Sensorial Integration: László Moholy-Nagy and the Container Corporation of America

Owner and CEO of the Container Corporation of America (CCA), Walter Paepcke maintained a close working relationship with László Moholy-Nagy throughout Moholy-Nagy’s time in Chicago. Paepcke was the central and most consistent funder of the New Bauhaus, and often argued on behalf of Moholy-Nagy with other corporations and foundations for support. Moholy-Nagy’s 1947 Vision in Motion, was solely dedicated to the Paepcke’s, suggesting a level of gratitude and familiarity. Although the CCA employed and collected many New Bauhaus artists, in art historical literature, Paepcke and the CCA primarily occupy the role of sponsor or corporate “corruptor” of the avant-garde, if they are mentioned at all. This paper argues that the CCA’s connection to Moholy-Nagy extends beyond a straightforward corporate sponsorship arrangement. Rather, I claim that the biocentric programming developed by Moholy-Nagy at the New Bauhaus not only complements the philosophy of the CCA’s Artistic Director Egbert Jacobson, but it also influenced and shaped the CCA’s corporate strategy. Both Jacobson and Moholy-Nagy envisioned a subject whose physiological and psychological state was constantly responding to sensory stimuli from their surroundings, as well as their inner faculties. They therefore approached design as something which needed to attend to this permeable subject, in addition to function. Giving closer examination to the biological subject defined by Moholy-Nagy, I will draw out the ways in which Jacobson’s design program at the CCA began from parallel observations to Moholy-Nagy’s biocentrism. I will then track how the CCA structured their design lab around Moholy-Nagy’s concept of integration.