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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

#511

Post by sbierwagen »

Syzygies wrote: post #440
graeme wrote: post #3

Interesting collision of the idea with the covid era. During an outbreak you’d want students to have a private airspace to go to and the possibility of ventilation. Update: from another comment, Munger designed a similar building in Michigan. It has great reviews! But, one of the top ones was “great until pandemic”. Adding this to clarify that, contra other comments, I don’t necessarily think Munger was mistaken. But…

There were cholera epidemics in the 19th century, until we realized we shouldn't drink contaminated water. In cities such as London, this required major infrastructure investments. We're just realizing we shouldn't breathe contaminated air, and we're just realizing that we need to make infrastructure investments. CO2 is a good proxy for infectious disease transmission risk. We breathe out CO2 as we spread pathogens.…

>Outside air is just above 400ppm

In 2015 it was, sure. We'll probably hit a seasonal peak of 420ppm next year. https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/

RCP8.5 has us at 1000ppm by the end of the century. By then outside air ventilation will mostly be needed to keep people in meeting rooms from putting themselves into a coma.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#512

Post by bobthepanda »

ethbr0 wrote: post #319
bobthepanda wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Afaik, most windows in newer, high-density commercial buildings are non-functional. It's difficult to design a large window, that will also open, that also insulates sufficiently to hit modern energy efficiency certifications.

Residential is different, due to generally higher ventilation requirements (e.g. bathroom & kitchen).

YMMV, but I live in Seattle, where there has been a residential boom with plenty of towers, and I have never seen a residential apartment with non-functional windows. Every room will have at least one that can open (though for efficiency reasons they're usually casement windows, which are annoying in their own right)

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#513

Post by motioncuty »

dragonwriter wrote: post #323
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…

> From my point-of-view as a former firefighter, I would say this: > A building meant to house 4500 students, with only two entrances? I would think that, you being a former firefighter, you’d know that exits (for regular use and, even more so, emergency exits ) are not the same thing as (are generally a superset of) entrances. The plans for the building [0] show 10 escape stairs with dedicated exits (including the f…

I would say that, as someone holding a B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering, I am extremely uncomfortable with no windows in a bedroom.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#514

Post by colinmhayes »

baud147258 wrote: post #457
lbriner wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An apartment for $800K is understandable. A small bedroom @ $333K is not. If they already own the building, it is only construction costs whereas buying an apartment is possibly extortionate land or property prices from the current owner, which is purely demand-driven.

well, it's not just a small bedroom @ 333k, it's the small bedroom plus all the shared spaces.

Looking at the blueprint, it seems like 7 of the 9 floors will be solely suites. I assume one floor will be dining hall which I wouldn't count as an amenity, which means only 1 of the 9 floors actually has amenities beside the small common space each suite has.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#515

Post by gwright »

hemloc_io wrote: post #499

Hijacking the thread a bit, but I'm not sure people understand how predatory student housing is in aggregate. At many colleges you don't even have a choice to live in the dorms or not as an undergrad, living on campus for 1-2 years is tied to enrollment. On top of this lots of financing for college housing is wonky, because some colleges do not pay property tax. (So you can have the college hold the land and some thi…

> building students are forced to live in.

This is a a bit overwrought. Students are voluntarily applying and accepting an offer to attend. They aren't being "forced" to do anything.

It may be that many people think this is a bad deal (financially, socially, etc) but it is a deal that is entered into voluntarily.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#516

Post by justin66 »

vneur wrote: post #474
ep103 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived in a building like this at Cornell University. The building was a converted mental health asylum prior to its purchase. Tiny rooms, with tiny slit windows, common areas, and doors that automatically swung shut in every room. Every year, students did their best not to get stuck living in that building. The only ones who considered it voluntarily were the engineering students (due to proximity to the eng campus…

I'm sorry you had a bad experience in Cascadilla Hall, but this seems like a lot of exaggeration. For others who want to see what these dorms look like, you can see images of the Cascadilla rooms alongside more modern campus dorms like Mews on this page: https://conferenceservices.cornell.edu/planning/accommodatio... .

Mews looks pretty unfortunate, yes. It's bad when the realtor taking a picture from the extreme corner of the room to make the room look big style photos still make a room look like a prison cell.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#517

Post by frosted-flakes »

canaus wrote: post #384
loeg wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had 2 toilets and 1 shower (in a single shared bathroom) per suite of 16 students at UW in McMahon: https://hfs.uw.edu/Live/Undergraduate-Housing-Rates-and-Info...

Not sure what the point was of you bringing this up. Are you saying that you liked only having 2 toilets and 1 shower per 16 people? Are you saying that since your experience was that, others should have similar? Just trying to understand the purpose of you bringing up your anecdotal experience. edit: Also looking at the link it looks like two students get 1 private room with a window, and some even get balconies. Th…

It's not uncommon, is the point.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#518

Post by nickff »

tov247 wrote: post #488
loeg wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Design life for buildings is under 50 years and 100-year pandemics are somewhat less frequent? I mean I agree it would be a miserable place to shelter-in-place for COVID, but with COVID in the rear-view mirror for the vaccinated, I'm not sure it's a major concern. I think fire safety, lack of entrances, lack of windows and fresh air are bigger concerns.

There are dorms at my university (University of Maryland) that are over 100 years old, but have been renovated enough that it's fine. I would hope that Universities have a long enough time horizon that things would be built to last an extremely long time with regular renovations. With catastrophic climate change on the horizon, the theory is that pandemics will become significantly more frequent.

>"With catastrophic climate change on the horizon, the theory is that pandemics will become significantly more frequent. "

What theory is this? I've heard of globalization and rapid transportation speeding up pandemics, but never climate change.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#519

Post by raldi »

em-bee wrote: post #382
raldi wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are tons of windows and natural light in the common areas; the design is meant to encourage congregation there. The bedrooms are just for sleeping, dressing, and sex.

i don't like to sleep in a room without windows. i like to see the night sky or signs of life outside my room, and most importantly i hate waking up in the dark. i would switch universities or sue if forced to accept a windowless room.

For students who prioritize windows in the room where they're almost never awake, they have every other dorm on campus to select from.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#520

Post by tomtheelder »

pa7ch wrote: post #473
tomtheelder wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably better in SB than just about anywhere else, since you can quite literally always just go outside. I think that's almost part of the "point" here. To try to demotivate students from sitting in their rooms. I don't like that approach at all, but I actually don't think windowless bedrooms are the worst thing in the world. I had a windowless dorm room for a year in a very cold northeastern city where I coul…

Trying to demotivate students from sitting in their dorms by making it a sad cramped place doesn't seem to gel well with the modern idea of psychological safety helping people get more done and take more risks. Its a stick instead of a carrot in your most personal place, your home.

Yeah strongly agree there.
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