November 8, 2021

Light & Health at Center of Mega-Dorm Controversy

A mostly windowless 1.6 million square-foot dormitory would house over 4,500 students without exposing them to natural light.

The University of California Santa Barbara is catching criticism for a planned 11-story dormitory that addresses a student housing crisis currently causing the university to subsidize some students' long term stays at area hotels.

According to reports, billionaire Berkshire Hathaway executive, Charlie Munger, is contributing $200 million to Munger Hall – a project estimated to cost $1.5 billion. One condition of Munger’s $200 million subsidy is that the university adopts the architectural plan provided by him.

In an interview with CNN Business, Munger explained that the electric light “windows” equipped with Circadian lighting features are even better than natural light because occupants can dial-in their desired lighting scheme on demand.

"Imagine having a window that you can't tell is artificial light by looking at it, but you can change the amount of sunlight coming through...if you want. It's better than a real window."
- Billionaire Charlie Munger on CNN Business

The Santa Barbara Independent reports that 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.”

The university is currently moving forward with the plans for Munger Hall. More details in the 3-minute news report above.

Below: (1) An example of a 'bedroom cluster' at Munger Hall. Multiple single-occupancy bedrooms surround a shared living and dining space. (2) A rendering of a typical bedroom, complete with "artificial window." (Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh/UC Santa Barbara)

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