This is ridiculous. In the UK it is accepted that all students get their own room, although they usually share facilities like bathrooms and kitchens etc. And they all have windows.

It is very different having a two week cruise, or working 9-5 in an office, but to have a windowless room as your only private space for 3 years+ is unhealthy and unfair on a segment of the community who get very little say in their living arrangements in any case.

This is a 98 year old man who thinks he is special because he is rich, and therefore everything he turns his hand to will be the best and damn those who disagree.

Consider that UCSB might not have enough space/money to provide each student with their own window.

Also, it’ a Santa Barbara. You get enough sun in Santa Barbara, and don’t have sunless winters. If this were proposed in e.g. New York, I would object.

So... they already did it in southeastern michigan, which I don't think is any warmer or brighter in the winter than new york.

https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2021/11/03/heres-what-its-like-...

Pray tell, how does this sunlight make it into the windowless rooms?

At UCSB many (most?) students live in private housing after 1 or two years.

It seems possible university requirements for this will change, if part of the motive for this construction is [from OP] that "UCSB is experiencing a severe housing shortage and is being pressured by area residents to build new dormitories" -- seems like it doesn't meet that pressure unless they increase the number of students living on campus, right?

They're going to have to fill those 4500 beds (about 20% of the total undergraduate enrollment of UCSB) once they're built... seems safe to assume one way or another the portion of students living on-campus will increase significantly once this dorm is built.

It's also of note that private housing like this (or even more traditional dormitories) would be illegal in either Santa Barbara or Goleta; boarding houses are nearly impossible to get through zoning. Which would certainly make it more affordable for young, unmarried people to live in the area (who currently commute from Ventura, Solvang or Buelton).

Presumably this project is an attempt to address that

It's definitely possible for every room to have its own window. There's a well known solution to this: the courtyard.

I just stayed in the middle of Manhattan in London Terrace, in a one bedroom apartment where the living room, bedroom, kitchen, AND bathroom ALL HAD WINDOWS. This is rare in Manhattan (and in most parts of the country), simply because architects/owners decided to cut costs.

London Terrace is an entire city block of buildings designed around a big courtyard in the middle. I learned first hand what "pre-war" means :) Pre-war means "expensive apartments that people like because nobody builds them like this anymore". (It's not perfect, and I decided not to live there, but it has many good points)

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

It was one of the biggest apartment buildings in the world at the time of construction (1930's). It has 1700 apartments, and every apartment has 3 or more rooms, so it's probably bigger than the 4500-room Munger building.

You obviously sacrifice density, but I can't imagine how that's a problem in Santa Barbara vs. Manhattan! You can build higher, or you can build 2 buildings on different sites rather than 1.

It's obviously more expensive than making a big storage cube, but I would argue it's worth it. And Munger could obviously afford it. Not sure why he would put his name on such a building.

Of course they can.

Instead of building one building with gigantic floorplates build half a dozen with smaller floorplates optimised to give each room a window. If that reduces the overall floor area just add a few more floors on top.

And they rarely need to leave with the Costco and the night club on the roof.

I had my own room in college, with a large bedroom window and then a living room and bathroom I shared with one other person. You don't need a shipping container approach to living to get your own room.

At my university (in France) we all had a room with a big window and a balcony, and a shared shower for two (each room had a door to the same shower, so you could go from one room to the other through the shower). The bathrooms were for the whole floor. It was very nice, if a little unusual.

I wonder if they could do something similar to cruise ships that have displays which show a video of the outside so it's like a virtual window.

That’s covered in the interview. Too expensive but the artificial light is meant to be close enough and can be controlled by the student.