A billionaire's vision for California university's 'destructive' 'mega-dorm' ignites firestorm

[TexasTowelie]

A proposed development on one University of California campus has ignited intense controversy and a social media backlash following a fiery condemnation by a campus-affiliated architect.

As reported by the Santa Barbara Independent Thursday, Southern California architect Dennis McFadden sent in his resignation and an excoriation of a building development proposed by Berkshire Hathaway investor (and close friend of Warren Buffett) Charles Munger for the University of California, Santa Barbara campus.

The building, known as Munger Hall, would be 11 stories and house 4,500 students. Munger would donate $200 million to the project, the Independent reported, under the condition that it upholds the blueprint he designed to the letter, without any revisions.

McFadden, who served on a design committee for the campus, was sharply critical of the structure, citing its “unprecedented size” and its failures to consider the overlying Isla Vista area or include “natural light, air and views” for students. (He no longer shows up as the “design consultant” on the UCSB website, as the position is currently listed as vacant.)

Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/education/article/ucsb-dennis-mcfadden-resigns-over-munger-hall-16575500.php

[viva la]

1. Are there no codes for fire safety?

Last edited Sat Oct 30, 2021, 05:14 PM - Edit history (1)

In my county, every bedroom has to have an egress window.
And public buildings certainly need several exits. Think of 4500 kids trying to get out if there in a fire.

[marble falls]

2. If it's set up like UT at Austin, state fire codes supercede Austin and Travis County codes ...

... to get building maps in the early 2000s, the Austin Fire Marshal had to threaten to refuse to answer alarms on campus.

I was an industrial member of NFPA back then and thinking there is a unified national code (at least back then) got an education for me. There was no and I understand is no single code or version of a code in the US. Building code, either.

[EYESORE 9001]

3. Fires behave differently across state, county, and municipal borders

[viva la]

4. And I bet you the students at UCSB are very well-behaved....

And will not panic trying to get out of few exits.

Windows are modes of egress-- we just had a fire in our town where the firefighters got the whole family out through an upstairs window.

[hunter]

5. I'm calling this Morlock Hall.

It's just the beginning...

After thousands of generations of living without sunlight, the Morlocks have dull grey-to-white skin, chinless faces, large greyish-red eyes with a capacity for reflecting light, and flaxen hair on the head and back. Like the Eloi, they are smaller and weaker than the average human (the Time Traveller hurt or killed some barehanded with relative ease), but a large swarm of them could be a serious threat for a lone man, especially unarmed and/or with no light source. Their sensitivity to light usually prevents them from attacking during the day. The relationship of the Morlocks and the Eloi is symbiotic: the Eloi are clothed and fed by the Morlocks, and the Morlocks consume the Eloi as a food source.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morlock