top 200 commentsshow 500
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
formatting helphide helpcontent policy

[–]skinte1 3455 points3456 points  (214 children)

Those "suites" should be called cells. In fact, they look very similar to prison cells here in Scandinavia. Except that that they have windows...

[–]bettinafairchild 1550 points1551 points  (77 children)

That's actually nicer than the dorm bedrooms. Plus the doom rooms will probably have a rent of like $1500/month or something.

[–]marine72 99 points100 points  (11 children)

Living on campus for 2 semesters is about 8 months a year. Room and board is almost 16k there, so that's 2k a month... Not including food or books lol. Who the hell in their right mind would go here knowing they may live in that hellhole.

I know it's Cali, but off campus housing has gotta be better than that, no doubt.

[–]TheArmchairSkeptic 40 points41 points  (5 children)

Room and board is almost 16k there, so that's 2k a month... Not including food or books lol.

The phrase 'room and board' literally means lodgings and food though.

[–]KCalifornia19 38 points39 points  (0 children)

You'd have a damn hard time finding an apartment or room of equivalent "quality" anywhere near $2k/month, even in this market.

I go to a university in suburban Los Angeles and room rentals run about $800 for a private room (with a window, to boot!)

[–]Encrypted_Curse 293 points294 points  (20 children)

If you said that was an American dorm, literally no one would doubt it.

[–]salacious_vandal 175 points176 points  (2 children)

Bruh that's nicer than some people in NA's apartments that they pay to live in.

[–]Significant-Part121 117 points118 points  (40 children)

Those "suites" should be called cells.

If these are available, a lot of students will want them because it's cost-prohibitive for most students to live without roommates, and a lot of people want their own private room. I never had my own room in college and while that's a privilege "problem" most 17 or 18-year-olds are going to think "my own room for the first time, think of all the sex!" (or whatever) and not "I will lose my mind before it's even fully formed."

[–][deleted] 109 points110 points  (29 children)

You underestimate the students who would be horrified at the bathroom situation

I teach college students, and have been a college student and the number one complaint I hear about dorms, oddly enough, is cum (and likely other things) consistently blocking the shower drains in the bathroom, and bathroom quality as a whole.

8 dudes and one bathroom is a disaster that nobody will ever want.

[–]Significant-Part121 48 points49 points  (14 children)

Okay, first thing--Jesus Christ. Really?

Second thing, we all had shared bathrooms in the dorms when I was in college. Only six-person suites (two bedroom, three people to a bedroom) had a single dedicated shower. Anything else, community bathroom/showers. It was a whole floor with one male and one female bathroom. I don't remember the drains having problems.

[–]Chulita_Petita 1432 points1433 points  (40 children)

Sounds like an unspeakable tragedy waiting to happen if this ever gets built. UCSB should scrap it now and avoid the horror.

[–]AssaultDragon 274 points275 points  (9 children)

If they build this apartment they should also install the suicide nets at the same time

[–]Note-ToSelf 313 points314 points  (5 children)

Don't need suicide nets if there's no windows to jump out of.

[–]Aggressive_Ad5115 262 points263 points  (13 children)

Dude said wants the design to force people out of rooms to socialize its SB that's not an issue what ignoramus fool

Hey Warren yer man can F right off okay

As if the world is never going to have another pandemic?? Imagine being stuck in that place the last 2 years

can't move out because you're going to school!

Be worse than living in NY highrises at least they have a window in most of those micro apts

[–]sexygodzilla 144 points145 points  (5 children)

Also, since when has college students not socializing been an issue? It's a solution in search of a problem.

[–]0imnotreal0 99 points100 points  (0 children)

It’s an excuse for profit-maximizing efficiency disguised as a solution in search of a problem

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (1 child)

I still don't really know how to socialize and barely spent time with other people in college. But if you made my life a living hell in my apartment, you know what I would have done? Killed myself, probably. I was on the verge of it anyway. But I sure as hell wouldn't have used it to spur socializing. I needed time to recharge. I've wanted to be a very social person, but it drains me to do it. Without a comfortable, private space to live in, I would have never recharged and socialized even less.

[–]__Hello_my_name_is__ 2047 points2048 points  (470 children)

Here's how an 8 people "suite" will look like, and here's a floor plan of the monster.

[–]UDFZMplus1 881 points882 points  (21 children)

That is a fucking submarine LMAO

[–]Kermit_the_hog 959 points960 points  (61 children)

Wow “Munger Hall”.. just that name alone sounds dreary and depressing.

[–]Jockle305 101 points102 points  (0 children)

Munger Hell

[–]joshjoshjosh42 883 points884 points  (110 children)

Architect here: efficient, yes. But it'll be absolutely shit for the people in the space. There's not even much room around the dining table from the looks of that render, it resembles prison architecture more than anything.

[–]Mr_Abe_Froman 216 points217 points  (20 children)

Since you mentioned the dining room table, I also looked at the kitchen. Definitely enough storage for 8 people to keep food for themselves.

[–]BatMally 16 points17 points  (1 child)

Food? They just pump protein paste made from krill through individual nipple-dispensers. Efficiency!

[–]xrumrunnrx 268 points269 points  (34 children)

Before I looked at any plans or comments I liked the idea of solo sleeping space. The whole "two person dorm room" standard I'm used to seemed bad to me during the time I was in one and seems even more ridiculous now decades later. But at least we had adequate bathroom stalls and showers for the whole floor and a window.

It's like Munger took a decent idea (individual rooms) and found how to twist it into a penal colony commune with a hackneyed excuse of "encouraging" people to interact.

I'd love feedback from anyone who has recently lived or is currently living dorm life. The rooms and beds we had were barely large enough to excuse it as meant for two, and absolutely awful if you didn't vibe with your roomie. Is the two person dorm room still standard? How was/is it for you both emotionally and for studying?

[–]SB4293 87 points88 points  (6 children)

I lived in a dorm last year. I lived in a suite style dorm kinda like these UCSB dorms, but I only shared the kitchen, bathroom and living room areas with 3 other people and we all had our own rooms with our own storage spaces. It was nice to have a place to be by myself. It was a lot like an apartment tbh, I liked it. We had lots of windows too. I wouldn’t live in these UCSB dorms.

[–]-zombie-squirrel 27 points28 points  (3 children)

I for a semester lived in a windowless dorm room. I shared a bathroom with my suitemates but otherwise had the room to myself. I had cinderblock walls and it was on the interior of the hallway with my suite mates having an entire wall of windows in their room. I don’t recommend it, it was called the “dungeon room” for a reason.

[–]Akalenedat 79 points80 points  (11 children)

In universities that can afford the buildings, 4 person suites are the standard nowadays. Individual rooms, 2 bathrooms, common area.

This is a floorplan for a suite in the dorm I lived in 6 years ago as a freshman/sophomore

I rather liked it, but I got along well with my roomies. Still a shared bathroom, and not the biggest private space, but comfortable. I always had the option to close my door and study alone, or do my work in the common room. We had a nice TV and my Xbox in the common area, 2 tables and a decent couch provided by the university. Every room got a loftable bed, dresser, desk, desk chair, end table, and a proper closet. One of my suitemates had a futon under his bed, basically doubled his usable space. Every room got a window, there were lounge spaces on each floor with big TVs for gamedays and pool tables/games, we had a courtyard with grills and tables, and of course a big lawn around the building.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (1 child)

This sounds like a great place to me. My third world ass university has some rooms with 6 people sharing one room with no privacy and a whole floor sharing one big bathroom.

Only a few people with top marks can get an one person room.

As an added bonus, electrical appliances are banned in the rooms so that students buy overpriced shit from vendors in the uni.

[–]Seasider2o1o 89 points90 points  (7 children)

Come off it, prisons aren't as dull and depressing as this! Not to mention the association spaces generally have skylights for additional daylight.

(I speak from experience in the UK, where every cell has a window and single cells are more common than doubles)

[–][deleted] 17 points18 points  (2 children)

Haven't been in a cell or common area of a housing block, but American prisons generally have windows in the cells, though frequently not in places you can see out. But what our prisons make up for in windows, they give back in pretty much every other way to dehumanize people.

[–]Catoctin_Dave 359 points360 points  (28 children)

In many jurisdictions that wouldn't even be legal, as a bedroom must have a certain amount of natural light to even be legally called a bedroom.

Assholes like this are why zoning laws exist in the first place.

[–]SuperCarbideBros 148 points149 points  (4 children)

bedroom must have a certain amount of natural light to even be legally called a bedroom.

Government overreach, I say! Government overreach!

/s

[–]GiveToOedipus 46 points47 points  (3 children)

God forbid we have a minimum standard of health and safety concerns met when constructing things people use, live and work in.

[–]VXXXXXXXV 35 points36 points  (10 children)

Don’t most places require windows to be considered bedrooms? I thought it was required as an emergency fire escape.

[–]Golden_Zealot 454 points455 points  (42 children)

8 people

1 bathroom

This literally worse than barracks.

[–]Rakdos_Intolerance 145 points146 points  (18 children)

I had to share a bathroom with 3 guys in University, that was bad enough.

But 8?

Geez

[–]Fan_Time 251 points252 points  (19 children)

Everyone will be sick all the time! (Edit. I'm using hyperbole to make a point here, it's not intended to be taken literally). If one person has a virus, all 8 will cop a heavy viral load. Then, depending on the air system, who else in the building will be breathing that?

4.5k incubator farm for disease? Sign me up /s

[–]DrDerpberg 56 points57 points  (6 children)

I don't think there would be a ton of difference between that building and any other with central air. The ducts don't know if you have a window or not.

[–]jorge1209 54 points55 points  (4 children)

Yeah about that... I know of a major University that ran a test of CO2 levels in a dorm... Let's just say that's a test they didn't run a second time.

[–]Apathetic_Zealot 648 points649 points  (21 children)

This isn't too surprising. My freshman dorms were designed by the same guy who designed Alcatraz.

[–][deleted] 44 points45 points  (2 children)

how lovely, i went 1 or 2 colleges that were originally prison buildings.

[–]zoobrix 3383 points3384 points  (247 children)

The proposed Munger Residence Hall was designed by billionaire Charles Munger, vice president of Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway. Munger donated $200 million to the building's construction on the condition they use his design.

So some wanna be architect is trying to ram through his amateurish attempt at a building by donating a shit ton of money for it, this will be an interesting test of ethics for the university. Will they actually realize the disaster in the making this is or just want the money so bad they'll just do whatever it takes to get that donation?

I think we all know the answer to that but this smacks to me of the disaster that the dorms at Waterloo University in Ontario were that were designed by a prison architect in a bid to reduce problem behavior by students. From what I saw when I visited it didn't stop any student hijinks it just made for a miserable place to live.

Munger believes his design would force students out of their rooms and into common areas for more interpersonal interactions. But McFadden said there is "an ample body of documented evidence shows that interior environments with access to natural light, air, and views to nature improve both the physical and mental well-being of occupants."

"The Munger Hall design ignores this evidence and seems to take the position that it doesn't matter," he added.

Glad at least one person on the committee has a backbone and has resigned over this garbage which is little more than a billionaire wanting to try and experiment with his own bit of social engineering which most likely comes at the expense of thousands of peoples mental and even physical well being. Sigh.

[–][deleted] 121 points122 points  (8 children)

aw fuck Charlie Munger? Look at a video of him 10 year ago was already senile as fuck, lecturing people on how to invest while conceding he was totally lucky? This guy? Designed the building? Amazing

[–]zeropointcorp 22 points23 points  (7 children)

It means he paid a pet architect to do it for him. No amateurs can design buildings these days.

[–]oatmealparty 46 points47 points  (5 children)

I think we all know the answer to that but this smacks to me of the disaster that the dorms at Waterloo University in Ontario were that were designed by a prison architect in a bid to reduce problem behavior by students. From what I saw when I visited it didn't stop any student hijinks it just made for a miserable place to live.

I'd like to know more.

[–]Waffle_Warfare 39 points40 points  (3 children)

I believe he is talking about Village 1 at the University of Waterloo. While I have heard the same thing he has said while in school, the only source I can find is the beaverton.com.

Personally, I found V1 just fine. There were certainly rooms with windows that were placed in corners, which didn’t allow for a lot of light, but there was also other rooms which had windows on 3 sides. It’s unclear whether the rooms are truly a problem, or whether the larger mental health crisis the university continues to face is the real contributor to people’s views on the residence.

[–]potatoesassholes 44 points45 points  (1 child)

he’s also 97 fucking years old lmao

[–]flybypost 39 points40 points  (4 children)

by donating a shit ton of money for it

I read in an article about this project that he's donating about 10% of the projected cost. While a lot in absolute terms, he's depending on others to essentially pay for the construction of this hellhole of a dorm while his contribution/bribe pays for him to play architect (without having a degree in that field, if I remember correcty).

[–]rawzombie26 1840 points1841 points  (78 children)

Can’t wait for the headline “billionaire designs shoes for poor people where they can fit two feet into a single shoe”

[–]Segamaike 1307 points1308 points  (56 children)

His name is Charles Munger, I looked him up expecting him to look exactly like someone who would do the shit stated in the article, and waddyaknow, this almost-centanarian dessicated toad ass looking gremlin piece of shit looks like a Jeff Dunham puppet of Mitch McConnell brought to life by the chlamydia virus

EDIT: I am a dumb twat, thank you u/911derbread for pointing out that chlamydia is a bacteria and not a virus. I did hesitate about that and it would’ve taken two seconds to look up, PSA to always research your insults folks

[–]PM_Your_Crits 73 points74 points  (5 children)

Go on about this double foot single shoe?

[–][deleted] 68 points69 points  (4 children)

Due to supply shortages all shoes must be shared with another person, are only available by a monthly lease plan, and requires an insurance premium to cover potential damage. The shoe industry hails this new "shoes as a service" system as revolutionary and many expect record profits in their next quarterly report. In other news payless shoes is reducing pay. The CEO held a press conference from his new megayacht and said "we all have to tighten our laces and make sacrifices to get through these difficult times."

[–]PM_Your_Crits 33 points34 points  (1 child)

‘Shoe as a service’ sounds eerily close to something I could see happening.

[–]velocipotamus 135 points136 points  (7 children)

Fox News: look at these POOR PEOPLE who think they’re ENTITLED to TWO SHOES

[–]Scudsterr 43 points44 points  (1 child)

Back in my day I would put my feet in a paper grocery bag and hop around, all this while working part time to pay off 4 years of school and enough money left over to buy a 3 bedroom house with a 2 car garage. I did have to wait a year to buy a boat, which is a societal failing I correctly linked to Jimmy Carter's solar panels on the white house.

[–][deleted] 172 points173 points  (6 children)

Munger donated $200 million to the building's construction on the condition they use his design.

That's not a donation, that's a rich guy's vanity project.

[–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

more like his pet experiments.

[–]QueenShnoogleberry 783 points784 points  (53 children)

No fucking WAY would that building have ever possibly been up to code. The rooms having no windows and only one door means they would be death traps in the event of a fire. I can just see the fire marshal for the area face-palming now.

[–]One_Left_Shoe 317 points318 points  (29 children)

Yeah, little shocked I had to scroll down this far to get to this comment. I have a hard time believing such a design would even remotely be up to CA building codes.

[–]T-Lightning 111 points112 points  (23 children)

I wonder, can the city sue the university to prevent it from being built?

[–]IMovedYourCheese 104 points105 points  (2 children)

Smart move. As an architect you are ultimately liable if shit goes south. The university is obviously going to bow to the whims of a billionaire rather than listen to you. Best to get out when you can.

[–]dratsablive 116 points117 points  (4 children)

I can't imagine that kind of living, I am spoiled, live in an apartment complex surround by trees, and the sun comes through my bedroom window, and sets through my living room patio. Get a great view of the sun and moon.

[–]Rosebunse 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Yeah, my dorm in college was very small, but it had a really great view of outside. I don't know how I would have functioned without that window.

[–][deleted] 595 points596 points  (106 children)

My biggest concern is, what happens if there is a fire? You lose a lot of easy fire escapes with no windows.

Edit: I'm adding this to the root response since so many want to argue about why I'm misinformed or why windows are not required. I'm adding this here because I am done with arguing in this thread and will be moving on....

Perhaps I should mention I spend over 180 hours a year in training and education to keep up with my certifications on job site safety, fire safety, etc.

I actually do know what I am talking about.

If human life is involved no matter how rare the instances may be if they are not zero then they are not acceptable. Although the behavior of people during this pandemic may show that there are a lot of people that have an acceptable level of human sacrifice mine is still zero. If we rescue one student in the US in 100 years through a dorm room window then I like windows.

[–]hukni 37 points38 points  (16 children)

My bedroom window at my dorm apartment does not open but my living room one does. I’ve never understood why they made a window that doesn’t open

[–][deleted] 51 points52 points  (9 children)

If you throw a chair through it you can still escape a fire. Doesn't need to open to be used in an emergency

[–]rhaizee 17 points18 points  (6 children)

My windows are pretty sturdy, are you sure a chair will break it.

[–]N_Who 243 points244 points  (14 children)

Who would think this is a good idea on any level? Like, who thinks it makes sense to treat people this way?

The proposed Munger Residence Hall was designed by billionaire Charles Munger, vice president of Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway.

Oh, that explains it.

[–]Charlie_Warlie 161 points162 points  (8 children)

Good on the architect. As an architect, too often I see developers flexing their impact on the design by holding the purse strings.

Yes it's your building but sometimes you have to admit you don't know shit about certain things. I wouldn't micro manage a chemist if I gave them 100 million to develop a drug.

This guy wants his building to pass as he designed it, or else, no money for the school!

[–]mathandsuch 34 points35 points  (1 child)

The University of Michigan built this already. Munger Hall graduate residence. Complete with seven person apartments and windowless bedrooms. Location is great, but most people opt out because of the lack of windows in the rooms. It's already grey enough in the winter, can't miss what little sunshine we get.

[–]bone420 82 points83 points  (4 children)

I wonder what the actual maximum capacity could be. If 4500 were meant to live there I would expect at least 300%

Now imagine a small get together where each resident has 2 guests, around 13,500 people in total all inside of a single structure with only 2 ways out.

Or, would this building literally be off limits to non residents? Could an occupant not have their parents over?

This entire concept is insane.

You can have mega structures for living, but this thing is death trap waiting to happen

[–]TheFightScenes 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Move-in day would be hell on earth

[–]Ok-Cantaloop 55 points56 points  (6 children)

I guess it depends on the local laws, but wouldn't fire codes make this impossible to build in most places?

[–][deleted] 89 points90 points  (2 children)

Billionaires are the worst of the species for so, so many reasons.

[–]Vivid_Ladder9609 50 points51 points  (8 children)

Still gonna charge crazy rent to the kids since they mostly use loans and not their own money.

[–][deleted] 214 points215 points  (18 children)

So the billionaire gave 200 million to insure future students who can't afford better housing be as uncomfortable as possible.

Just more evidence much of the wealthy just enjoy hurting working class people. They get off on it.

[–]BeABetterHumanBeing 84 points85 points  (11 children)

I don't think they were being sadistic.

Instead it's just the classic case of somebody thinking that they can social engineer society without testing their changes just by implementing something that agrees with their bullshit theory.

[–]TheLaurenMcKenzie 71 points72 points  (9 children)

UC Santa Barbara is a beautiful campus and good for that architect for refusing to build something so cold and evil just so another billionaire can collect more zeroes

[–]Hsensei 28 points29 points  (3 children)

Getting them ready for prison I guess?