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FWIW, this is the university’s press release, titled “Absolutely stunning”, about the dorm: https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2021/020361/absolutely-stunning
"The idea was conceived by 97-year-old billionaire-investor turned amateur-architect Charles Munger, who donated $200 million toward the project with the condition that his blueprints be followed exactly." Absolutely amazing
We really need a way to protect ourselves against what the rich are doing to the rest of us.
No windows? No natural light whatsoever? That's gotta have a serious negative impact on the mental health (and possibly sleep patterns?) of the students. Not to mention that in case of a fire, all the people rushing to the two exits will get into a stampede, and those who remain in their rooms will suffocate, with no windows to open for fresh air or to be rescued from? This is the most dystopian thing I've heard of i…
NYC has a law that for a room to be legally called a bedroom, it must have a window that's not on a lot line. I can't believe California doesn't have a law like that.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We really need a way to protect ourselves against what the rich are doing to the rest of us.
This is really difficult when a large part of the population is either apathetic or actively sympathetic to the policies of these insane people.
Take Elon Musk for example. His vision of the future is more compelling than anything I hear any politician of any political party in the USA (or most other nations) putting forward. I find the standard issue right-wing vision of the future repugnant and the standard issue left-wing vision completely impractical and divorced from reality. (Aspects of it are repugnant too, but much less so than the right.)
What other non-billionaire visions of the future does humanity have? Xi Jinping's smile-or-die panopticon? Putin's theocratic mafia state?
The billionaires are leading humanity by default because they're on balance the only class of people offering practical workable visions of the future that are at least incrementally better than the present.
Are there no laws against this in the U.S? In Norway there are building codes that prohibits bedrooms without a real window.
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100%. Sure, the billionaire is probably an asshole, but he’s also 97 and not an architect. The real problem here is the leadership at the university deciding to move forward with this monstrosity just to get a big donation.
But money! I agree that this is a pretty crazy project, but that's a lot of money to turn down for a public university.
"Munger Hall, in comparison, is a single block housing 4,500 students with two entrances" Is it even possible to make it fire code compliant?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We really need a way to protect ourselves against what the rich are doing to the rest of us.
It is scary how far this made it. All because of money, and the thought of losing it.
"The idea was conceived by 97-year-old billionaire-investor turned amateur-architect Charles Munger, who donated $200 million toward the project with the condition that his blueprints be followed exactly." Absolutely amazing
1.68-million-square-foot structure that would house up to 4,500 students, 94 percent of whom would not have windows in their small, single-occupancy bedrooms. Why am I not surprised that Charles "The-most-important-thing-is-getting-your-first-100000-dollars. Work-multiple-jobs-skip-meals-do-what-you-have-to-that's-the-investing-entry-fee-to-wealth" Munger architected a large prison for students?
Could you share the background for this?