STUDENT HOUSING

Student housing takes on many forms around the world, but most commonly, it’s envisioned as close quarters in a bleakly designed dormitory. While prospective students choose universities based on academic rigor, athletic programs, extracurricular activities, and future career opportunities, they’re now wanting to know what living on and off-campus will be like- and it has forced designers to rethink the traditional designs of dormitories into something more innovative that better reflects what students want in their university homes.

Student housing in the pasty typically lacked any sort of real design emphasis. Small boxy rooms, shared bathrooms at the end of the hall, and tiny bunk beds are probably the images that come to mind when you think about dormitories. But these spaces, back then, were designed really to be slept in and store a few key items, while lounge spaces were meant to hold social gatherings, dining halls for eating, the athletic facilities for exercising, and libraries for studying. Dorms were built cheap, because they didn’t cost much to live in, and didn’t need to contain many amenities.

But today, there’s a much different expectation for student housing as we explore changes in the way that people want to live. Most rec, collegiate dorms caught major headlines when the University of California, Santa Barbara unveiled their plan for a massive new student housing project. The design was driven by a wealthy donor who gifted 200 million dollars to the school for the project. This mega-dorm caused such severe backlash that even the architect who was slated to draw the project resigned. The issue at hand was that the 1.68 million SF structure would be home to nearly 4,500 students with only 6% of them having direct access to windows. By filling the interiors with small rooms, the intent was to bring students into social spaces to relax and collaborate- almost ignoring the issue of the remaining 94% of students having access to light and fresh air.

NEELKAMAL VISHWAKARMA, AR-17-079

                                                                        PRAJAKTA THAKUR, AR-15-071