The Memorial Quadrangle at Yale University, which now consists of Saybrook and Branford colleges, was commissioned from James Gamble Rogers to supply much-needed student housing. It was built over a period from 1917 to 1921, with the cornerstone laid on 8 October, 1917, the anniversary of the first New Haven collegiate building's timber frame in 1717. The Quadrangle contains Harkness Tower, the most visible symbol of Yale on the New Haven skyscape, which is placed on an axis which unifies it to the Old Campus . As initially built, the Quadrangle contained dorm rooms for 630 students laid out to frame eight courtyards. The dry moats with their low walls, now a frequent architectural theme at Yale, were introduced in this building. They were planted with ivy, flowers, and trees by landscape architect Beatrix Jones Farrand with an eye to increased privacy as well as street beautification. The Memorial Room in Harkness Tower contains the first fan vault ceiling built since the 13th century, the first ever built in the United States.

There are six courtyards in the quadrangle: Branford Court, Brothers in Unity Court, Linonia Brothers Court, Caliope Court, Saybrook Court, and Killingworth Court. (The first four are part of Branford College. The latter two are part of Saybrook College.)

From 1917 to 1933 the building consisted of senior housing. In 1933, a donation from Edward Harkness began the residential college system at Yale, splitting the Quadrangle into its two colleges, and adding midsized elements such as masters' houses, fellow's quarters, and dining halls. Harkness had also donated the funds for a residential college system at Harvard.

During the conversion, the "Gold Coast" of student rooms in the middle of the Quadrangle was hollowed out to make way for the Saybrook College dining hall.

G. Owen Bonawit decorated each student room with a small pane of stained glass.

External links

• Saybrook College
• Branford College
• Yale University archive on the construction of Memorial Quadrangle