The Given Institute in Aspen Colorado was built to house the Advances in Molecular Biology Conference sponsored by the

University of Colorado School of Medicine The University of Colorado School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Colorado system. It is located at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, one of the four University of Colorado campuses, six miles east of downtown ...

. This Conference on medical research was in keeping with the tradition of
The Aspen Idea
creating a space for thinkers, leaders, artists and musicians from all over the world to join together in a setting that feeds the "Mind, Body and Spirit"..

History of the conference

The first Conference was held in the Aspen Middle School gymnasium in 1964. Dr. Donald West King then Chairman of the Department of Pathology at th
University of Colorado Medical School
was the original organizer of the Conference. The purpose of the Conference was to create a place where faculty, fellows and residents could discuss developments in newly emerging field of

biomedical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

Other sponsors of the Conference were the

National Institute of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1 ...

, the

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

, and th
National Academy of Scientists
. As the popularity of the conference increased it grew to 4 sessions per summer. It was reported in the 1967 Aspen Times that several thousand potential attendees were denied due to the lack of meeting space..

Building

That same year, negotiations started with the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

to develop a permanent conference facility with a laboratory attached. The 2+ acres of land overlooking Hallam Lake were sold to the University of Colorado b
Elizabeth Paepcke
for half its market value. Dr. King negotiated with the Irene Heinz Given (daughter of

H. J. Heinz Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur of Palatine descent who, at the age of 25, co-founded a small horseradish concern in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. This business failed, but his second business exp ...

) and John LaPort
Given Foundation
for construction funds. A $500,000 donation was secured and the building named in honor of the Given Foundation. Other donations towards construction costs came from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and other schools. Mrs. Paepcke was also instrumental in contracting fellow Chicagoan and Cranbrook alumni architect

Harry Weese Harry Mohr Weese (June 30, 1915 – October 29, 1998) was an American architect who had an important role in 20th century modernism and historic preservation. His brother, Ben Weese, is also a renowned architect. Early life and education Harry ...

to design the new building.. Mr. Weese had recently designed the Arena Stagebr>Fichhandler
an
Kreeger
stages for

Zelda Fichandler Zelda Fichandler (née Diamond; September 18, 1924 – July 29, 2016) was an American stage producer, director and educator. Life and career Zelda Fichandler came from a family that emigrated from Russia when she was an infant. Her father, Harry ...

. The Given Institute design, according to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, is and consists of a series of geometric volumes loosely configured in a square plan, by . Both in plan and façade, geometries of circles, squares, and triangles are deliberately interwoven, juxtaposed, and pushed beyond the boundary of the square. When it was completed, architecture critic Janet Bloom noted: “The basic square of the plan is maintained by brick terracing. But the dominance of the full circle can be enjoyed from at least three sides. As Harry Weese puts it, they ‘extracted as much from the three-dimensional possibilities’ as they could, especially by nudging the circle a little beyond the boundaries of the square. The porthole windows are reminders of the circle where it is least apparent.”'.

Historical use

Until the late 1980s facility maintenance costs were provided by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

and other donations. When the NIH support ended maintenance costs were entirely borne by the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The Given Institute currently hosts 10 free public lectures a year and numerous lectures from experts in various fields including bio-terrorism to sports medicine.. Several other non-profit organizations use the Institute as a Conference center including th
Aspen Valley Medical Foundation
th
Aspen Global Change Institute
the
Aspen Film Festival
th
Aspen Writers Foundation
th
Himalayan Rescue AssociationThe Aspen Center for Environmental Studies

Epilogue

The Given Institute was sold and demolished by the University of Colorado School of Medicine in April 2011.

References

External links

Greg Watts Photographs of the Given Institute

"Help Save the Given Institute" Facebook Group Aspen Given Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Given Institute Buildings and structures in Aspen, Colorado Harry Weese buildings