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Finding aid for 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 (bulk 1934-1958)
Number: 850865
Creator/Collector:
International Congress for Modern Architecture. Belgian Section
Physical Description:
6.0 linear feet
(12 boxes, 1 flatfile)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
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 is in
English
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.
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.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa850865
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.
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.
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
Gideon, S. (Sigfried), 1888-1968
Hoste, Huib
Koninck, L. H. de (Louis Herman), 1896-
Le Corbusier, 1887-1965
Sert, José Luis, 1902-1983
Tyrwhitt, Jaqueline
Wogenscky, André, 1916-2004
Comité international pour la réalisation des problèmes d'architecture
International Congress for Modern Architecture (10th : 1956 : Dubrovnik, Croatia)
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. Belgian Section
Team 10
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
Flémalle-Haute (Belgium)--Maps
Functionalism (Architecture)--Congresses
Housing--History--20th century--Congresses
International style (Architecture)--Congresses
Marseille (France)--Buildings, structures, etc
Marseille (France)--Maps
Modern movement (Architecture)--Congresses
Planned communities--Belgium--Designs and plans
Rationalism (Architecture)--Congresses
Unité d'habitation (Marseille, France)--Designs and plans
Contribution à la charte de l'habitat : CIAM 9, Aix-en-Provence, 19-25 juillet 1953.
Blueline prints
Brochures
Business letters
Circulars
Clippings (information artifacts)
Financial statements
Letters (correspondence)
Maps
Memorandums
Minutes
Notes
Papers (document genres)
Plans (maps)
Programs
Questionnaires
Receipts
Reports
Rosters
Site plans
Tickets
8 (Group of architects)
Albini, Franco
ASCORAL
Aujame, Roger
Bakema, J. B. (Jacob Berend), 1914-1981
Bierbauer, Virgil
Bill, Max, 1908-1994
Bloc, André, 1896-1966
Bodiansky, Vladimir, 1894-1966
Bontridder, Albert
Bourgeois, Victor, 1897-1962
Braem, Renaat
British Council (Belgium)
Brodzki, Constantin, 1924-
Bush, Alfred
Bush, Gertrude
Bézard, Norbert
Candilis, Georges
Carlier, Charles
Coates, Wells, 1895-1958
Collins, James
Comité international pour la réalisation des problèmes d'architecture
Delatte, Eugène
Didesch, Marius
Dunnett, Trevor
Ecochard, Michel
Eesteren, Cornelis van, 1897-1988
Eggericx, Jean-Jules, 1884-1963
Emery, Pierre-André
Eyck, Aldo van, 1918-1999
Eysselinck, Gaston, 1907-1953
Falise, Ivon
Faure, Jean-Pierre
Fitschy, Paul
Forbát, Alfréd, 1897-1972
Fry, Maxwell, 1899-1987
Gardella, Ignazio
Gelderen, W. van
Gideon, S. (Sigfried), 1888-1968
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, 1904-1999
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, Paffard, 1926-
Klutz, Edgard
Koninck, L. H. de (Louis Herman), 1896-
L'Equerre (Firm)
Lasdun, Denys
Le Corbusier, 1887-1965
Lekenne, J.
Lenoir, P.
Ligeti, Forbat
Lima, Viana de, 1913-
Limperg, Koen
Lods, Marcel
Lönberg-Holm, K. (Knud), 1895-1972
Meeren, Willy van der, 1923-2002
Merkelbach, Ben, 1901-1961
Michel, Paul-Amaury, 1912-1988
Modern Architectural Research Group
Moser, Karl, 1860-1936
Moser, Werner M. (Werner Max), 1896-1970
Moutschen, Joseph
Mühll, H. R. von der
Nicolas, J.
Nueten, Charles van, 1899-1989
Olsen, O.
Opbouw (Group of architects)
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, 1902-1983
Sive, André
Smithson, Alison Margaret
Smithson, Peter, 1923-2003
Sneyers, Léon
Soltan, Jerzy
Sosset, Léon-Louis, 1913-
Stam, Mart, 1899-1986
Steiger, Rudolf, 1900-1982
Stevens, Herbert H
Stynen, Léon, 1899-1990
Syrkus, Helena
Syrkus, Szymon, 1893-1964
Team 10
Tołwiński, Stanisław, 1895-
Tyrwhitt, Jaqueline
Van Ginkel, H. P. Daniel (Harmen Peter Daniel), 1920-2009
Vauthier, Arsène Marie Paul
Verschaeren, August
Voelcker, John
Vos, Herman, 1889-1952
Winter, P.
Wissing
Wogenscky, André, 1916-2004
Woods, Shadrach, 1923-1973
Wynants, Maxime
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.