Architect: Dystopian Dorm Design Is Dangerous Social & Psychological Experiment

[Berkut]

I am rather confident that this new "experiment" is almost certainly better then a 50 year old dorm room.

I lived in a dorm older than that.  Nice building; far superior to the Charlie Munger School of Architecture.

I don't see why we stop here.  Why not have Eric Trump propose the physics syllabus and Elon Musk draw up plays for the football team?  Money should decide.

If either of them want to fund a physics syllabus and some school is dumb enough to go for it, then I sure as hell don't care.

If Elon Musk wants to pay the U of A a couple hundred million in return for them promising to run some plays he drew up on his napkin....

A) They could use the money, and
B) Shit, it could hurt! They are 0-8, what's the worst that could happen?

[The Brain]

As has been alluded to, if you want to live in a house that wasn't designed by a douche then good luck in the great outdoors. Architects are some of the worst people around.

[The Minsky Moment]

If either of them want to fund a physics syllabus and some school is dumb enough to go for it, then I sure as hell don't care.

I do care, because those students will graduate with degrees and may obtain jobs with some responsibilities that matter.

Academic integrity is not just a marketing slogan, it is a core value that determines the worth of an educational system.

[Eddie Teach]

Presumably the accreditation process would weed out schools teaching Trumpian physics.

[Admiral Yi]

I did my sharing in the army, thank you very much.

How did you live in college?

[The Brain]

I did my sharing in the army, thank you very much.

How did you live in college?

I lived alone in a multi-bedroom apartment within walking distance of the university.

[Admiral Yi]

I lived alone in a multi-bedroom apartment within walking distance of the university.

Trustifarian?

[The Brain]

I lived alone in a multi-bedroom apartment within walking distance of the university.

Trustifarian?

I wish. I was just lucky that a family member needed someone to watch their apartment for a few years.

[Berkut]

I never lived in a dorm - always an off campus apartment. With roomates, it was cheaper then dorms, and I was poor as shit.

[Berkut]

If either of them want to fund a physics syllabus and some school is dumb enough to go for it, then I sure as hell don't care.

I do care, because those students will graduate with degrees and may obtain jobs with some responsibilities that matter.

Academic integrity is not just a marketing slogan, it is a core value that determines the worth of an educational system.

...and if some school decides to whore their academic credentials out, then that will be reflected in the quality of their graduates and program.

I am sure there are plenty of physics programs out there that produce crappy physicists for a variety of reasons.

Just like I am sure there are plenty of dorm rooms out there that suck rocks whether these ones get built or not.

I've seen nothing that suggests that these dorms are going to be so horrible that they warrant such an outsized reaction to what is basically an attempt to just try something different.

It is surprising how reactionary people can be....even in something as innocuous as college dorm rooms.

Again, what's the worst case scenario here? Some rich guy wastes a bunch of his money subsidizing dorm rooms that turn out to be lame. Like most dorm rooms already are. Teh horror.

[crazy canuck]

I am rather confident that this new "experiment" is almost certainly better then a 50 year old dorm room.

I lived in a dorm older than that.  Nice building; far superior to the Charlie Munger School of Architecture.

I don't see why we stop here.  Why not have Eric Trump propose the physics syllabus and Elon Musk draw up plays for the football team?  Money should decide.

If either of them want to fund a physics syllabus and some school is dumb enough to go for it, then I sure as hell don't care.

You should not treat universities like a commodity.  The academy matters and should not be up to the highest bidder.

[Berkut]

I am rather confident that this new "experiment" is almost certainly better then a 50 year old dorm room.

I lived in a dorm older than that.  Nice building; far superior to the Charlie Munger School of Architecture.

I don't see why we stop here.  Why not have Eric Trump propose the physics syllabus and Elon Musk draw up plays for the football team?  Money should decide.

If either of them want to fund a physics syllabus and some school is dumb enough to go for it, then I sure as hell don't care.

You should not treat universities like a commodity.  The academy matters and should not be up to the highest bidder.

Lucky for us, that is not the case.

[The Brain]

Either the building is up to code, and then things should be fine (and if they're not then the state has a pretty big problem that goes way beyond college dorms). Or it's not up to code, and then presumably a high-profile case like this will be caught before it puts anyone in danger. I don't know local law, so I don't know at which point it becomes a crime, but I assume at the very latest when people move in.

I fail to see a big problem. Seems to me that what some people fear is that it won't be a failure...

[PDH]

I really don't care about the rooms, window - after all, it is just freshman.  Hell, even throw out the fire codes.

However, the campus itself at Santa Barbara is a gorgeous one, well thought out and integrated.  It is truly unique.  This building doesn't fit that.  It would be like building an artificial hill in London or flying in a giant penis into space - terribly thought out and reeking of poor planning or hubris.

[The Minsky Moment]

...and if some school decides to whore their academic credentials out, then that will be reflected in the quality of their graduates and program.

I am sure there are plenty of physics programs out there that produce crappy physicists for a variety of reasons.

There are indeed many reasons why programs may be crappy. but providing a crappy product because you have been bribed to do it is a particularly awful reason.

It is surprising how reactionary people can be....even in something as innocuous as college dorm rooms.

The issue isn't whether a college is building crappy dorm rooms; that is also something that happens all the time.

The issue is what it means to be a university and what it means to have integrity.  All universities face the pressures of fund raising and the potential conflicts between their own academic missions and the desires of donors and rich alumni.  I'm not a babe in the woods, I understand compromises are made.  But there is a difference between compromising and being compromised and this crosses that line.  It's one thing to have a donor endow a chair or fund a new academic department - quite another for the donor to start dictating how the classes are going to be taught.  And its one thing for a donor to put their name on the building they endow, or even participate in the selection of the architect, but quite another to dictate the design.

It has nothing to do with the aesthetic merits of the architectural proposal or the person of Charlie Munger (who I respect).