Experimental windowless dormitory project at UCSB

[ciao_yall]

What if there is a fire or gas leak?

Fire will die out, on account it can't get air through the windows.

Gas can't get air either, so it would not explode.

Just nobody open a window door. And turn off the AC.

If there is no air, sounds like everyone has already suffocated. Problem solved!

[mleok]

I'm going with nimby zoning laws. Welcome to California and its sunshine, if you can afford a house there.

That's just your politics speaking, as usual. How does accepting a $200 million "donation" get around zoning laws?

[dismalist]

I'm going with nimby zoning laws. Welcome to California and its sunshine, if you can afford a house there.

That's just your politics speaking, as usual. How does accepting a $200 million "donation" get around zoning laws?

In the small area in the immediate vicinity of UCSB, there is not enough room for nice housing, but one can build up. Outside the small area, the university cannot build housing for its students. So, take the $200 M for something ugly.

My politics? I come to convey, not to convince. :-)

[jimbogumbo]

Building up, yes. No windows, no. That is just either an awful (my choice) or brilliant architectural choice.

[dismalist]

Building up, yes. No windows, no. That is just either an awful (my choice) or brilliant architectural choice.

Absolutely! The university got the cash because the building is ugly.

[mleok]

I'm going with nimby zoning laws. Welcome to California and its sunshine, if you can afford a house there.

That's just your politics speaking, as usual. How does accepting a $200 million "donation" get around zoning laws?

In the small area in the immediate vicinity of UCSB, there is not enough room for nice housing, but one can build up. Outside the small area, the university cannot build housing for its students. So, take the $200 M for something ugly.

My politics? I come to convey, not to convince. :-)

Sure, I understand the reason for high density housing, but it doesn't explain why they need a donation to do this, or why the rooms don't have windows. We were able to construct new high density student housing on my UC campus without the need for donations with asinine restrictions. Coastal areas in California are subject to California Coastal Commission's height limit of 30 feet.

In any case, high density university housing is common even in areas without restrictive zoning laws, take Jester Center at UT Austin, which once had its own zip code...

[dismalist]

I'm going with nimby zoning laws. Welcome to California and its sunshine, if you can afford a house there.

That's just your politics speaking, as usual. How does accepting a $200 million "donation" get around zoning laws?

In the small area in the immediate vicinity of UCSB, there is not enough room for nice housing, but one can build up. Outside the small area, the university cannot build housing for its students. So, take the $200 M for something ugly.

My politics? I come to convey, not to convince. :-)

Sure, I understand the reason for high density housing, but it doesn't explain why they need a donation to do this, or why the rooms don't have windows. We were able to construct new high density student housing on my UC campus without the need for donations with asinine restrictions. Coastal areas in California are subject to California Coastal Commission's height limit of 30 feet.

In any case, high density university housing is common even in areas without restrictive zoning laws, take Jester Center at UT Austin, which once had its own zip code...

The donation is a bribe, necessary because the building has no windows.

Our views of human nature differ. :-)

[Durchlässigkeitsbeiwert]

"Warren Buffett's billionaire partner bankrolls windowless dorm. An architect quit"
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/29/business/ucsb-munger-hall/index.html

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.
I wonder if the university took the money hoping that donor would die before they had to follow through with his design

[marshwiggle]

Sure, I understand the reason for high density housing, but it doesn't explain why they need a donation to do this, or why the rooms don't have windows.

OK, I'll play devil's advocate on this one.

An insurance company built a corporate office like that, where no-one (including executives) gets a window. The windows on the side with a view are in common spaces (lounges, etc.) so everyone can enjoy them.

There are a cluster of 3 apartment buildings near here. One side of one building looks out on a lake in a park. The other side looks out on....
.
.
.
.
the wall of one of the other apartment buildings. Very scenic.

My understanding is that the residence in question is to be built with an ocean view. Unless it's in Panama, I'm guessing that only one side of the building will have an ocean view. If all rooms had windows, the suckers students who were excited to get into a building with an ocean view might be less impressed when their "view" is of a parking lot.


My bigger issue with the building is around safety, such as ventilation and fire issues already raised, and the fact that the article mentioned a single point of entry and a single point of exit. The fire safety ramifications are obvious, but since it's a university residence, imagine every weekday morning when 20 or 30% of the people in the building all leave at the same time for the first class period of the day. Through one door.

[mamselle]

Doesn't windowless = anaerobic = sick building syndrome?

M.

[jimbogumbo]

marshwiggle wrote "My understanding is that the residence in question is to be built with an ocean view. Unless it's in Panama, I'm guessing that only one side of the building will have an ocean view. If all rooms had windows, the suckers students who were excited to get into a building with an ocean view might be less impressed when their "view" is of a parking lot."

I think they missed a big opportunity to charge more for ocean views.

[dismalist]

marshwiggle wrote "My understanding is that the residence in question is to be built with an ocean view. Unless it's in Panama, I'm guessing that only one side of the building will have an ocean view. If all rooms had windows, the suckers students who were excited to get into a building with an ocean view might be less impressed when their "view" is of a parking lot."

I think they missed a big opportunity to charge more for ocean views.

If all rooms had windows, moron wouldn't have given the money!

The moron budding architect should have realized that windows could have been built in all rooms in a fourth spatial dimension, and all rooms would have beach views, without anyone looking from three dimensions being the wiser. Now that would deserve an architectural prize!

[jimbogumbo]

marshwiggle wrote "My understanding is that the residence in question is to be built with an ocean view. Unless it's in Panama, I'm guessing that only one side of the building will have an ocean view. If all rooms had windows, the suckers students who were excited to get into a building with an ocean view might be less impressed when their "view" is of a parking lot."

I think they missed a big opportunity to charge more for ocean views.

If all rooms had windows, moron wouldn't have given the money!

The moron budding architect should have realized that windows could have been built in all rooms in a fourth spatial dimension, and all rooms would have beach views, without anyone looking from three dimensions being the wiser. Now that would deserve an architectural prize!

See Heinlein "And He Built a Crooked House".

[dismalist]

marshwiggle wrote "My understanding is that the residence in question is to be built with an ocean view. Unless it's in Panama, I'm guessing that only one side of the building will have an ocean view. If all rooms had windows, the suckers students who were excited to get into a building with an ocean view might be less impressed when their "view" is of a parking lot."

I think they missed a big opportunity to charge more for ocean views.

If all rooms had windows, moron wouldn't have given the money!

The moron budding architect should have realized that windows could have been built in all rooms in a fourth spatial dimension, and all rooms would have beach views, without anyone looking from three dimensions being the wiser. Now that would deserve an architectural prize!

See Heinlein "And He Built a Crooked House".

Oh yeah!!! Junior High School Math teacher read it to us many, too many years ago. I still have a copy of Fadiman's Fantasia Mathematica, in which it is re-printed. It's that story that induced me to formulate the post. I seriously hope no one thought I was original enough to figure it out on my own. :-)

[mleok]

The donation is a bribe, necessary because the building has no windows.

Our views of human nature differ. :-)

Sure, I understand the concept of a bribe, but the administrators who agreed to it don't personally benefit, so why do it?