According to David Hoffman’s book, Who Knew?: Things You Didn’t Know About Things You Know Well, “When Disneyland opened in 1955, Tomorrowland represented a city from 1986.” Tomorrowland has changed over the years (and even differs from Disney park to Disney park around the world) but of all the things envisioned by the Disney “imagineers” and their corporate partners, I’m not sure even they had the real-world vision of University Loft CEO James Jannetides when, in 1986, he founded University Loft Company to provide residence hall furniture solutions for colleges and universities across America and around the world. From its earliest beginnings, University Loft has maintained an eye toward the future of college residence life and has worked hard to stay on the leading edge of university housing student furniture manufacturing.
Call Jannetides a practical dreamer. He took a personal challenge – maximizing space in his dormitory room at Southern Illinois University – and created not only a one-off residence hall space planning solution, but also an industry that has become a key part of student housing and residence life.
If you’ve ever seen the “House of Tomorrow” at a Disney park, you might recall that it looked both cool and a little “out there” at the same time. This must also have been the reaction of visitors to James’s first dorm room loft furniture arrangement. But like all great advancements of the modern physical world, James Jannetides’s first college dormitory room loft configuration was rooted in two questions: Why? and Why Not? ULoft dorm room furniture, with its virtually limitless space planning configurations, was the answer to both.
What might the future look like for on-campus student housing rooms? Perhaps this University Loft video might provide a glimpse. But for college students across America and around the world, the future is now, the future is University Loft’s modular furniture for residence life, and the future is bright indeed!
Bob
The ULoft Blog Team
About University Loft Company and our solid wood modular residence life furniture:
Since 1984, when James Jannetides built a loft configuration for his own dorm room at Southern Illinois University, hundreds of thousands of college students have enjoyed better campus living thanks to University Loft furniture. Today, University Loft serves more than 1,200 colleges, universities and related student housing partners. As Jannetides’ says: “We are always learning, always innovating, and always improving … our environment, our products, and our service. We are University Loft Company.”