The University of California at Santa Barbara has issued a request for new designs for a major student-housing complex, sparking speculation that it’s abandoned plans for a massive, mostly windowless dormitory dubbed “Dormzilla” by its critics.
That complex was largely designed by Charlie Munger, a 99-year-old billionaire with no formal training as an architect but a history as a generous donor to the university. It had already been scaled back from housing 4,500 students on 11 stories to 3,500 students on nine. But it was still attracting plenty of controversy, due primarily to the artificial windows in most of the small, single bedrooms. Students would have access to genuine daylight in many of the spacious common areas and kitchens.
On Friday a university spokesperson confirmed that officials were entertaining other offers, sharing an update sent to the campus last week.
“We continue to work on the planning and consultation process for Munger Hall with members of our campus community, donors, and stakeholders,” the university’s statement says. “The university is also actively moving forward simultaneously with plans to develop additional housing options for our students. Today we issued an RFQ (request for qualifications) to architectural firms to expand student residential-housing options on campus to ensure that we can create more student beds” consistent with the goals the university assured local communities it would meet. The university faces legal threats over its housing shortage, as well as pressure from the state to increase enrollment.
The request for new building designs says the complex will house at least 3,500 students — the same as the proposed Munger Hall — with an initial estimated budget of $600 million to $750 million. Munger Hall was expected to cost around $1.4 billion, which would be partly offset by a $200-million pledge from Munger. The donation would be made on the condition that he retained control over the building’s major design elements.
The university’s statement says it remains committed “to addressing the housing needs of our student body in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner.”
Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner and vice chair of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, was not immediately made available for comment.
Munger has defended the design as one that will encourage students to come out of their bedrooms and interact with one another in the building’s large common areas and extensive amenities. He told The Chronicle that most students would be happy enough with private bedrooms that they wouldn’t mind the lack of real daylight. The windows he proposes would feature a “circadian-rhythm control system” that alters the lighting levels and colors to mimic natural daylight.
In December a Faculty Senate review committee released a report blasting the proposed building as too big, too crowded, and probably unsafe. But one faculty member who toured a mock-up of the project told The Chronicle he was “positively impressed.” Harold Marcuse, a professor of history, wrote that, as an undergraduate, “I might have preferred that kind of living arrangement (even windowless) to the triples-in-doubles that many of our dorm-housed students live in, or the ‘quads’ (two bunk beds in one room)” that many nearby private rentals offer.
