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This is a bit random, but when I was an intern at CERN I spent a summer living in an old civil defense bunker near Geneva. Short-term accommodation was notorio
by fasouto 1y ago
This is a bit random, but when I was an intern at CERN I spent a summer living in an old civil defense bunker near Geneva.
Short-term accommodation was notoriously expensive for students back then (probably even worse now), and I didn't hesitate when they offered me this unconventional housing opportunity.
The bunker had a decontamination zone, air filtering system, massive concrete doors, a large communal kitchen, and numerous small bunk beds. It was adequate for short-term use, but we encountered two main issues:
- It's remarkably easy to lose track of time without natural light cues
- Even with the air filering system wet clothes wouldn't dry properly inside
- bschne 1y agoI'm in civil protection service in Switzerland and occasionally spend a few days at a time in one of these doing basically office work or running refresher courses etc., definitely agree on the losing track of time thing --- can't count the number of times I've come up at 4--5pm and been extremely surprised by how light or dark, sunny or rainy it was
- amelius 1y agoOf course there's a technical solution: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43497394 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43497394
- smolder 1y agoEveryone seems to go for LEDs to simulate outdoor lighting for this kind of purpose, when there is another way that seems much more elegant to me: fiber-optic solar lighting. https://www.shieldenchannel.com/blogs/solar-panels/fiber-optic-solar-lighting https://www.shieldenchannel.com/blogs/solar-panels/fiber-opt...
- amelius 1y agoIndeed more elegant, but also more pricey. The LED solution was $1000, which could still be affordable for a student living in a bunker. It's also easier to install, especially if you don't own the place and cannot run thick fiber bundles through the walls.
- spiderfarmer 1y agoI’d prefer not relying on electricity
- andsoitis 1y agoPresumably you also need a system to produce light indoors at night. You might as well have a single solution for both day- and night-time that uses renewable energy.
- gpderetta 1y agoThis is a nuclear bunker. Electricity might not be available or scarce.
- inetknght 1y agoBy the time external electricity is not available (assuming it was ever brought in, in the first place), you probably want to lose track of time.
- gpderetta 1y agoOh yes, also natural light itself might be scarce.
- amelius 1y agoSounds to me it is closer to a student housing project that happens to be in a bunker.
- iancmceachern 1y agoI bet the air filtration system runs on electricity, they probably have a backup generator that lasts X number of days. After that you won't have clean air so light won't be an issue either.
- 1y ago
- pjmlp 1y agoIt was already a pain in 2003 and the whole process looks like hunting for a job with interview process and everything. For us it was a schock, versus the usual "you can pay it is yours", first come first served that we had back in Portugal. However while not living in a bunker, we did have parties in some somehow converted into clubs.
- firefax 1y ago>while not living in a bunker, we did have parties in some somehow converted into clubs. Apparently in Bratislava, there is a club inside what was a fallout bunker underneath what was the king's palace but now serves as the residence of the... PM I think? Maybe president? My memory is hazy. (Not due to the technobunker party sadly -- I was passing through on a weekday and it was sadly closed, so no uhn tiss tiss for me.)
- baxtr 1y agoExcuse my lack of experience in that matter, but with modern inventions like the watch shouldn’t keeping track of time be something that is possible?
- jamiek88 1y agoTime is a feeling too, it’s the sense of time that goes awry. Like casinos attempt to mimic.
- dghughes 1y agoI worked in a casino and I don't think the owners or the design are intentionally trying to fool you any more than a department store would. You are distracted playing games and lose all track of time since it's more engaging than shopping for socks.
- andsoitis 1y agoCasino design employs various tactics to make players lose track of time, encouraging longer play and increased spending. These techniques include eliminating clocks and windows, using maze-like layouts, and manipulating sensory experiences like lighting, sound, and scent. I know your point is they don’t do it more than department stores do, and you might very well be right. I think it is probably hard to prove either way. https://www.e-architect.com/articles/the-psychology-behind-casino-design https://www.e-architect.com/articles/the-psychology-behind-c...
- toast0 1y agoI've been in plenty of department stores with windows though. And I don't think I've been to any that drew a false sky on the ceiling. Many stores and malls have skylights too, although when they're the translucent ones, they might be also uplit, so you might not notice it's dark outside. I think there's at least a difference of degree, but I think it's more than that.
- 1y ago
- Onavo 1y agoHow do you deal with the mold problem?
- seb1204 1y agoControl moisture in the air?
- thebruce87m 1y agoIf they controlled moisture in the air then the clothes would dry properly.
- AStonesThrow 1y agoIn high school we were having growing pangs, and so several of my classes were held in temporary trailers that had been hauled onto campus for that purpose. They were serviceable and not particularly hostile, and arguably more modern than the existing classrooms we were using anyway. Then I graduate and enroll in a cushy university (UCSD) and come to find out, they're also having growing pangs, and so in the middle of campus we found ourselves taking classes in Quonset huts. These Quonset huts were bona fide military surplus, though it was already 1990. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quonset_hut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quonset_hut The Quonset huts were extraordinarily different from the classrooms and lab facilities we used on campus; they were, of course, comparatively set out in the wilderness, and very rough accommodations overall. However, I was a commuting student, and nobody was living in Quonset huts, so after our hourlong class was dismissed, I was able to retreat to the relative comfort of home, or the Theodore Geisel library.
- bschne 1y ago> In high school we were having growing pangs weren't we all...
- h2zizzle 1y agoI wish. I never really had a "spurt" or "pangs".
- linksnapzz 1y agoI worked at UCSD in one of the "temporary" classroom/offices next to the Eucalyptus Point dining hall. We had a family of raccoons under ours for several years, which I blamed on the questionable shoring and piers that supported those. In addition, one of my co-workers was heavy enough such that he could deform the floor in one just by standing up and walking around, so much so that pens/markers would roll off nearby desks as he went past.
- elashri 1y agoSummer students at CERN lives in CERN Meyrin hostel nowadays. I heard that this make life much easier for them. But it is more affordable than anything in Geneva or Meyrin. And definitely would fit the low O(2) accepted students. At the expense of "gently" kicking everyone else.
- rz2k 1y agoHopefully the students weren’t low O_2 when they lived in bunkers.
- elashri 1y agoI realized now that I used this jargon and would have different meaning too :D Just for reference, some people in particle physics would use this to refer to O(x) where x is the order of magnitude number. so O(2) would means hundreds. So “low O(2)” would mean low hundreds, say around 200–300.
- thatfrenchguy 1y ago> - It's remarkably easy to lose track of time without natural light cues What was wild to me moving to the US from France was how many office buildings have many rooms without windows: you could be in your office or in meeting rooms and there are just zero natural light. Same in doctor's offices where you're always seen in a windowless window. Would drive me crazy if I had to work there all day.
- pyuser583 1y agoMore modern buildings are nothing but transparent glass. It feels like working in a fishbowl.
- macNchz 1y agoWindowless office spaces are so miserable to me. Often under-ventilated and overlit with unpleasant artificial light as well. On this topic, something window-related that’s common in France but rare in the US is functional shutters—it’s so nice to be able to completely close a shutter outside your bedroom window and have pitch blackness, regardless of the light outside. The best you get in a typical American house is "blackout" curtains or shades that leak tons of light around the edges.
- pmontra 1y agoThat seems to be a Mediterranean thing. Pitch black shutters are common also in Italy and (AFAIK) Spain. No idea about the eastern and southern Mediterranean. Rolling shutters are the norm in Italy. Old houses or country houses have traditional shutters, in the latter case mostly because of aesthetics. They come in two varieties: they open like the doors of wardrobe or they slide on a rail on the outside of the wall. All of them used to be made of wood, they are PVC or aluminum now. Windows with only heavy dark curtains inside basically are not a thing. No idea about the reason. Some random ideas. 1) no need to protect against excessive cold and wind (curtains are very useful for that) and it's ok to open a window and open or close shutters. 2) hail can break glass windows and shutters protect them. Are hail storms historically common also in northern Europe? Maybe not.