herr2ck: Drack City

September 2025.

I always thought these three Modernist high-rise dorms looked like public housing projects. Blocky and intense massing, tiny windows, and just overall blandness. It doesn’t help that Modernism caters itself to these programs of whatever is minimally necessary for habitation--a “machine for living” as Le Corbusier put it. Maybe I (and most other college students) don’t want to live in a machine. Make life rue the day it stuck me in a machine for living! Take back those damn lemons!

As in other articles where I’m covering a series of buildings that are effectively identical, I split this article into sections about each individual structure.

Drackett Tower History

Drackett Tower, or “Drack City” as it’s affectionately known, is one of the most infamous freshman dorms. While neither me nor my close friends lived there, I met a lot of people who did, though, crammed into the tiny quads this high-rise almost exclusively offers. I thought my freshman year Baker dorm sucked, but at least I only had one roommate… It’s located north of Norton and Scott Houses, south of Torres House, east of Archer House, and west of North Rec.

Drackett Tower in 1967. (Buckeye Stroll)

Drackett Tower was designed by university architect W. E. Linch in 1963. Built from 1963-1965 by Knowlton Construction Co., the tower rises twelve stories high, using a reinforced concrete frame clad in brick. It was designed as a men’s dorm, but has since become co-ed like the other dorms on campus.

Harry Drackett, undated. (Buckeye Stroll)

Drackett Tower was named after Harry Drackett, an alumnus of Ohio State who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1907. Unlike the low-rise dorms’ namesakes, he did not serve in the military. While at Ohio State he was on the cross country team, served as business manager for The Lantern, and was president of the Pan-Hellenic Association. After graduation he remained involved, serving as chairman of the Alumni Advisory Board and the Development Fund. Drackett founded his own company (Drackett Chemical Company) in Cincinnati. He died in 1948.

Drackett Tower was renovated in 2015-2016, but only on the ground and first floors. This would explain why its entry looks more contemporary than it should.

Drackett Tower Photos

I took this first picture on a later sunny day, but the weather for the rest is gonna fit these bland works of architecture.

The only architectural embellishment here is marble/terrazzo spandrels and little engravings above each window:

What a bland, flat facade.

This was a week or two after we played Ohio U, but these students still have a post-it note diss on their windows:

“O-U Oh-Yeah” is a stupid attempt to match “O-H-I-O,” I can’t lie. Sorry to any Athens readers.

Contemporary entrance:

The east side is completely devoid of fenestration. It’s very skinny, too:

These towers make a T in plan. A perpendicular wing projects northward from the main east-west slab of the building:

Common mid-century brickwork in the loading dock area:

Looking up at the massive mechanical penthouse:

These sharp edges mixed with the cloudy background are giving me Blade Runner vibes.

The northwest side is likewise similar, but the planes of brick are interrupted by a strip of glass where the student lounge area is:

Drackett Tower was the one I explored inside, but the interior was so pedestrian I didn’t even bother to linger. The new lobby has a balcony overlooking the entrance:

Student lounge area:

Elevator lobby:

The main bulk of the dorm hallways are the standard CMU and drop-ceiling affair:

Jones Tower History

Jones Tower, like Drackett Tower, is uniquely composed of all the same type of rooms, but Jones is exclusively single rooms. I believe it is also the tallest dorm on campus that is not Lincoln or Morrill Tower, standing at thirteen occupiable stories plus a floor for mechanical use.

Jones Tower c. 1969. (Buckeye Stroll)

Jones Tower was designed in 1966 by university architect Hollie W. Shupe. It was built from 1967-1969 by Knowlton Construction Co. and was first occupied by students in autumn 1969. While the building was planned as “Jones Tower,” its original program was housing graduate students, so its official name was changed to “Jones Graduate Tower,” which remained until it was reverted by the Board of Trustees in 2011. Not even a year after it was opened, an addition was planned, which housed a swimming pool. This addition was built in 1970 by Holzapfel Construction Co. The pool apparently fell victim to deferred maintenance before 2009, when a major renovation happened. Its entrance was also renovated in summer 2016.

Another interesting bit of Jones Tower history is that some guy rappelled down the side of it in 1974. He apparently trained at Hocking Hills, but his desire for more height went unfulfilled until he discovered he could jimmy the lock to Jones’ roof with his room key. While he surrendered to police immediately upon reaching the ground, they let him off with a warning. I can only imagine what pulling a similar stunt today would result in--they’d bring the whole damn riot squad and have snipers set up in every adjacent building ;)

Jones Tower was named after Lawrence Jones, an Ohio State graduate who earned his degree in civil engineering in 1923. Immediately afterwards he joined the faculty, which he would proceed to remain on for the next 37 years. Jones started as the secretary for the College of Engineering starting in 1929, and became a professor in 1943. He also worked as the Coordinator of the Army Specialized Training Program during World War II, and eventually worked in the office of the president. He passed away in 1961.

Jones Tower Photos

Note the skinnier windows here:

Same deal as Drackett, just those shorter windows:

Classic mid-century sans-serif sign:

More perforated brickwork around the loading dock:

Like Drackett Tower, Jones is entered by a single-story box separate from it:

The only decor here is the molded cubes into the base’s concrete, in this oddly well-composed shot:

Taylor Tower History

Taylor Tower, or TayTow as I’ve heard, is probably the nicest of these Pruitt-Igoe-esque high-rises because it actually offers double rooms. It currently serves as north campus honors housing and where incoming freshmen spend the night during orientation. I spent my first night at OSU in one of the quads during my orientation, but thankfully I had the whole thing to myself.

Taylor Tower in 1967. Note the presence of Raney Commons in the foreground. (Buckeye Stroll)

Taylor Tower was designed by university architect W. E. Linch in 1964, with a reinforced concrete frame clad in brick. It was built in 1965-1966 by Garwick & Ross, Inc. When first built, it served as a women’s dorm. Its entrance was also renovated in summer 2016, like Jones Tower.

Taylor Tower was named after Jacob Taylor, a World War I veteran who was University Vice President and Treasurer. While he graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1921, he started working at Ohio State as an associate professor of accounting, being named chairman of that department only three years later. He became the business manager of OSU in 1946 and was then promoted to vice president two years later. He was honored with the Distinguished Service Award in 1952.