Walter Paepcke
Walter Paepcke | |
---|---|
Born | June 29, 1896 |
Died | April 13, 1960 |
Education | Latin School of Chicago |
Occupation(s) | Businessman, philanthropist |
Spouse | Elizabeth Paepcke |
Relatives | Paul Nitze (brother-in-law) |
Walter Paepcke (June 29, 1896 – April 13, 1960) was an American businessman and philanthropist who was prominent in the mid-20th century. A longtime executive of the Chicago-based Container Corporation of America, Paepcke is best noted for his founding of the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Skiing Company in the early 1950s, both of which helped transform the town of Aspen, Colorado into an international resort destination and popularize the sport of skiing in the United States.
Biography
Walter was born to Hermann, an immigrant from
After acquiring several other manufacturing and box companies, Paepcke formed the Container Corporation of America in 1926.
Paepcke's wife, Elizabeth Paepcke, was the sister of American diplomatic figure Paul Nitze.
Involvement with Aspen
In 1949 Paepcke made Aspen the site for a celebration of the 200th birthday of
Paepcke hired
International Design Conference in Aspen
In 1951 he founded the seminal International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA) to provide a forum for discussion on design, "where the human spirit can flourish."[citation needed] The primary IDCA objective was to connect culture with commerce by inviting both international business and industry leaders together with representatives from various commercial design[3] fields such as industrial design, graphic design and architecture, as well as those in the fine arts and fields such as psychology, filmmaking and literature. The first conference, in June 1951, brought together over two-hundred and fifty designers and business leaders.
Speakers at the conference included business leaders Stanley Marcus, Andrew McNally III, Harley Earl, and Hans Knoll; and from the design and architecture side, Josef Albers, Louis Kahn, Charles Eames, George Nelson, Elliott Noyes, Leo Lionni, Ben Shahn, Achille Castiglioni, Lella and Massimo Vignelli, Herbert Bayer,[4] as well as the architect and architecture critic Peter Blake.[5][6] The annual conference format included keynote speakers, workshops, panel discussions and informal, social gatherings. These activities naturally integrated those from commerce and culture into settings that stimulated dialogue, debate and insights. The existence of IDCA established a key collaborative forum on the topic on managing design within corporations for the benefit of society, as well as adding value to business. IDCA was held every June in Aspen from 1951 to 2004.
References
- ^ a b c d Ruth, Greg. "Walter Paul Paepcke." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified May 27, 2014.
- ^ Parmenter, Ross (February 7, 1960). "WORLD OF MUSIC: FRIEND LOST; Mack Harrell's Death Will Mean New Faces At Aspen Festival". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
- ^ "Commercial Design Company, Seattle, WA".
- S2CID 144980887.
- ^ "Living History | AIGA Colorado". Retrieved 2022-12-16.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-16.