In late October 2023, the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) embarked on a new phase in its quest for expanded student housing. As reported by The Santa Barbara Independent, Vice Chancellor Garry MacPherson announced the selection of two architectural firms to develop housing for 3,500 students, aligning with the university's 2010 Long Range Development Plan. This announcement marked a significant departure from the controversial Munger Hall project, a plan that had been under intense scrutiny and opposition due to its design and scale. The shift towards a new design approach signals UCSB's response to the extensive feedback from students, faculty, and professionals in the field.
The saga ends just a week after Munger made a devaluing comment on the need to budget space inside dormitories. The school’s CHAMP! (Campus Housing Alternatives for Munger Hall, Please!) group had previously presented design alternatives in league with the 7,000-unit university plan before UCSB announced a new RFQ for a reduced capacity dorm of 3,500 beds in August. If constructed, Munger's 1.68-million-square-foot design would have surpassed the US Naval Academy’s Bancroft Hall to become the largest dormitory built in U.S. history.
UCSB is also currently facing lawsuits to address its lack of on-campus options. No design details or names of the firms tapped to lead the new project were made public at press time.
For added context, the following is a timeline of reports we've published on this story...
4 Comments
MacPherson announced the selection of two architectural firms to develop housing for 3,500 students,
I assume this housing won't all be in the same place? The demands and compromises of such a building would be enormous—and undesirable—regardless of design.
aligning with the university's 2010 Long Range Development Plan.
Thirteen years with no workable solution. Students have been undergoing serious compromises for years, even hardships, with housing as it is now. It will be another several years more before these are alleviated.
There's a study in this fiasco, a cautionary tale. A person with little knowledge of or sensitivity to student life and marginal understanding of architecture came up with an "idea" that had no merit, that was injurious, and should have been rejected out of hand. Yet it was taken seriously, I assume largely by the chancellor who had the clout to force it through and give it a ride.
Munger’s financial influence at Michigan had resulted in a tangible form of his architectural vision
And it was taken seriously by others. In the YahooFinance piece linked earlier it was called a "vision."
The only thing Munger had going for him was money, which must have been a sore temptation. Money talks, but the message is not good.
A lot of our society works like this, with predictable results. Once a bad idea enters public discourse, someone will take it seriously. We all pay the price.
Munger is dead. Bye, bish.
I also commented over here, with a snip from the NYTimes obituary. https://archinect.com/forum/th...
Landscape programming proposal posted two years ago. No charge.
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