A key element in York's Master Plan which was developed in the 1980s to give the sprawling suburban campus a sense of urban order, Vari Hall has become York's signature building. On axis with the main entrance into the campus, it serves as a functional and symbolic "front door." Its main facade, of yellow brick and grey stone, mediates between the Commons and the large concrete Ross Building which formerly dominated the landscape. And it provides teaching space, with four lecture theatres seminar rooms and classrooms, as well as faculty offices.

Vari Hall is a major campus meeting place. Students gather there to study, eat lunch, visit with friends, or just relax. The large three-storey rotunda, finished with maple and mahogany, is surrounded by intimate spaces that invite individuals and small groups. One of the issues explored in the building's design was how architecture can support and even encourage the learning process. In Vari Hall learning is not confined to classrooms and lecture halls. Rather, it spills out into stairways, corridors, under stairs, wherever students can gather informally and spontaneously to discuss and debate.

Vari Hall Study:

The June 1998 edition of the Canadian Journal of Urban Research featured "It's Not Over: Vari Hall as Contested Academic Space at York University". Authored by Margaret Rodman, Patti Hall Hawkins and Daniel Teramura of Moriyama & Teshima the paper provides fascinating insights into how Vari Hall was designed and how it is used by faculty, administration and students. The report deals with not only the physical aspects of the building but the anthropological implications as well.

It started with Margaret Rodman's Anthropology of Space and Place seminar for her fourth year students at York. Students conducted interviews, made observations and wrote essays about the building. Daniel gave a lecture to the class to explain how the building was designed and provided his observations on how it was being used. Of particular significance is the "Informal Student Use of Space in Vari Hall" section. The study helps explain the phenomenon of how Vari Hall has become of an 'unofficial' student centre within an academic building.