Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm • Hacker News Board

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#651

Post by bmitc » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 4:21 PM UTC

donmcronald wrote: post #635

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.

I'm right there with you. That's a great suggestion that highlights the disconnect these people have with reality.

Munger also believes that wealth inequality is basically just an accidental byproduct of apparently necessary policies and that it will eventually just go away by itself. I suppose in that light, it's not hard to believe why he thinks this building is a good idea.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#652

Post by kixiQu » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 5:18 PM UTC

bobthepanda wrote: post #512

ethbr0 wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

I'm in a Seattle tower and the extent to which our windows open is a joke. You can't actually get any ventilation from a 16 inch wide window allowed to open up to twelve degrees. I like the idea of being environmentally friendly but we definitely lost the plot where airflow is concerned.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#653

Post by chasing » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 6:32 PM UTC

supperburg wrote: post #624

chasing wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Apparently I’m not learned enough to know to avoid debating random doofuses on the internet. I’ll give you that.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#654

Post by rsj_hn » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

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.

This is how you get to a place where college education is triple the cost of the rest of Europe (and much worse in quality), healthcare is double the cost and much worse in quality, and housing is skyrocketing.

"But I thought subsidizing these things would make them cheaper! Here, take more of my money!!"

Here's a life pro-tip:

When you are spending too much on something, the solution is to spend less, not more.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#655

Post by Aerroon » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 7:02 PM UTC

anonuser123456 wrote: post #623

Aerroon wrote: post #538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

They're still in use today though and I'm unaware of them being somehow much more dangerous as a result.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#656

Post by chasing » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 7:14 PM UTC

rsj_hn wrote: post #654

chasing wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This is how you get to a place where college education is triple the cost of the rest of Europe (and much worse in quality), healthcare is double the cost and much worse in quality, and housing is skyrocketing. "But I thought subsidizing these things would make them cheaper! Here, take more of my money!!" Here's a life pro-tip: When you are spending too much on something, the solution is to spend less , not more .

The idea of paying taxes to help support the people around them truly drives some people nuts. It’s a shame.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#657

Post by treis » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 7:58 PM UTC

wolverine876 wrote: post #620

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.

> Wouldn't have cared in the slightest bit about a window. Of course you're entitled to your preferences, but we can safely say that the vast majority want windows in their living space.

Nobody said anything about not wanting windows. It's the choice between a window and sharing a single room with 4 people. No window is the easy choice.

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#658

Post by dang » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 8:13 PM UTC

ctdonath wrote: post #80

adenozine wrote: post #42

Jesus FUCK that's a horrible idea. My neighbor is a maintenance guy for a sober living complex and he has talked to me about maintaining these kinds of high density environments, and this seems like a nightmare scenario just waiting to happen. Also, just emotionally, this can't possibly work. There's no way to succeed in such a high pressure environment like those college years with so little space and so little priv…

Your point is good, but the profane is inappropriate.

There's no rule against profanity on HN. It's maybe loosely correlated with breaking the rules (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html - for example the one asking people not to fulminate), but obviously not always. We're not Bowdlers here.

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#659

Post by ryantgtg » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 8:13 PM UTC

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.…

Don’t windows that open give you LEED points? Why would open windows cost you green cred?

Re: Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm

#660

Post by hn_user82179 » Sat, Oct 30, 2021, 8:39 PM UTC

spookthesunset wrote: post #526

hn_user82179 wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's clear the donor purposefully designed the rooms to be unpleasant to get people up into common rooms. It's just... weird. It doesn't matter if it looks good or bad but uncomfortable design like this is bizarrely aggressive to students, who are already living away from home and at-risk for depression and suicide. Not to mention that housing like this makes breeding grounds for the flu and other contagious illnesse…

> Not to mention that housing like this makes breeding grounds for the flu and other contagious illnesses. It's poorly timed given we're still battling Covid-19 worldwide. Designing 100 year buildings around our current hysterical reaction to covid is just silly. Covid is over, time to move on. History will harshly judge our reaction to covid and we will hopefully never repeat this awful public health policy again. T…

"Covid is over" is inaccurate and is at best very US/EU-centric.

There is a reason though that I specifically called out all contagious illnesses. I can tell you that I got colds and the flu much more often in college than I do even in an open office. What's more, is students don't get sick days or time to catch up after an illness except in the most serious cases. I don't think it's illogical to think students (and their parents) don't want a dorm hotbed for contagions.