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Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

independent.com

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Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#621

Post by aidenn0 »

Bobylonian wrote: post #602
treis wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the comments feels like everyone went to college in bizarro world. The dorms I lived in always had shared bedrooms. In one 4 people across two bunk beds. Having a room to call my own in a dorm would have been an extraordinary improvement. Wouldn't have cared in the slightest bit about a window.

What I can't get from this article is price. When I was student, reason why students shared those rooms with bunk beds was mainly because that was the thing they(or rather their parents) could afford and renting proper flat was out of their capabilities. Nowadays, in the city I live in 20min distance from university my rent for flat might be cheaper than what students are paying for their dorm room(with windows). Som…

Isla Vista is the closest community to UCSB, and the students get packed into the private housing there as well (monthly cost of renting a house is about $1200 per bedroom, and you often have to sign a lease for 12 months even if you'll only be there for 9).

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#622

Post by wolverine876 »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #146
mnd999 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it even pass fire regs? Surely that makes it a non-starter?

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-26-re-12733... That's by way of a reddit post about the dorm that I stumbled across trying to find the answer to whether there were fire code concerns with the project.

Hard to understand how the new dorm meets these standards, though the article is from 2000, and the question was about a private home:

To begin with, the Unified Building Code states that every bedroom is required to have at least one window opening to the exterior of the dwelling, not an adjoining room. The purpose of this requirement is threefold:

A bedroom must have a direct source of outside light, provided by a window that is at least 10% as large as the floor area of the room.

* A bedroom must have a direct source of outside ventilation, consisting of an opening window at least 5% as large as the floor area.

* Every bedroom must have a means of fire escape, directly to the exterior of the building, by way of a door or window that opens. Fire escapes to adjoining rooms are not acceptable. In the advent of a fire, that second room could conceivably be filled with smoke or engulfed in flames at the moment when escape becomes imperative. The only permitted means of escape is to the outside.*

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#623

Post by anonuser123456 »

Aerroon wrote: post #538
slownews45 wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious - reading this makes me depressed at how stupid HN and reactionary HN seems to have become. Do people not realize that in California we build residential buildings that are MANY MANY stories tall. The LACK of operable windows in a bedroom is generally a REQUIREMENT on a skyscraper / residential condo tower for safety reasons. They worry about kids falling out etc. The safety plans involve other measures -…

> The LACK of operable windows in a bedroom is generally a REQUIREMENT on a skyscraper / residential condo tower for safety reasons. They worry about kids falling out etc. Can you explain more on this point? Because tall buildings not having windows that open because children might fall out of them sounds completely ridiculous to me. Some of the Soviet commie blocks were 16 storeys tall and obviously the windows can…

> Some of the Soviet commie blocks were 16 storeys tall and obviously the windows can be opened.

The Soviet system was not exactly known for its fidelity to safety of its citizens.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#624

Post by supperburg »

chasing wrote: post #591
supperburg wrote: post #576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This place cost 1.5B. If you want to give everyone more space and windows then it’s only going to cost more, and that’s before it’s goes over schedule. This is one dorm building for one college. If you play it through, which you have never done, then you would see that even if we took every penny from the rich we wouldn’t be able to do what you said. And by the way, you are in the top 1% wealth bracket globally, so w…

I am, relatively speaking, wealthy. And, yes, I do think my taxes should be higher so other Americans can have access to basic resources like food, shelter, healthcare, and education. I’m sorry this idea angers you. Nothing else in your comment makes enough sense to respond to.

Tax yourself all you want, it won’t solve the problem. The numbers simply don’t work. A wealthy man but not a learned man.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#625

Post by anonuser123456 »

some_random wrote: post #557

Watching old people solve the "problem" of young people not socializing enough by turning their living quarters into a prison is exactly the sort of thing I've come to expect.

Munger is more interested in figuring a way to not heap mountains of debt on students.

The cost of building everyone’s dream college experience is one of the reasons people are paying 50-70k/ year for college.

If this design shaves off 10k/year in costs that’s a down payment on a condo.

Maybe that tradeoff seems unreasonable to people. But the ability to see and make those kinds of trade offs is… just maybe… one of the reasons Charlie is a billionaire.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#626

Post by anonuser123456 »

noyeastguy wrote: post #182

Munger obviously cares for young people and education if you read or listen to him. I feel like the people complaining about economical living conditions are going to turn around and propose erasing college debt, without ever addressing the cause. This is one way to make college more affordable and allow students a better chance of meeting people.

There are a lot of elitists on this thread that apparently cannot fathom the indignity of not living with their aesthetic preferences. Well, that and a lot of armchair PEs that think they know more about the NFP code than the AHJ reviewing the plans and the architectural firm that’s proposing them.

It’s doubly funny given that this building is situated in perhaps one of the best climates in the world, right next to a beach… and all residents have to do is go outside for some sunlight.

This thread must be dominated by east coast Ivy league grads, where going outside in the winter is unthinkable and an extra 10k/ month rent is a triviality. Given the comments referring to natural light as a human right … must be Yale.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#627

Post by bmitc »

People are discussing this design as if it is an actual design worthy of discussion. What it is is the product of a bum amateur "architect" wanting to feed his narcissism and legacy who just happens to be a billionaire. That and universities that have become slaves to money and fundraising. Charles Munger is apparently one of Buffet's cronies at Berkshire Hathaway.

It's telling that the committee was basically not involved at all and the complaints and resignation of one of the senior architects on said committee was basically dismissed without a second thought. Why even have the committee at all?

This building is an abomination about everything that is known about architecture and living spaces and flies in the face of increasing rates of student mental health issues and disorders. It's nauseating that the answer to "you're not happy inside?" is just "go outside".

Here's an except from another article I found:

> "Everybody loves light and everybody prefers natural light. But it’s a game of tradeoffs,” Munger said in an interview. “If you build a big square building, everything is conveniently near to everybody in the building. If you maximize the light, you get fewer people in the building.”

Munger is off his rocker and seems to follow a principle of maximal packing in his "designs".

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#628

Post by [deleted] »

xg15 wrote: post #612
slownews45 wrote: post #547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. One issue is that for tall buildings a fair bit of thought goes into things like aerodynamics of overall building, ventilation / HVAC control, and internal pressures. A tall building has an issue with its core / utilities usually, the taller the go generally the worse the ratio of non-livable space to livable. So things that mess with for example HVAC efficiency may be seen as a negative. If everyone opens a wi…

How do you vent your room?

[deleted]

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#629

Post by saagarjha »

slownews45 wrote: post #573
tsimionescu wrote: post #566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does any of this have to do with gun safety?

What does a building with 10 emergency exists, lots of individually lockable suites and rooms have to do with guns? Santa Barbara has strict anti-gun laws already. CA has a lot of anti-gun laws already. The UCSB system has anti gun laws already. Santa Barbara issues something like 50 permits a DECADE for concealed carry. It's a "may" issue jurisdiction, and they don't issue. And if metal detectors are implemented, I'…

I went to UCSB. Most students will not discount the idea of something like this happening again in these dorms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Isla_Vista_killings

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#630

Post by saagarjha »

AutumnCurtain wrote: post #88
praptak wrote: post #8

"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?

I remember sitting in my dorm room in FT (at UCSB) and watching the Tea Fire flames jump closer and closer. Fire is a huge threat in the area, even that close to the coast. This seems like insanity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Fire?wprov=sfla1

To be fair, the area is likely to be fully evacuated hours before any wildfire threatens it.
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