Munger Hall

Munger Hall was a planned dormitory at the University of California, Santa Barbara designed by billionaire businessman Charlie Munger.

History
The entire University of California system is currently struggling to build enough housing to meet current and future demand.

In order for the dormitory to be built, it must be approved by the County of Santa Barbara, the University of California Regents, and the California Coastal Commission. Plans to build the dormitory were cancelled in August of 2023.

Design
The 11 story, 1.68 million square foot building would have housed up to 4,500 students. The residential floors are organized into eight “houses” of eight suites which each include eight single-occupancy beds, two bathrooms, and a common space. Due to how these suites were arranged, 94 percent of the students would not have had windows in their bedrooms.

The building's design was conceived by Charlie Munger, who based the design philosophy on the interior rooms of a cruise ship. The building's architects were Van Tilburg, Banvard, & Soderbergh (VTBS). Munger donated $200 million to the project on the condition that the university follow his design exactly. The building was expected to cost $1.4 billion.

The heating and hot water for the building would have been all electric, in compliance with UCSB environmental policies to avoid fossil fuels.

Reception
The design of Munger Hall was met with widespread negative attention, with specific criticism being directed towards the lack of natural light in most of the space. Dennis McFadden, an architect, resigned from the UCSB Design Review Committee in protest of the design saying it was “unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent, and a human being.” The design was described by Paul Goldberger, New York Times architecture critic, as a "grotesque, sick joke — a jail masquerading as a dormitory".

Architecture critic Rowan Moore criticized those in support of the building, calling their argument one with no bottom.

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles chapter released an open letter to the President of the University of California opposing the constitution of Munger Hall.

A panel of experts and community members criticized the design in a 200 page report saying that it poses "significant health and safety risks that are predictable enough, probable enough and consequential enough”.