
The ''Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne'' (CIAM), or International Congresses of
Modern Architecture
Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
, was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged across
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
by the most prominent architects of the time, with the objective of spreading the principles of the
Modern Movement focusing in all the main domains of architecture (such as
landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
,
urbanism,
industrial design
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...
, and many others).
Formation and membership
The ''International Congresses of Modern Architecture'' (CIAM) was founded in June 1928, at the Chateau de
la Sarraz in Switzerland, by a group of 28 European architects organized by
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
,
Hélène de Mandrot (owner of the castle), and
Sigfried Giedion
Sigfried Giedion (also spelled Siegfried Giedion; 14 April 1888, Prague – 10 April 1968, Zürich) was a Bohemian-born Swiss historian and critic of architecture. His ideas and books, '' Space, Time and Architecture'', and ''Mechanization ...
, (the first secretary-general). CIAM was one of many 20th-century
manifesto
A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
s meant to advance the cause of ''architecture as a social art''.
Members
Other founder members included
Karl Moser (first president),
Hendrik Berlage,
Victor Bourgeois,
Pierre Chareau,
Sven Markelius,
Josef Frank,
Gabriel Guevrekian,
Max Ernst Haefeli,
Hugo Häring, Arnold Höchel,
Huib Hoste,
Pierre Jeanneret (cousin of Le Corbusier),
André Lurçat,
Ernst May,
Max Cetto, Fernando García Mercadal,
Hannes Meyer,
Werner M. Moser, Carlo Enrico Rava,
Gerrit Rietveld, Alberto Sartoris, Hans Schmidt,
Mart Stam, Rudolf Steiger, Szymon Syrkus, Henri-Robert Von der Mühll, and Juan de Zavala. The Soviet delegates were
El Lissitzky,
Nikolai Kolli and
Moisei Ginzburg, although at the Sarraz conference they were unable to obtain visas.
Later members included
Minnette de Silva,
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
,
Alvar Aalto,
Uno Åhrén,
Louis Herman De Koninck (1929) and
Fred Forbát. In 1941,
Harwell Hamilton Harris was chosen as secretary of the American branch of CIAM, which was the Chapter for Relief and Post War Planning, founded in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
Josep Lluís Sert participated in the congresses as of 1929, and served as CIAM president from 1947 to 1956. He was co-founder of
GATEPAC and
GATCPAC (in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, respectively) in 1930, as well as ADLAN (Friends of New Art) in Barcelona in 1932.
CIRPAC
The elected executive body of CIAM was CIRPAC, the ''Comité international pour la résolution des problèmes de l’architecture contemporaine'' (International Committee for the Resolution of Problems in Contemporary Architecture).
Influence
The organization was hugely influential. It was not only engaged in formalizing the architectural 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
Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
.
The fourth CIAM meeting in 1933 was to have been held in Moscow. The rejection of Le Corbusier's competition entry for the
Palace of the Soviets, a watershed moment and an indication that the Soviets had abandoned CIAM's principles, changed those plans. Instead it was held on board ship, the SS ''Patris II''.
which sailed from
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
to
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. Here the group discussed the principles of "
The Functional City", which broadened CIAM's scope from architecture into urban planning. Based on an analysis of thirty-three cities, CIAM proposed that the social 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. These proceedings went unpublished from 1933 until 1943, when Le Corbusier, acting alone, published them in heavily edited form as the
Athens Charter.
Separation
As CIAM members travelled worldwide after the war, many of its ideas spread outside Europe, notably to the USA. The city planning ideas were adopted in the rebuilding of Europe following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, although by then some CIAM members had their doubts.
Alison and Peter Smithson were chief among the dissenters. When implemented in the postwar period, many of these ideas were compromised by tight financial constraints, poor understanding of the concepts, or popular resistance.
Mart Stam's replanning of postwar Dresden in the CIAM formula was rejected by its citizens as an "all-out attack on the city".
The CIAM organization 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.
For a reform of CIAM, the group
Team 10
Team 10 – just as often referred to as Team X or Team Ten – was a group of architects and other invited participants who assembled starting in July 1953 at the 9th Congress of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne, International ...
was active from 1953 onwards, and two different movements emerged from it: the
Brutalism of the English members (Alison and Peter Smithson) and the
Structuralism
Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns t ...
of the Dutch members (
Aldo van Eyck and
Jacob B. Bakema).
Conferences

CIAM's conferences consisted of:
*1928, CIAM I,
La Sarraz, Switzerland, Foundation of CIAM
*1929, CIAM II,
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, Germany, on The Minimum Dwelling
*1930, CIAM III,
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Belgium, on Rational Land Development (Rationelle Bebauungsweisen)
*1933, CIAM IV,
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, Greece, on The Functional City (Die funktionelle Stadt)
*1937, CIAM V,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France, on Dwelling and Recovery
*1947, CIAM VI,
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...
, England, Reaffirmation of the aims of CIAM
*1949, CIAM VII,
Bergamo
Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...
, Italy, on The Athens Charter in Practice
*1951, CIAM VIII,
Hoddesdon, England, on The Heart of the City
*1953, CIAM IX,
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...
, France, on Habitat
*1956, CIAM X,
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), on Habitat
*1959, CIAM XI,
Otterlo
Otterlo is a village in the municipality of Ede of province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, in or near the Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe.
The Kröller-Müller Museum, named after Helene Kröller-Müller, is situated nearby and has the world ...
, the Netherlands, organized dissolution of CIAM by
Team 10
Team 10 – just as often referred to as Team X or Team Ten – was a group of architects and other invited participants who assembled starting in July 1953 at the 9th Congress of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne, International ...
See also
*
Modern architecture
Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
*
Bibliography
*Eric Mumford, ''The CIAM Discourse on Urbanism – 1928–1960'', Cambridge Mass. and London 2000. (Foreword by Kenneth Frampton).
*Sigfried Giedion, ''Space, Time and Architecture – The Growth of a New Tradition'', Cambridge Mass. 2009, 5th edition. (CIAM, summary in Part VI).
*Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel (eds.), ''TEAM 10 – In Search of a Utopia of the Present – 1953–1981'', Rotterdam 2005. (TEAM 10 out of CIAM).
*Lorenzo Mingardi, ''Reweaving the city: the CIAM summer schools from London to Venice (1949–57)'', L. Ciccarelli, C. Melhuish (eds), ''Post-war Architecture between Italy and the UK.Exchanges and transcultural influences'', London, UCL Press, 2021, 107-126. ISBN 9781800080836
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Congres International Architecture Moderne
Architecture groups
Modernist architecture
Modernist architects
Urban planning organizations
Architectural theory
Arts organizations established in 1928
Organizations disestablished in 1959