Date of Construction: 1972
Architect/Designer: Charles Luckman Associates
Developer: Ogden Development Corporation
Contractor: Frederick G. Krapf and Son, Inc.
Current Function: student and guest housing
Perhaps the closest example the University has to high-style Modern architecture, the Christiana Towers rise over the trees on the northern end of the "Laird" campus. The pre-eminent Modern architect Le Corbusier developed the "tower in the garden" scheme using the principle that a high-rise building with a small footprint accommodated the same number of people as a low-rise building but left more open space for trees and gardens. The L-shaped East and West Towers, rising sixteen and seventeen stories, respectively, have a concrete structure and exterior finish accented by columns of plate-glass windows. A low-rise Commons building is located between the towers.
More than for their style, the Towers were praised in the United States for their use of an innovative construction method known as the "Bison System." This system employed precast concrete wall and floor-ceiling units lifted into place by cranes. Pre-cast stairs, pre-assembled kitchen units and pre-assembled windows were also used in the Towers. The system attracted interest because it was efficient, flexible and economical at a time when building costs were rising.
At the University of Delaware and other campuses, the Towers drew praise for their new living arrangement. Rather than corridors of dormitory rooms, which architect Luckman called "outmoded," the Towers offered small apartments with living and kitchen quarters for students wanting more independence. This design reflects a nation-wide trend during the 1960s and 1970s toward alternative forms of student housing. When the Towers opened in 1972, hundreds of students waited in line to apply for the 1300 places. Although not all aspects of the then-innovative design have been successful, the Towers have remained a popular place to live.
The name "Christiana" refers to the river and settlement in Delaware named by the seventeenth-century Swedish colonists in honor of their queen.
