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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

#271

Post by bobthepanda »

mindcrime wrote: post #136
giarc wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As point out elsewhere, 2 entrances doesn't mean 2 egress points. There are likely lots of one way doors out of the building.

History suggests that the primary ingress/egress points are the only ones worth considering. Emergency doors have a nagging tendency to be obstructed, hidden, barricaded or even flat-out locked even when they're not allowed to be. And that's assuming people will know where they are. When they're half-drunk, half-stoned, half-asleep, and wandering around in a smoke filled corridor at 2:00 am.

Most US downtown skyscrapers generally have the one main entrance and then a fair amount of secondary stairwell exits as well. Some of those are even residential buildings.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#272

Post by pacbard »

daniel-thompson wrote: post #24

Munger also did the same thing for the University of Michigan's graduate residence building^; 95% of the rooms have no windows. ^ https://housing.umich.edu/residence-hall/munger/

I had a friend living at Munger at Umich and visited a few times.

The vibe of the building is similar to an hotel. As you enter, there is a foyer with elevators. The upstairs floors have windowless corridors where you enter the suites.

Each suite has a long corridor with doors to the rooms (4 on each side, if I remember correctly). Each room is on the "inside" of the building, so they don't have windows, but they have private bathrooms.

The living quarters have a shared double kitchen (two fridges, two cooking ranges, etc) and a double living room (two couches and two tvs). This room also has a wall of windows so there is plenty of sunlight there.

The suite I visited was coed and had graduate students from different schools living together. It was definitely an interesting vibe.

As any dorm, there are other amenities that are shared with everyone like a patio on the roof, a gym, rec room, and study spaces. Also, all the rooms are furnished, so it might be a good set up for someone that doesn't have furniture or doesn't want to worry about it.

When compared to other grad student housing options (Northwood 1-3 for single students or a shared room in Northwood 4-5), Munger is definitely an improvement (mostly it's location and the fact that is a new construction, to be honest) but it is a little bit more expensive than NW offerings.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#273

Post by joachim4 »

ajross wrote: post #142
mindcrime wrote: post #91

From my point-of-view as a former firefighter, I would say this: A building meant to house 4500 students, with only two entrances? There's a word for that: deathtrap. Building this is setting UCSB up to be the site of the next Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire[1], Station Nightclub fire[2], or Hamlet Chicken Processing Plant fire[3]. At a first glance, based only on the information provided in the article, I'd say tha…

Surely building codes mandate a comprehensive evacuation design. There are clearly aesthetic complaints many people will have here, but realistically safety shouldn't be a problem. This is simply not a "large" building by skyscraper standards, and those can be built safely. Honestly... I think this is very much a taste thing. Is it so weird that I don't think this looks so bad at all? Yeah, yeah, no windows. But dens…

Not having natural light is one of the best way to attack your mental health. This building is just a bad design, and human are not made to live without natural lights.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#274

Post by at_a_remove »

giarc wrote: post #122
mindcrime wrote: post #91

From my point-of-view as a former firefighter, I would say this: A building meant to house 4500 students, with only two entrances? There's a word for that: deathtrap. Building this is setting UCSB up to be the site of the next Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire[1], Station Nightclub fire[2], or Hamlet Chicken Processing Plant fire[3]. At a first glance, based only on the information provided in the article, I'd say tha…

As point out elsewhere, 2 entrances doesn't mean 2 egress points. There are likely lots of one way doors out of the building.

Dormitories typically have a terrible problem with their one-way doors getting mysteriously blocked. In my college dorm, they were chained shut. This was to prevent people from opening up an egress door from the inside and getting alcohol from the people on the outside. Also the hatch on the top of the elevators was nailed shut.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#275

Post by fdr »

jl6 wrote: post #256
nescioquid wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Former firefighter cautions we should be skeptical of the safety of this plan, and your rebuttal is "surely building codes mandate..."? A zero-evidence rebuttal concerning the safety of 4500 students.

I don’t find it unreasonable to assume that the building will comply with government fire safety regulations and that those regulations are at least somewhat adequate.

The regulations may have been written with architectural rules of thumb in mind, as in, "surely no one would..."

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#276

Post by JoeAltmaier »

joachim4 wrote: post #273
ajross wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely building codes mandate a comprehensive evacuation design. There are clearly aesthetic complaints many people will have here, but realistically safety shouldn't be a problem. This is simply not a "large" building by skyscraper standards, and those can be built safely. Honestly... I think this is very much a taste thing. Is it so weird that I don't think this looks so bad at all? Yeah, yeah, no windows. But dens…

Not having natural light is one of the best way to attack your mental health. This building is just a bad design, and human are not made to live without natural lights.

...and I am working in a warehouse-style building at a Silicon Valley startup. All the windows have been blacked out, to keep the IP safe. It's a little like being inside a Borg Cube.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#277

Post by Gare »

londons_explore wrote: post #185
hnxs wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The toilet:person ratio is 1:4 It’s like sharing a bathroom with 4 people, but worse no thanks

You know most offices have a much worse ratio...?

Most people don't live in an office, only spend there 8-ish hours per day.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#278

Post by dihydro »

ldoughty wrote: post #158
mindcrime wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which history shows us tend to be locked or barricaded when they're not supposed to be, or obstructed in some other way, or otherwise unavailable. Sure, there are other egresses available in principle. Hell, you can sledge-hammer your way through a wall in a pinch. But in any practical sense? Having two primary ingress/egress points is a horrible idea.

I can't recall the last time I saw a fire exit blocked... Feels like one of those things people keep repeating because of a handful of newsworthy events a year...

Go to your nearest grocery, hardware, or department store, head to the back on the day that a truck comes, and look around. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it exists. You fell into the argument from ignorance fallacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#280

Post by bobthepanda »

kixiQu wrote: post #261
ajross wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are assuming a lot about whether the safety designs exist, or are adequate. Uh, yes. Because there are laws governing how we can construct buildings in a safe way, and on the whole (c.f. the number of deaths in building fires over time) they work well. So I trust them. As far as the putative logic flaw, I don't see it. Everything is a tradeoff, even "because money". Saving money on the dorm means lower tuition,…

Laws work together with norms. The norms of architecture that mandate e.g. windows for living spaces are here being violated so extremely someone's stepping down over it. This is therefore not an average project. Concern seems reasonable.

It‘s strange that this isn‘t a law. Everywhere where I‘ve lived in the US, windows are required in a room with a bed.

I can‘t imagine it wouldn‘t be very pleasant, as an example, someone smoking weed inside a dorm next to me without a way to vent it out.

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