dunedin’s largest industries - but the thousands who have come from out of town to be educated at Otago University hold it in great affection. The town, recognising the importance of its students, turns out in large numbers to watch graduation parades through the main street and usually fondly tolerates the occasional less desirable student behaviour.

University of Otago buildings:- Architect Maxwell Bury based his design for this much photographed building of Leith Valley basalt and Oamaru stone on Scottish Gothic Revival buildings. He designed the magnificentclock tower and adjacent geology block in 1878. Bury was influenced by Sir George Scott's design for Glasgow University built in 1870. Bury improved on Scott's design with a more lively Gothic . He later added to it. In 1914 and 1922 rather than following Bury's original symmetrical design Edward Anscombe, his successor as University architect, completed the complex with extensions to the south creating a powerful asymmetrical composition. Anscombe continued the Scottish Gothic style with his designs for the Physics Wing, the Archway,Marama Hall and Home Science Block.

HALF DAY ICONIC DUNEDIN CITY TOUR