Archinect - News

SOM, Mithun sign on to deliver seven-building Munger Hall replacement at UCSB

2024-03-22T18:55:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Mithun have announced they are collaborating on a new student housing project for the University of California, Santa Barbara (USCB).

The two-phase project will deliver accommodations for 4,000 students by 2029, led by the new 2,140-bed San Benito complex that will be completed in time for Fall 2027 after a two-year construction.

News of what appears to be the replacement for the infamous Munger Hall comes five months after the passing of its namesake Charles Munger in November at the age of 99. (SOM has previously completed the school's San Joaquin Villages and Tenaya Towers residences in 2019.)

UCSB has been embroiled in a student housing crisis that mirrors other public university campuses in the state and has been largely exacerbated by the exclusivity of real estate and dearth of affordable developments in the surrounding community of Goleta.

This led to the controversial self-design proposal for a mostly windowless 3,500-bed dorm building ...

Hodgetts + Fung merges with Seattle-based Mithun

2019-01-14T16:19:00-05:00

The LA-based practice Hodgetts + Fung and Seattle-based practice Mithun have announced that they will merge, effective today. The Culver City office has updated its name, reflecting the new change, to Mithun | Hodgetts + Fung.

Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA [H+F project; image courtesy of Hodgetts+Fung]

Wanapum Heritage Center / Mattawa, WA [Mithun project; photo by Ben Benschneider]

In a recent conversation with Ming Fung, cofounder of Hodgetts + Fung, she explained to me that she and Craig Hodgetts, her partner at work and home, had no plans to merge with any firm, but got quite excited about the possibilities upon hearing from Mithun's Brendan Connolly last year, pitching the idea. Both offices recognized a tremendous synergy between the firms, rooted in a deep reverence for humanity, with a body of work focused on care for their clients.

Sustainability Treehouse / Mount Hope, WV [Mithun project; photo by Joe Fletcher]

Mithun values the overlap in markets both firms have speciali...

Mithun's Wanapum Heritage Center nabs 2 awards, honors Native Am tribe

2017-02-22T20:05:00-05:00

Just off the Columbia River, the Wanapum Heritage Center is a home for Wanapum culture and artifacts. The building form weaves solidity and light, from a protective repository enclosure that references traditional cliffside cave storage spaces to the glazed welcome area that evokes traditional fishing lanterns. The entry path aligns with the equinox sunrise, a Wanapum 'marker'. The center houses archival items alongside recording studios for oral history, and new gathering spaces.

A horizontal structure with a front door

2016-12-05T23:45:00-05:00

Replacing a parking lot in Pioneer Square, a designated historic district, required the developer to clear many hurdles. The design went through several versions before it won the approval of city officials, who vetted materials, signage and even color choices. In one concession, the sides of the Weyerhaeuser building were made of hand-laid brick, to help the structure blend with its neighbors.

Morris Newman covers the new headquarters of Weyerhaeuser, designed by Mithun, on Seattle's Pioneer Square.