Social Experiment: This Billionaire's Building A Hostel That Resembles A Prison

A billionaire's "experiment" at the University of California, Santa Barbara is poised to elicit some terrifying results, if revelations by Santa Barbara Independent are to be believed.

Currently, UC Santa Barbara is gearing up to shell out $1.5 billion for the creation of a 4,500-person student dorm designed by billionaire Charles Munger, who Vice News described as the "right-hand man" of billionaire Warren Buffet.

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Santa Barbara reported that the living quarters for students are being designed along the lines of a prison, compelling a consulting architect to resign in protest. The same architect, Dennis McFadden described the architecture of the upcoming quarters as a "social and psychological experiment" which will have an "unknown impact" on the personal development of students who may end up living there.

The prison-like Munger Hall

The upcoming living quarters are called "Munger Hall," which according to the university will fulfill the "visions for both UC Santa Barbara" and Charles Munger.

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The Independent reported that 94 per cent of all dorm rooms in Munger Hall would be small, windowless pods that open into a common area. Dennis McFadden, the architect who resigned compared the upcoming quarters to one of the most densely populated cities in the world - Dhaka, Bangladesh. If "Munger Hall" were a neighbourhood, it would be the world's sixth most dense one, according to McFadden.

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Using prison as a benchmark to explain modern urban spaces was solidified by theorist Michel Foucault, who built on the idea of "panopticon" by Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher who created the building to exercise maximum control over its inhabitants. Foucault, in his assessment of society had explained in length how prisons, schools, hospitals and by extrapolation universities are built on the same design - of control and regulation.

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In the panopticon - a metaphor for intrusive societies, maximum control can be exercised on subjects with minimal manpower. In fact, a single observer at any moment can see all inhabitants of the panopticon at any moment, while they have limited visual access to each other.

What do you think about this freaky experiment on the well-being of students at UC Santa Barbara? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

Citation

Hayden, T. (2021, November 3). Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm. The Santa Barbara Independent.

Gordon, A. (2021, October 29). Billionaire Seeks to Build Largely Windowless Dorm In ¡®Social and Psychological Experiment.¡¯ Vice News.