Normally used as a picture of secludedness and absence of communication, as in "academics doing their own thing in their ivory tower".

See this link:
http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-ivo1.htm

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I don't have an IvoryTower. I just have a ''sanctum sanctorum'' from which I dispense good code (and posts).

You need to get out of ''your'' IvoryTower.

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How many elephants would you need to kill in order to construct a complete tower of ivory?

Is that a standard-size or a double-height tower?

''African or Asian Elephants?''

I always thought that an ivory tower would be a normal tower covered in ivory panelling, rather than a tower made entirely of ivory.

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See also TheBlackTower, TheoreticalRigorCantReplaceEmpiricalRigor