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INVENTORY OF THE RECORDS OF THE CIAM BELGIAN SECTION,
1928-1958 (bulk 1934-1958)
850865
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Title: Records of the CIAM Belgian Section
Date (inclusive): 1928-1958
Date (bulk): 1934-1958
Collection number: 850865
Creator:
International Congress for Modern Architecture. Belgian
Section.
Extent:
ca. 6 linear ft.
(12 boxes, 1
flatfile)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90040-1688
Abstract: Records of the CIAM Belgian section comprise
the records of Paul Fitschy, Liège-based secretary of the Belgian Section of
the International Congress for Modern Architecture (Congrès internationaux
d’architecture moderne), as well as some CIAM-related documents obtained in
separate acquisitions. Included are correspondence and documents generated by
the Belgian section itself, the central CIAM secretariat in Switzerland, and
associated CIAM national sections. The records reflect CIAM’s development as an
international organism, devoted to discussion and promotion of modern
architecture and city planning. The CIAM congresses, particularly those from
1937 to 1956, are well documented, as are the day-to-day operations of the
Belgian section.
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Language: Collection material in English
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions
Records of the CIAM Belgian section, 1928-1954, bulk 1934-1958, Getty Research Institute,
Research Library, Accession no. 850865.
Compiled by the repository through multiple acquisitions, 1984-1993.
Numbers in brackets (i.e. [#1]) identify items from the 1993 acquisition.
L'Equerre Records, 1928-1960, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accn. no. 850864.
The International Congress for Modern Architecture (Congrès
internationaux d’architecture moderne, or CIAM) was an influential association
of modern architects and city planners united in a search for solutions to the
problems of urban areas. Founded in 1928 at the Château de La Sarraz,
Switzerland by Le Corbusier, Sigfried Giedion and architectural patroness
Hélène de Mandrot, CIAM served for several decades as the organizational center
of the modern movement in architecture. Between 1928 and 1957, CIAM organized a
series of ten formal congresses and additional CIAM council or CIRPAC meetings
under the directorship of its CIRPAC committee (Comité international pour la
réalisation des problèmes d'architecture contemporaine), together with an
eleventh congress in 1959 under reformulated directorship. These meetings
provided a professional forum for debating and disseminating theoretical,
aesthetic and technical developments and achievements in the field of modern
architecture and city planning.
Although Belgian participation in CIAM dated from the first La Sarraz
conference, the Belgian section secretariat was formed in 1934, through the
collaboration of the Groupe L’Equerre (meaning "square", an architectural
drafting tool) and Victor Bourgeois, a founding CIAM member who had
distinguished himself with the presentation of his housing complex La Cité
Moderne at CIAM III, Brussels, 1930. L’Equerre was composed of five Liège-based
architects - Paul Fitschy, Ivon Falise, Edgard Klutz, Émile Parent and A.
Tibaux - who had met ca. 1928 during their architectural studies at the Académie
de Liège (presumably the Académie royale des beaux-arts de Liège), and who at
the time of their joining CIAM were editing a journal, called
L’Equerre, which championed the cause of modern
architecture and city planning (see related collection: L'Equerre; Records,
1928-1960; accn. no. 850864). Other notable modern architects including Huib
Hoste (a founding CIAM member along with Bourgeois), L. H. de Koninck, Gaston
Eysselinck and Renaat Braem augmented the section membership. The Belgian
section secretariat was located in the offices of L’Equerre; Fitschy served as
secretary, Bourgeois as section president and first delegate, and De Koninck as
second delegate. In 1937 the Belgian section proposed two contributions to CIAM
V in Paris: Hoste’s urban development plan for the right bank of the Scheldt in
Antwerp, and Bourgeois’s survey of Charleroi; additionally, Fitschy and Braem
participated in the 2nd CIAM commission, "Cas d'application des villes". In
1938, at the behest of CIRPAC, the section was split into three geographic
subdivisions - one each for Brussels, Antwerp and Liège - to work independently
under Belgian section leadership. The Belgian section, and particularly the
Liège group headed by L’Equerre, worked in earnest to prepare a proposed CIAM
VI in Liège, which would have taken place in September of 1939, concurrently
with the "Exposition internationale de l’eau", held to mark the 30 July 1939
opening of the Albert Canal, linking Liège with Antwerp and the North Sea. This
opportunity to promote Liège in the wider architectural community was
shattered, however, by the cancellation of that year’s congress at the start of
World War II (see Box 6).
The section remained inactive throughout the war, but revived with the
announcement of CIAM VI in Bridgwater, planned for 1947. Troubles beset the
Belgian section’s preparations for this congress, which only one Belgian member
attended. In view of his absence, Bourgeois was dismissed by CIRPAC as first
Belgian delegate, to be replaced by Fitschy; Léon Stynen later took on the role
of second Belgian delegate. Bourgeois’s subsequent resignation from CIAM placed
Fitschy in an even more responsible role towards Belgian section activities, a
role he had hoped would be minimized with the 1948 reorganization of the
Brussels, Antwerp and Liège sections into independent groups responsible
directly to CIAM. Additionally, the group’s decision to expel several members
(among them Hoste and Falise) for suspected or proven Nazi sympathies and
collaboration led to a lengthy contention with Hoste, who pressed insistently
but unsuccessfully for readmission. Also during this period, the Belgian
section began encouraging the involvement of a younger generation of architects
and offering educational opportunities to students still in the course of their
architectural studies, a directive then being instituted on a CIAM-wide
basis.
Fitschy’s hopes that the reorganization would result in a
revitalization of the section were not fulfilled, and in April of 1951 he
formally renounced responsibility for Belgian section activities, thereafter
devoting his energies to the Liège section, which had been joined by the
Groupes EGAU and Planning. Stynen was to undertake responsibilities for the
independent Brussels-Antwerp section. Notwithstanding Fitschy’s decision, born
of frustration at the perceived lack of energy and responsiveness in the
section, several Belgian grids, or city planning project charts, were presented
at subsequent CIAM conferences. L’Equerre’s grid for the city of Flémalle-Haute
(Box 8, f. 3; Box 10*, f. 7; Box 11*; Flat file folder 1**), a planned suburb west of
Liège, exhibited at the 1951 CIAM VIII, Hoddesdon, was featured in the
publication
The heart of the city, and at least two Belgian grids, one
for the "Unité d’habitation Anvers-Kiel" and one for a construction in Liège by
Groupe EGAU, were presented at the 1953 CIAM IX, Aix-en-Provence (see Box 8, f.
8 for accompanying analyses).
CIAM IX also saw the emergence of Team X (Team 10), an alliance of
younger architects who rejected the ideas of the old-guard CIAM, based on the
1933 Athens Charter, as too rigidly mechanistic or functionalist. Team X sought
instead to explore human associations within an environment, and felt moreover
that CIAM had grown too large, with loss of its original vigor. After
formalizing its agenda in a meeting in Doorn in January of 1954, Team X was
invited at the 1954 Paris CIRPAC meeting to set the agenda for the 1956 CIAM X
in Dubrovnik, with J. B. Bakema as acting secretary. The experiences at
Dubrovnik hardened the rift between the two factions, and a debate ensued over
whether to dissolve or reorganize CIAM. Reorganization was chosen, and in 1957
at La Sarraz CIAM was renamed "CIAM: Research Group for Social and Visual
Relationships (CIAM: Groupe de recherches pour les interrelations sociales et
plastiques)" with new statutes, the abolition of all national groups, and a
severely restricted membership. The archive of Belgian section records ends at
this time. CIAM XI, which took place in Otterlo in 1959, featured the work of
43 selected architects including Belgians Willy van der Meeren and Peter
Callebout, whose work is not represented in this collection. This final
congress ended with a decision to dissolve CIAM definitively.
Scope and Content of Collection
Records of the CIAM Belgian Section comprise the records of Paul
Fitschy, Liège-based secretary of the Belgian section of the International
Congress for Modern Architecture (Congrès internationaux d’architecture
moderne), as well as some CIAM-related documents obtained in separate
acquisitions. Included are records generated by the Belgian section itself, the
central CIAM secretariat in Switzerland, and associated CIAM national sections,
especially those of Switzerland, Belgium, France (principally ASCORAL), Britain
(MARS Group), and the Netherlands (8 and Opbouw). The records reflect CIAM’s
development as an international organism devoted to discussion and promotion of
modern or "rational" solutions to architectural and city planning problems. The
day-to-day operations of the Belgian section, an active national group within
CIAM, are also recorded. Principal correspondents include Victor Bourgeois,
Sigfried Giedion, L. H. de Koninck, Huib Hoste, Gaston Eysselinck, Cornelis Van
Eesteren, and J. B. Bakema; some items from Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier are
also preserved.
The collection contains ca. 1250 items, including approximately 810
letters (Series I), 36 handwritten notes, predominantly by Fitschy (Series II),
375 documents (Series III), and 29 oversized items (Series IV). Among its items
are meeting minutes, memoranda, programs, reports, questionnaires, book
proposals, brochures and other ephemera, rosters and exhibition materials,
including city planning documents. Notable are the several examples of CIAM
grids or "grilles", developed by Le Corbusier in 1948 and promoted extensively
by CIAM as a chart-based city planning tool, as well as documents and handouts
that accompanied grids presented by national CIAM groups (including the Belgian
section) at various congresses.
Topics covered include preparations and results of the various CIAM
congresses, predominantly CIAM V through CIAM X, as well as organization and
promotion of CIAM-related publications, exhibitions and educational
opportunities; of special interest are the documents of the planned CIAM VI in
Liège, cancelled in 1939 at the onset of World War II. Reports, circulars and
letters contained within the collection chronicle debate on issues of city
planning, housing, environmental pollution, architectural education,
industrialization of building techniques, legislation and land reform, social
requirements, aesthetics and artistic expression, and postwar reconstruction.
Also revealed are the contacts maintained with other international associations
including the International Union of Architects, the International Federation
for Housing and Town Planning, UNESCO and others. Among the CIAM publications
discussed in the collection are
Logis et loisirs (based on CIAM V, Paris); Giedion’s
A decade of new architecture / Dix ans d’architecture
contemporaine
(based on CIAM VI, Bridgwater and CIAM VII, Bergamo); and
Tyrwhitt, Sert and Rogers’s
The heart of the city (based on CIAM VIII, Hoddesdon).
Also mentioned are Sert’s
Can our cities survive? and Le Corbusier’s
La charte d’Athènes, both based on CIAM IV, Athens,
together with the unpublished
La ville fonctionnelle / Die funktionelle Stadt, which was
to have been the official CIAM IV publication.
French is the principal language of the materials. German was used by
CIAM as a second language before World War II, and English afterwards; several
items are in Dutch or Flemish. The practice of using Roman rather than Arabic
numerals, evidenced in the majority of documents in this collection, has been
followed throughout the finding aid; thus documents entitled "CIAM 9" have been
rendered "CIAM IX" in order to facilitate keyword searching.
Arrangement
The records are arranged in four series:
Series I. Correspondence,
Date (inclusive): 1934-1958
Series II. Handwritten
notes,
Date (inclusive): 1938-ca. 1956
Series III. Documents,
Date (inclusive): 1928-1957
Series IV. Oversized
materials,
Date (inclusive): 1933-1955
Bakema, J. B. (Jacob
Berend), 1914-1981
Bourgeois, Victor,
1897-1962
Eesteren, Cornelis van,
1897-1988
Fitschy,
Paul
Giedion, S. (Sigfried),
1888-1968
Hoste, Huib
Koninck, L. H. de (Louis
Herman), 1896-
Le Corbusier,
1887-1965
Sert, José Luis,
1902-
Tyrwhitt,
Jaqueline
Wogenscky, André,
1916-
International Congress
for Modern Architecture. Belgian Section.
Comité international pour
la réalisation des problèmes d'architecture contemporaine
Team 10
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (1st : 1928 : La Sarraz,
Switzerland)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (2nd : 1929 : Frankfurt am Main,
Germany)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (3rd : 1930 : Brussels, Belgium)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (4th : 1933 : Athens, Greece)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (5th : 1937 : Paris, France)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (6th : 1947 : Bridgwater, England)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (7th : 1949 : Bergamo, Italy)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (8th : 1951 : Hoddesdon, England)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (9th : 1953 : Aix-en-Provence,
France)
International
Congress for Modern Architecture (10th : 1956 : Dubrovnik, Croatia)
Apartment
houses—France—Marseille—Designs and plans
Architects—Europe—Correspondence
Architecture, Modern—20th
century—Congresses
City
planners—Europe—Correspondence
City
planning—History—20th century—Congresses
Functionalism
(Architecture)—Congresses
Housing—History—20th
century—Congresses
International style
(Architecture)—Congresses
Modern movement
(Architecture)—Congresses
Planned
communities—Belgium—Designs and plans
Rationalism
(Architecture)—Congresses
Unité d'habitation
(Marseille, France)—Designs and plans
Flémalle-Haute
(Belgium)—Maps
Marseille
(France)—Buildings, structures, etc
Marseille
(France)—Maps
Blueline
prints
Brochures
Business
letters
Circulars
Clippings
Financial
statements
Letters
(correspondence)
Maps
Memorandums
Minutes
Notes
Papers (document
genres)
Plans (maps)
Programs
Questionnaires
Receipts
Reports
Rosters
Site plans
Tickets
Albini, Franco
Aujame, Roger
Bakema, J. B. (Jacob
Berend), 1914-1981
Bézard,
Norbert
Bierbauer,
Virgile
Bill, Max,
1908-
Bloc,
André
Bodiansky, Vladimir,
1894-1966
Bontridder,
Albert
Bourgeois, Victor,
1897-1962
Braem, Renaat
Brodzki,
Constantin
Bush,
Alfred
Bush,
Gertrude
Candilis,
Georges
Carlier,
Charles
Coates, Wells,
1895-1958
Collins,
James
Delatte,
Eugène
Didesch,
Marius
Dunnett,
Trevor
Ecochard,
Michel
Eesteren, Cornelis van,
1897-1988
Eggericx,
Jean-Jules, 1884-1963
Emery,
Pierre-André
Eyck, Aldo van,
1918-
Eysselinck, Gaston,
1907-1953
Falise,
Ivon
Faure,
Jean-Pierre
Fitschy,
Paul
Forbat, Fred,
1897-1972
Fry, Maxwell,
1899-
Gardella,
Ignazio
Gelderen, W.
van
Giedion, S. (Sigfried),
1888-1968
Ginkel, H. P.
Daniel van
Goulden,
Gontran
Gropius, Walter,
1883-1969
Hanekroot,
Constant
Hartland Thomas,
M.
Havenith, Eliane
Hebebrand, Werner,
1899-1966
Herbosch,
Gustave
Herrey,
Herman
Heymans, M.
C.
Hoffmann, Hubert,
1904-
Honegger, J.
J.
Hoste, Huib
Hovens Greve, Hans
(H. J. A.)
Howell,
Jill
Howell, William,
1922-1974
Ibler, Drago,
1894-1964
Kalivoda,
František
Keatinge-Clay,
P.
Klutz,
Edgard
Koninck, L. H. de (Louis
Herman), 1896-
Lasdun, Denys
Le Corbusier,
1887-1965
Lekenne,
J.
Lenoir,
P.
Ligeti,
Forbat
Lima, Viana de,
1913-
Limperg,
Koen
Lods, Marcel
Lonberg-Holm,
Knud
Meeren, Willy van
der
Merkelbach, Ben,
1901-1961
Michel,
Paul-Amaury
Moser, Karl,
1860-1936
Moser, Werner
Max
Moutschen,
Joseph
Mühll, H. R. von
der
Nicolas,
J.
Nueten, Charles
van, 1899-1989
Olsen,
O.
Orsem
Oshin,
Arnold
Parent,
Émile
Pawek, Karl
Peressutti,
Enrico
Persitz,
A.
Persitz,
H.
Pineau, L.
G.
Planer,
Paul
Quétant, Francis,
1905-1953
Rogers, Ernesto
N.
Roth, Alfred,
1903-
Samuel,
Godfrey
Sanders,
Walter
Schmeller,
Alfred
Schmidt, Hans,
1893-1972
Sert, José Luis,
1902-
Sive,
André
Smithson, Alison
Margaret
Smithson, Peter,
1923-
Sneyers,
Léon
Soltan,
Jerzy
Sosset, Léon-Louis,
1913-
Stam, Mart,
1899-
Steiger, Rudolf,
1900-1982
Stevens, Herbert
H
Stynen, Léon,
1899-1990
Syrkus, Helena
Syrkus, Szymon,
1893-1964
Tołwiński, Stanisław,
1895-
Tyrwhitt,
Jaqueline
Vauthier, Arsène
Marie Paul
Verschaeren,
August
Voelcker,
John
Vos, Herman,
1889-1952
Winter,
P.
Wissing
Wogenscky, André,
1916-
Woods, Shadrach,
1923-1973
Wynants,
Maxime
8 (Group of
architects)
ASCORAL
British Council
(Belgium)
Comité international pour
la réalisation des problèmes d'architecture contemporaine
L'Equerre
(Firm)
Modern Architectural
Research Group
Opbouw (Group of
architects)
Team 10
Contribution à la charte de l'habitat : CIAM 9, Aix-en-Provence, 19-25 juillet 1953.
These publications were consulted by the cataloger.
CIAM, Dokumente, 1928-1939 / hrsg. von Martin Steinmann.
Basel : Birkhäuser, 1979.
CIAM '59 in Otterlo : Group for the Research of Social and
Visual Inter-relationships / Oscar Newman ; by order of Jacob B. Bakema for the
Otterlo 1959 participants.
Stuttgart : K. Kramer, 1961.
A decade of new architecture / edited by S. Giedion.
Zürich : Girsberger, 1951.
The heart of the city: towards the humanisation of urban life.
Edited by J. Tyrwhitt, J. L. Sert [and] E. N. Rogers. Translations by
J. Tyrwhitt. New York : Pellegrini and Cudahy, 1952.
Logis et loisirs : 5e congrès CIAM. Paris : Editions
de l'Architecture d'aujourd'hui, [1938].
Mumford, Eric Paul, 1958-
The CIAM discourse on urbanism, 1928-1960. Cambridge,
Mass. : MIT Press, c2000.
Sert, José Luis, 1902-
Can our cities survive? An ABC of urban problems, their
analysis, their solutions; based on the proposals formulated by the C. I. A.
M., International Congresses for Modern Architecture, Congrès internationaux
d'architecture moderne.
Cambridge : Harvard University Press; London :
H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1942.
Team 10 meetings : 1953-1984 / edited by Alison Smithson.
New York : Rizzoli, 1991.