https://www.independent.com/2021/10/28/architect-resigns-in-protest-over-ucsb-mega-dorm/ [ ] Fri Oct 29, 2021 73@ Submit an Event Newsletters SUBSCRIBE to INDY+ The Santa Barbara Independent Support the SB Independent Tips * News * Arts & Entertainment * Living * Food & Drink * Opinion * Events * Sports * Obituaries * Real Estate * Classifieds * Home * News * Send A Tip * Arts & Entertainment * Living * Food & Drink * Opinion * Events * Sports * Obituaries * Real Estate * Wedding * Classifieds * Subscribe * Advertise * About Us * Contact Us * Extra! * * * News Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm Criticizes Munger Hall as 'Social and Psychological Experiment' with Unknown Consequences [dormlede1] The Munger Residence Hall would stand 159 feet tall, just below the height of UCSB's Storke Tower. | Credit: Courtesy By Tyler Hayden Thu Oct 28, 2021 | 2:53pm Share this: * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) * Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) * Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) * Click to print (Opens in new window) * A consulting architect on UCSB's Design Review Committee has quit his post in protest over the university's proposed Munger Hall project, calling the massive, mostly-windowless dormitory plan "unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent, and a human being." In his October 25 resignation letter to UCSB Campus Architect Julie Hendricks, Dennis McFadden -- a well-respected Southern California architect with 15 years on the committee -- goes scorched earth on the radical new building concept, which calls for an 11-story, 1.68-million-square-foot structure that would house up to 4,500 students, 94 percent of whom would not have windows in their small, single-occupancy bedrooms. The idea was conceived by 97-year-old billionaire-investor turned amateur-architect Charles Munger, who donated $200 million toward the project with the condition that his blueprints be followed exactly. Munger maintains the small living quarters would coax residents out of their rooms and into larger common areas, where they could interact and collaborate. He also argues the off-site prefabrication of standardized building elements -- the nine residential levels feature identical floor plans -- would save on construction costs. The entire proposal, which comes as UCSB desperately attempts to add to its overstretched housing stock, is budgeted somewhere in the range of $1.5 billion. Chancellor Henry Yang has hailed it as "inspired and revolutionary." [munger1]The dormitory's nine identical residential floors would be organized into eight "houses" with eight "suites" (shown here) with eight bedrooms. | Credit: Courtesy --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign up for Indy Today to receive fresh news from Independent.com, in your inbox, every morning. --------------------------------------------------------------------- McFadden disagreed sharply with what the university has described as "Charlie's Vision" for the benefits of a "close-knit" living experience. "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 wellbeing of occupants," he wrote. "The Munger Hall design ignores this evidence and seems to take the position that it doesn't matter." So far, McFadden continued, the university has not offered any research or data to justify the unprecedented departure from normal student housing standards, historical trends, and basic sustainability principles. "Rather," he said, "as the 'vision' of a single donor, the building is a social and psychological experiment with an unknown impact on the lives and personal development of the undergraduates the university serves." [munger2]A typical bedroom with a false window. | Credit: Courtesy McFadden explains he felt compelled to step down from from the Design Review Committee (DRC) after it became clear during an October 5 presentation that the dorm's plans were already set in stone. "The design was described as 100% complete, approval was not requested, no vote was taken, and no further submittals are intended or required," he said. "Yet in the nearly fifteen years I served as a consulting architect to the DRC, no project was brought before the committee that is larger, more transformational, and potentially more destructive to the campus as a place than Munger Hall." This kind of outlandish proposal is exactly why the committee exists, he said. McFadden draws striking comparisons between Munger Hall and other large structures to illustrate its colossal footprint. Currently, he said, the largest single dormitory in the world is Bancroft Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy, which houses 4,000 students and is composed of multiple wings wrapped around numerous courtyards with over 25 entrances. "Munger Hall, in comparison, is a single block housing 4,500 students with two entrances," McFadden said, and would qualify as the eighth densest neighborhood on the planet, falling just short of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It would be able to house Princeton University's entire undergraduate population, or all five Claremont Colleges. "The project is essentially the student life portion of a mid-sized university campus in a box," he said. The project is utterly detached from its physical setting, McFadden goes on, and has no relationship to UCSB's "spectacular coastal location." It is also out of place with the scale and texture of the rest of campus, he said, "an alien world parked at the corner of the campus, not an integrally related extension of it." Even the rooftop courtyard looks inward and "may as well be on the ground in the desert as on the eleventh floor on the coast of California," he said. [Screen-Shot-2021-10-29-at-12]Each residential floor is divided by a single interior corridor branched by smaller hallways. | Credit: Courtesy "As a project that pushes economies of scale, prefabrication, and an alternate project delivery process," McFadden concludes, "Munger Hall offers an answer to the question of how to resolve the housing shortage and growth pressures currently facing the University. As a design solution and a campus building, however, the project will long outlive the circumstances of its origin and will impact the life of the campus and the lives of its students for multiple generations." UCSB spokesperson Andrea Estrada said while the university was grateful for McFadden's service on the review committee, his comments on the Munger proposal and his resignation won't stop it from being built. "The Munger Hall project and design is continuing to move forward as planned," she said in a statement. "We are delighted to be moving forward with this transformational project." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Support the Santa Barbara Independent through a long-term or a single contribution. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Add to Favorites Fri Oct 29, 2021 | 23:01pm https://www.independent.com/2021/10/28/ architect-resigns-in-protest-over-ucsb-mega-dorm/ More Like This Deborah Schwartz Says Das Williams Pressed Her to Quit Mayor's Race Deborah Schwartz Says Das Williams Pressed Her to Quit Mayor's Race Can St. Mary's Help the Homeless Crisis? Can St. Mary's Help the Homeless Crisis? Community Members Speak Out Against Removal of On-Campus Deputy from San Marcos High Community Members Speak Out Against Removal of On-Campus Deputy from San Marcos High * Recent News * Top Stories Ventura Man Arrested for Brandishing Knife, Strangling and Battering Woman Briefs By Indy Staff | Fri Oct 29, 2021 | 1:48pm Man Killed in North Hope Avenue Traffic Collision Identified Briefs By Indy Staff | Thu Oct 28, 2021 | 4:25pm Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm News By Tyler Hayden | Thu Oct 28, 2021 | 2:53pm Deborah Schwartz Says Das Williams Pressed Her to Quit Mayor's Race News Commentary By Jerry Roberts | Thu Oct 28, 2021 | 9:02am Can St. Mary's Help the Homeless Crisis? News Commentary By Nick Welsh | Thu Oct 28, 2021 | 6:56am Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm News By Tyler Hayden | Thu Oct 28, 2021 | 2:53pm Fatal Car Crash Takes Lives of Two People Briefs By Indy Staff | Wed Oct 27, 2021 | 11:27am Riviera Bar Goes Old-School on Figueroa Street Food By George Yatchisin | Mon Oct 25, 2021 | 9:56am Amtrak Announces Updates to Pacific Surfliner Schedule Transportation By Indy Staff | Fri Oct 22, 2021 | 10:13am State Orders Independent Audit of Bellosguardo Foundation Finances News By Tyler Hayden | Tue Oct 26, 2021 | 7:47pm Premiere Events In-Person: Carpinteria Museum Marketplace In-Person: Carpinteria Museum Marketplace Sat, Oct 30 8:00 AM Carpinteria Virtual: Medicine of Yum 3 Week Brain Health Course Virtual: Medicine of Yum 3 Week Brain Health Course Sat, Oct 30 11:00 AM Santa Barbara In-Person: The Rocky Horror Picture Show In-Person: The Rocky Horror Picture Show Sat, Oct 30 7:00 PM Carpinteria Mischief Masquerade-Outdoor Halloween Dance Party Mischief Masquerade-Outdoor Halloween Dance Party Sat, Oct 30 8:00 PM Santa Barbara Downtown Safe Trick or Treat Downtown Safe Trick or Treat Sun, Oct 31 3:00 PM Santa Barbara Carr Winery Presents Halloween Night ~ 10.31.21 Carr Winery Presents Halloween Night ~ 10.31.21 Sun, Oct 31 7:00 PM Santa Barbara In-Person: Magical Creatures: Lucidity's Halloween Soiree In-Person: Magical Creatures: Lucidity's Halloween Soiree Sun, Oct 31 8:00 PM Santa Barbara S.B. High School Theatre: "Carrie the Musical" S.B. High School Theatre: "Carrie the Musical" Fri, Nov 05 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Veterans Day Ceremony Veterans Day Ceremony Thu, Nov 11 10:00 AM Santa Barbara Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Fri, Nov 19 9:00 AM Online Get News in Your Inbox Sign Up x Login Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription Username or Email Address [ ] Password [ ] [ ] Remember Me [Log In] Not a member? Sign up here. * News * Arts & Entertainment * Living * Food & Drink * Opinion * Sports * Events * Obituaries * Real Estate * Classifieds * About Us * Contact Us * Submit Press Release * Advertise * Extra! [secure90x7] * Create Event * Create Obituary * Submit Letter * Admin Login Footer Logo FOLLOW US ON * * * NEWSLETTER SIGN UP Get the Independent in your inbox. Privacy Policy Copyright (c)2021 Santa Barbara Independent, Inc. Reproduction of material from any Independent.com pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. If you believe an Independent.com user or any material appearing on Independent.com is copyrighted material used without proper permission, please click here. Site by Trew Knowledge. Powered by WordPress VIP. Send to Email Address [ ] Your Name [ ] Your Email Address [ ] [ ] loading [Send Email] Cancel Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Loading Comments... You must be logged in to post a comment.