3 ms·

Laws work together with norms. The norms of architecture that mandate e.g. windows for living spaces are here being violated so extremely someone's stepping do

• bobthepanda 5y ago
  It‘s strange that this isn‘t a law. Everywhere where I‘ve lived in the US, windows are required in a room with a bed. I can‘t imagine it wouldn‘t be very pleasant, as an example, someone smoking weed inside a dorm next to me without a way to vent it out.
  • ethbr0 5y ago
    Afaik, most windows in newer, high-density commercial buildings are non-functional. It's difficult to design a large window, that will also open, that also insulates sufficiently to hit modern energy efficiency certifications.
    • hackersword 5y ago
      In the event of a fire, "opening" the window is not necessarily a function of if the window is MEANT to be opened ... but CAN it be opened. Eg: throwing a chair through it, or firefighters breaking window from outside, etc.
    • bobthepanda 5y ago
      Residential is different, due to generally higher ventilation requirements (e.g. bathroom & kitchen). YMMV, but I live in Seattle, where there has been a residential boom with plenty of towers, and I have never seen a residential apartment with non-functional windows. Every room will have at least one that can open (though for efficiency reasons they're usually casement windows, which are annoying in their own right)
      • kixiQu 5y ago
        I'm in a Seattle tower and the extent to which our windows open is a joke. You can't actually get any ventilation from a 16 inch wide window allowed to open up to twelve degrees. I like the idea of being environmentally friendly but we definitely lost the plot where airflow is concerned.
• AnthonyMouse 5y ago
  The concern is especially strong here because of the nature of the building. In an ordinary apartment building, if you build it stupid, people won't want to live there. Then the landlord won't want to build it that way to begin with and if some fool does it anyway there will be a profit incentive to knock down the building and do it again. This is a dorm. At at state school. The normal market forces aren't there. The landlord isn't going to be motivated by losing money. The tenants aren't in an ordinary market because dorms are often subsidized or have unique zoning that allows for lower cost than is legally permissible in other available housing and are likely to be closer to the school than other available housing. So you have to exceed a higher threshold of terrible before people will abandon them.