# The Munger Residence Hall Project. Let's talk about it **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495 "2021-10-29T23:50:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/41 "2021-10-30T15:25:38Z")
Aside from all the problems with the architecture, I don’t think the school should accept the money when it’s tied to his control of the whole project, especially since his contribution still leaves a huge amount to be raised. (What if I come along and offer $500 million or a billion for the project? He’s already locked up the naming rights and the right to design the thing. What else can the school offer me?) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/42 "2021-10-30T15:40:55Z")
There’s an old Genesis song called “Get Em Out By Friday”, where developers are forcing people into smaller and smaller flats. Eventually, they just start genetically manipulating people to make them half size so they can cram in twice as many. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/43 "2021-10-30T15:42:36Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > 4 smaller single bedrooms surrounding a common living area were considered _much_ better than the standard two person dorm room IME that was in large part because, other than in those suites, there were very few singles available. In other words, people were looking for more privacy, not for more socialisation. And those singles all had windows. > [@elbows](#): > > Start with desperate students, (being less protected than even prisoners, in this regard, as uni is a private entity!) Students also generally consider whatever housing they’re stuck with as temporary; they don’t expect to be living like that all through their lives. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/44 "2021-10-30T16:11:53Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > as uni is a private entity! UCSB is a State university, not private. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/45 "2021-10-30T17:23:01Z")
> **[Brutalism](https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Brutalism)** > > Brutalism - Designing Buildings - Share your construction industry knowledge. Brutalism, also known as Brutalist architecture, is a style that emerged in the 1950s and grew out of the early-20th century modernist movement. Brutalist buildings are... Perhaps, at 96 y.o., Mr Munger looks back at the Brutalist era with nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/46 "2021-10-30T17:25:26Z")
I like the minimalist single bedrooms / spacious common areas concept, and I don’t see how it’s any harder on introverts than the standard, shared dorm room – but surely there’s got to be a way to do that sort of thing without building a massive, windowless rabbit warren? This just looks impractical as well as dystopian. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/47 "2021-10-30T17:41:16Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I’m guessing that “amateur architect” Charles Munger never lived in a dorm himself. If he had, he’d know that dorm residents love to pull fire alarms for the lulz. The idea of 4,500 residents evacuating at once boggles my mind. This happened every single night for two weeks in one dorm I lived in. I slept in my clothes with my coat on my bed and boots next to it. Why yes, this did happen during the dead of winter. And no, they never caught the culprit. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/48 "2021-10-30T17:49:00Z")
I think this experiment has already been [tried once before](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kowloon-walled-city). ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/49 "2021-10-30T18:46:08Z")
Well put. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/50 "2021-10-30T19:18:38Z")
The Munger dorm rooms could reduce square footage even more if there were retractable desks and beds you could pull on from the other side of the wall for extra space (I seem to recall a movie where this was done). Munger is defending his design. “Everybody loves light and everybody prefers natural light. But it’s a game of tradeoffs,” Munger said in an interview. “If you build a big square building, everything is conveniently near to everybody in the building. If you maximize the light, you get fewer people in the building.” [http://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-29/charlie-munger-defends-design-for-dorm-bashed-by-architect](http://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-29/charlie-munger-defends-design-for-dorm-bashed-by-architect) _The iron rule of nature is: You get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor._ - Charlie Munger This is the Munger estate. It’s not clear to me if everything in this photo is part of it, but there do appear to be windows. > **[Charlie Munger's House in Pasadena, CA (Google Maps) (#2)](https://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/charlie-mungers-house-1/view/google/)** > > Charlie Munger's House (Google Maps). American businessman Charlie Munger’s house is in Pasadena, California. He is the chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation in nearby Los Angeles. Munger studied meteorology at Caltech in Pasadena while serving... ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/51 "2021-10-30T19:32:59Z")
So no Navy Vets here so far? I don’t think it is a good idea for college dorms at all but you can pack 100 people into an amazingly small area for 6-9 months at a time. Some of the complaints seem over the top. We had no windows of course and more like 21 cubic feet of space plus maybe another 7-8 for locker space. Fire Safety is a huge concern but I’m sure the state and town will be all over that. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/52 "2021-10-30T19:34:56Z")
It seems to me that if you’re going to spend over $300,000 per student occupancy, you could do a lot better than that. Munger’s design is totally uncreative and outdated. It looks more like a design from the 1950s than anything modern. It’s definitely not eco-friendly, or people-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/53 "2021-10-30T19:53:58Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > It seems to me that if you’re going to spend over $300,000 per student occupancy, you could do a lot better than that. Probably not in the same footprint but that’s a bit besides the point. If I’m being honest, I probably would have kind of liked living there when I was 18 but the whole thing really irks me. That old dude shouldn’t be putting those kind of specific restrictions on his donation. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/54 "2021-10-30T19:56:16Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I don’t regret having done it, but i think if i lived without seeing the sun long-term i would get sick. I wonder how sailors on submarines manage. We at least got to stare at the reactor ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/55 "2021-10-30T20:19:05Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The Munger dorm rooms could reduce square footage even more if there were retractable desks and beds you could pull on from the other side of the wall for extra space (I seem to recall a movie where this was done). I’m imagining something more like this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Jr3eIAIFyo8/hqdefault.jpg "new office (Brazil)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr3eIAIFyo8) It just prepares students for the reality of corporate life and living with enormous education debt. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/56 "2021-10-30T20:23:22Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > I like the minimalist single bedrooms / spacious common areas concept, and I don’t see how it’s any harder on introverts than the standard, shared dorm room – but surely there’s got to be a way to do that sort of thing without building a massive, windowless rabbit warren? This just looks impractical as well as dystopian. I like the “suite of singles, with living area” concept, too. That was one of the options at my college, and it was very popular. I enjoyed it when I lived in space like that. It’s the no fresh air and no natural light that looks awful to me. I thought that code required a certain amount of passive ventilation in residences, and the idea of having all those people at the whim of the HVAC system working properly scares the bejezus out of me. Notice that most of those common areas don’t have windows, either. It’s not just the bedroom that’s interior, the whole damn suite is interior. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/57 "2021-10-30T20:32:59Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The Munger dorm rooms could reduce square footage even more if there were retractable desks and beds you could pull on from the other side of the wall for extra space (I seem to recall a movie where this was done). That deacribes the residence I lived in. An 8X10 room with two pull-down beds and two desks at the end of each bed. With both beds down, you had abiout two feet between them to walk through to get to the desks. Each student had a small closet as well. All eating was in a cafeteria. No hot plates or mocrowaves allowed in the student area. Communal bathroom/shower down the hall. Each floor had one open space with a TV and a few chairs, for about 60 students. I was lucky. I didn’t have to share my little room with anyone. I don’t know how those who did could stand it. You were literally sleeping two feet from the face of the other person. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/58 "2021-10-30T20:33:04Z")
I was thinking of _Brazil_, too. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/59 "2021-10-30T20:46:02Z")
Compare _The Green_, University of Bradford, UK [![](https://assets-amberstudent.imgix.net/inventories/172522/2f8f3be8.jpg?w=720&h=480&fit=crop&auto=compress&trim=auto&fm=pjpg) ](https://assets-amberstudent.imgix.net/inventories/172522/2f8f3be8.jpg?w=720&h=480&fit=crop&auto=compress&trim=auto&fm=pjpg) [![](https://api.wearehomesforstudents.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/5-student-accommodation-bradford-the-green-townhouses-crispin-shared-kitchen-2.jpg) ](https://api.wearehomesforstudents.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/5-student-accommodation-bradford-the-green-townhouses-crispin-shared-kitchen-2.jpg) Built for £40 million ($60 million), accommodates 1000+ students. Many eco and sustainability awards. Windows in every room, single occupancy and shared living areas. Scroll down for photos and 3D tours: > **[The Green, Bradford | 23/24 Prices Are Live!](https://wearehomesforstudents.com/student-accommodation/bradford/the-green)** > > Modern student rooms just a stones throw from Bradford University and Bradford College, featuring 24-hour on-site security and fast 125Mbps WiFi\* ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495/60 "2021-10-30T20:54:50Z")
When I was in college I rented a house with roommates, and my bedroom had no windows. It sure did make me spend lots of time in the common areas, as even being a reasonable size with a desk, tv, etc, my room was very uninviting and unpleasant. The biggest problem was that no windows made it incredibly easy to oversleep. Without seeing the clock it was impossible to know if it was 4am or 9am. Easy enough to have a clock, but that doesn’t do anything to help with your body’s circadian rhythm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-munger-residence-hall-project-lets-talk-about-it/953495.md?page=4)