Living Space/Your Opinion

[Cachoo]

Would you like this set-up for your dormitory? Would you have a problem living here?

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/business/ucsb-munger-hall/index.html

 

[aka_gerbil]

Would you like this set-up for your dormitory? Would you have a problem living here?

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/business/ucsb-munger-hall/index.html

I lived in the dorm all four years of college (because we had great dorms and I loved the experience) and I could not have done that if the dorm had been like the one proposed at UCSB.

In addition to no windows, I wonder how on earth it passes code for evacuation in the case of a fire or earthquake.

 

[Cachoo]

I lived in the dorm all four years of college (because we had great dorms and I loved the experience) and I could not have done that if the dorm had been like the one proposed at UCSB.

In addition to no windows, I wonder how on earth it passes code for evacuation in the case of a fire or earthquake.

They don't show us the open areas but I can't imagine trying to live without a window. Maybe someone younger would find this appealing. I'm set in my ways.

 

[MsZem]

Would you like this set-up for your dormitory? Would you have a problem living here?

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/business/ucsb-munger-hall/index.html

I read about this a few days ago and still don't understand how this is not a fire hazard.

 

[jamesy]

It looks like an exam room at the doctor’s office.

 

[mjb52]

I think it’s also a little weird that he is a 97 year old - with no disrespect to 97 year olds and obviously architects aren’t the same age as students either; nonetheless, does he really think he understands what students today need?

 

[made_in_canada]

Big nope from me. Though to be honest, I lived in a basement suite with a tiny window that I mostly kept the blinds closed on during university. And during the winter I was only ever there in the dark anyway. I slept great down there.

But that design is a disaster in any kind of emergency requiring evacuation. How is it even legal? I don’t think it would be in many jurisdictions. I’d be so anxious.

 

[Cachoo]

I can see my sister's reaction now if they said her daughters would be housed there: NOPE.

 

[Immortelle]

After the Grenfell disaster, the mere thought of architecture like that terrifies me.

 

[Aceon6]

No. It does not meet the needs of students with claustrophobia, with hearing difficulties, or those who need calm respite from interactions with others. Imagine studying for finals in your cell and not even knowing if it’s day or night.

 

[aka_gerbil]

Big nope from me. Though to be honest, I lived in a basement suite with a tiny window that I mostly kept the blinds closed on during university. And during the winter I was only ever there in the dark anyway. I slept great down there.

But that design is a disaster in any kind of emergency requiring evacuation. How is it even legal? I don’t think it would be in many jurisdictions. I’d be so anxious.

An article I read yesterday claimed there are only two entrances/exits in the whole plan. There is just no way that should fly in terms of safety.

 

[genevieve]

Munger, the 97-year-old vice chairman of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, donated $200 million to UCSB to fund the dorms, with the caveat that his designs are followed. He wanted the dorm rooms to be tiny and windowless to encourage residents to spend more time outside in the common areas, meeting other students.

This is a big problem in large scale charitable giving - the school should never have accepted a donation with these kinds of strings.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

That is awful. I would not allow my kids to live in that. UCSB swayed by the $$$$$$$.

 

[Lemonade20]

Would you like this set-up for your dormitory? Would you have a problem living here?

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/business/ucsb-munger-hall/index.html

That should be illegal. Omg. My daughter lives in a dorm now and she has huge windows, with two she can escape out of in case of an emergency.

 

[MacMadame]

In my freshman year of college, I ended up in the one dorm with a basement with cinder block walls. And even we had windows in our rooms. Nice big ones, in fact.

Though windows were a curse when a tornado warning happened because we couldn't stay in our rooms so we were all huddled in the hallway. Still, I think at least one window should be de rigueur in anything but a bathroom or a closet. Okay, maybe also a laundry room -- though those are just closets for your washer and dryer if you think about it.

 

[Lizziebeth]

It looks like an exam room at the doctor’s office.

That is so true. I would hate this, regardless of windows. It needs some serious clutter to liven it up.

 

[gkelly]

That is so true. I would hate this, regardless of windows. It needs some serious clutter to liven it up.

Well, the students will bring their own personalized clutter, as they do to any dorm room.

We can't expect the university to provide clutter for every student.

 

[Coco]

Props to the guy who resigned in protest.

 

[Prancer]

My office is and always has been in a basement with no windows, even when I was teaching at different campuses. I frequently teach in classrooms in basements that have no windows (also happened at different campuses). I play guitar multiple times a week in studios and recital halls that have no windows.

Now that I think about it, I have spent most of my adult working life in dungeons. Even when I was tech writing/editing, I worked in windowless offices.

I am so used to this that I don't notice it very much and I could probably live in one of those rooms without too much trouble. I can attest, however, that it would make other people crazy, as I work with a lot of them. Faculty do a lot of work outside where I work--so much so that the campus now has outdoor stations set up for work.

Alas for the poor introvert students who would rather stay in their windowless cells than go out and mingle in the common areas. They will be the last ones out the door when the fire alarms go off.

 

[LadyM76]

My office is and always has been in a basement with no windows, even when I was teaching at different campuses. I frequently teach in classrooms in basements that have no windows (also happened at different campuses). I play guitar multiple times a week in studios and recital halls that have no windows.

Now that I think about it, I have spent most of my adult working life in dungeons. Even when I was tech writing/editing, I worked in windowless offices.

I am so used to this that I don't notice it very much and I could probably live in one of those rooms without too much trouble. I can attest, however, that it would make other people crazy, as I work with a lot of them. Faculty do a lot of work outside where I work--so much so that the campus now has outdoor stations set up for work.

Alas for the poor introvert students who would rather stay in their windowless cells than go out and mingle in the common areas. They will be the last ones out the door when the fire alarms go off.

I would be so screwed, as I both an introvert and claustrophobic...

 

[Cachoo]

Well, the students will bring their own personalized clutter, as they do to any dorm room.

We can't expect the university to provide clutter for every student.

And thank God for clutter but these rooms don't look conducive to clutter or personality: They look like a resting place when you are waiting to go to the next round in the Squid Game.

 

[overedge]

I wonder if Charlie Munger would want to live in a space like that. My guess is no.

I've stayed in some dorms with that "teeny individual room"/"big common area" setup, and was very thankful that both were short term stays during conferences. Even in those couple of days, the teeny rooms were oppressive. Plus which, I can see this type of setup being hugely problematic if someone in the same area is a harasser or otherwise unpleasant to be around. Being "encouraged" to spend more time in the common space only works if you are comfortable with, or enjoy being around, the other people in the common space.

 

[Prancer]

Meanwhile, did anyone see this story on 60 Minutes?

Michael Murphy and Alan Ricks were still students at Harvard's Graduate School of Design when they were asked to help design a hospital in a remote, rural district of Rwanda for the nonprofit organization Partners In Health. The pair says lessons learned on that project inspired them to develop a new model of architecture, one focused on serving the needs of the community and providing beautiful design to groups and communities typically unable to afford great architecture.

The firm's ethos grew out of mandates given by Partners In Health founder Dr. Paul Farmer when the young architects were designing that first hospital: it had to be beautiful; had to employ as many local citizens as possible; and it had to have natural airflow to prevent the spread of airborne diseases like tuberculosis. Natural ventilation to allow buildings to breathe became a central theme of MASS' work going forward.

Says Murphy, "This entire hospital is designed around that simple idea that air flow, air movement, are the basic premise that we should design our buildings around, and in particular our hospitals, so that patients don't transmit airborne diseases to each other."

Such a better concept of space.