CIAM

Congrès International
d'Architecture Moderne
C I A M (1928 - 1956)

RETHINKING ARCHITECTURE

 The Congrès International

d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM)
(International Congress of Modern
Architecture) (1928 - 1959) was the
think tank of the Modern Movement
(or International Style) in architecture.
It was both an organisation and a
series of meetings.
CIAM
Formation and Membership
 The 20th century abounds with manifestos in which the term
"architecture as a social art" is variously voiced.

 Among the many propositions that command attention are the

concepts and buildings of architects associated with the
International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM), founded in
June 1928 at the Chateau de la Sarraz in Switzerland, by a group of
28 European architects organized by Le Corbusier, Hélène de
Mandrot (owner of the castle), and Sigfried Giedion (the first
secretary-general )
CIAM

At the time, the CIAM charter was designed to rid cities of the
post-Industrial Revolution overcrowding and inhuman conditions
which had characterised many European and American cities of
the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The CIAM city called for ample space, light and green areas, and
stressed on the need to lead a dignified human existence. That
the modern age also meant a new moral order was implicit in the
CIAM charter, as well as the fact that architecture and urbanism
could be the tools by which this new order could be brought
about.
CIAM
Influence

•The organization was hugely influential. It was not

only engaged in formalising the architectual
principles of the Modern Movement, but also saw
architecture as an economic and political tool that
could be used to improve the World through the
design of buildings and through urban planning.
At the fourth congress, held in 1933, the group
conceived of the "Athens Charter", a document that
adopted a functional conception of modern
architecture and urban planning which was unique
and provocative
 CIAM
UNDERLYING CONCEPT
•The key underlying concept was the creation of independent zones for the
four 'functions': living, working, recreation, and circulation.

•The La Sarraz Declaration asserted that architecture could no longer exist in

an isolated state separate from governments and politics, but that economic
and social conditions would fundamentally affect the buildings of the future.
The Declaration also asserted that as society became more industrialised, it
was vital that architects and the construction industry rationalise their methods,
embrace new technologies and strive for greater efficiency.
• Le Corbusier, one of the movement's founders, often liked to compare the
standardised efficiency of the motor industry with the inefficiency of the building
trade.
 CIAM
UNDERLYING CONCEPT

•Urbanisation cannot be conditioned by the claims of a pre-existent

aestheticism; its essence is of a functional order… the chaotic division of land,
resulting from sales, speculations, inheritances, must be abolished by a
collective and methodical land policy.“

•At this early stage the desire to re-shape cities and towns is clear. Out is the
"chaotic" jumble of streets, shops, and houses which existed in European cities
at the time; in is a zoned city, comprising of standardised dwellings and
different areas for work, home, and leisure.
CIAM
THE ATHENS CHARTER
The Charter, based on discussions held ten years earlier, claimed that the
problems faced by cities could be resolved by strict functional segregation, and
the distribution of the population into tall apartment blocks at widely spaced
intervals.
The Athens Charter
The fourth CIAM Congress in 1933 (theme: "The Functional City") consisted of
an analysis of thirty-four cities and proposed solutions to urban problems. The
conclusions were published as "The Athens Charter" (so-called because the
Congress was held on board the SS Patris en route from Marseilles to Athens).
This document remains one of the most controversial ever produced by CIAM.
The charter effectively committed CIAM to rigid functional cities, with citizens to
be housed in high, widely-spaced apartment blocs. Green belts would separate
each zone of the city. The Charter was not actually published until 1943, and
its influence would be profound on public authorities in post-war Europe.
CIAM
Conferences

CIAM's conferences consisted of:

1928, CIAM I, La Sarraz, Switzerland, Foundation of CIAM
1929, CIAM II, Frankfurt, Germany, focused on the housing
work of Ernst May
1930, CIAM III, Brussels, Belgium
1933, CIAM IV, Athens, Greece
1937, CIAM V, Paris, France
1947, CIAM VI, Bridgwater, England, Reaffirmation of the
Aims of CIAM
1949, CIAM VII, Bergamo, Italy
1951, CIAM VIII, Hoddesdon, England
1953, CIAM IX, Aix-en-Provence, France
1956, CIAM X, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia
CIAM
Disbanding

The CIAM organisation disbanded in 1959 as the

views of the members diverged. Le Corbusier had left
in 1955, objecting to the increasing use of English
during meetings!

CIAM succeeded in developing new architectural

ideas into a coherent movement, but Modernists
would spend many years defending, and often
undoing, its legacy.