The Two Towers

The Two Towers graphic shown here was an element of a previous WPI identity program. A logo incorporating this graphic appeared on the university's recently discontinued stationery and business cards. Other renderings of these towers have, at various times during the university's history, been incorporated in logos and other elements of WPI visual identity.

Research conducted during the development of the current WPI identity indicated that, while the towers resonate strongly with the university's internal audiences, they convey little meaning to those who do not know WPI well. Therefore, the current identity uses a stylized version of the WPI seal, which more clearly conveys our identity as an established, innovative university. University Marketing no longer provides or supports the Two Towers artwork, which remains a trademarked property of the university.

While this specific stylized rendering of the clock tower of Boynton Hall and the tower of the Washburn Shops (with its distinctive arm and hammer weathervane) is no longer part of the university's official visual identity program, the Two Towers, themselves, remain integral components of the WPI story and powerful symbols of the qualities that make WPI distinctive.

Boynton, the university's first building, originally housed classrooms and laboratories. Washburn, completed shortly after Boynton in 1868, was, for many years, a working manufacturing plant where students put their science and engineering knowledge to work by making products for sale. Together, they constitute an elegant shorthand for the concept of theory and application that was WPI's founding principal, and which forms the core of its innovative approach to undergraduate education today.

Division of Marketing & Communications - Worcester Polytechnic Institute - 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280
Phone: +01-508-831-5609 - Fax: +01-508-831-5609 - marketing@wpi.edu