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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

#631

Post by saagarjha »

zucker42 wrote: post #247

One piece of context that people might not realize: the student housing stock around UCSB is extremely limited. I've heard stories about students living in Ventura (40 minutes away by car), some students (who presumably are guaranteed housing) have been placed in hotels[1], and students living out of cars[2]. So this may be the reason that administrators feel pressured to accept this building. Still taking $200 milli…

To be fair the current housing situation is significantly worse than usual due to COVID.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#632

Post by saagarjha »

newbie789 wrote: post #485

I’m surprised that an 11 story building would be considered in that area. There are very, very few tall buildings in Santa Barbara. Then again, “rich old people doing outlandishly ridiculous bullshit” is pretty much what that town is all about. (I lived there for 20 years)

While part of Santa Barbara due to some weird zoning quirks, the majority of off-campus housing is actually in Isla Vista/Goleta. Santa Catalina already has 11 stories.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#633

Post by atombender »

chubot wrote: post #615
pacbard wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 hav…

Hm interesting, except hotels are very dense and I’ve never been in a hotel room without a window. I believe it’s illegal. If it weren’t, then the market would show that people want windows.

Not illegal everywhere, and not uncommon, either. I was a little late booking a trip to Stockholm the other day, and of the few remaining quality hotels, most rooms were sadly listed as "No windows".

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#634

Post by boublepop »

> Munger maintains the small living quarters would coax residents out of their rooms and into larger common areas

Looking at the floor plan, the living quarters are not small, they are microscopic, and the common areas are not large, they are extremely small. If two people are sitting opposite at the table it becomes impossible to move past them. This is the stuff of nightmares. 4500 students packed in windowless closets sharing a room too small to breathe. People are going snap.

> Munger Hall […] is a single block housing 4,500 students with two entrances

This sounds like a novel building up to the most horrible school shooting massacre in history.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#635

Post by donmcronald »

bmitc wrote: post #627

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 in…

I’d give everything I own and everything I’ll ever earn if we could make the 4500 richest people on the planet live in that building.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#636

Post by rglullis »

slownews45 wrote: post #505
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…

To be crystal clear, at least in California on-campus housing is generally where students want to live. With berkeley on campus housing can rely on FA awards, much more flexible in terms of reasons to cancel (ie, you withdraw from school), big issue with group leases off campus when one person flakes. What's interesting is that there is a view that we can't try out things like this in the US. There are so many critic…

> why not try something out?

Because there is no other choice, so if it is a bad one everyone will be stuck with it.

But most importantly, because the ones that are pushing for it do not get to suffer the consequences of its choices. If Munger was the first in line saying "I believe that this design is so good that I want to live there myself", I would at least say that he has the right to try.

I'd more than willing to hear about Munger's investments, where he has Skin in the Game. This project though is just plain bullshit.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#637

Post by hnlmorg »

kylecordes wrote: post #346
hnlmorg wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the donor is attaching terms to the donation then I'd expect there will be some sort of contract in place to ensure his terms are met.

His heirs might be much more reasonable about renegotiating it.

Maybe but we're now drifting really far into the realm of blind speculation.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#638

Post by tim333 »

bmitc wrote: post #627

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 in…

As mentioned elsewhere Munger has already built one of these things and it has proved pretty popular.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#639

Post by paganel »

prewett wrote: post #600
paganel wrote: post #533

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This Munger guy shouldn't design buildings, he should have sticked with making money out of bull-riding the stock-market.

Given that he is donating $200 million towards its construction, presumably he spent a substantial amount of money on getting qualified people to design it. It's not like he's short on money.

The article mentions that he was directly responsible for it:

> his blueprints be followed exactly.

No sane architect would have come up with this abomination, hence why the sane architect who is the main subject of this article has just resigned.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#640

Post by capableweb »

chubot wrote: post #615
pacbard wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 hav…

Hm interesting, except hotels are very dense and I’ve never been in a hotel room without a window. I believe it’s illegal. If it weren’t, then the market would show that people want windows.

> I’ve never been in a hotel room without a window

You might not be able to extrapolate your own experience over all hotels, there are countless of hotels without windows, and it's surely not illegal everywhere.

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