The CIAM Collection
This website features only a part of the CIAM Collection. To view the entire collection, visit the Finding Aid.
CIAM 6 Group Photograph taken at the Bristol Airplane Factory, 1947.
Black and white enlarged print. 20 x 9 cm
Frances Loeb Library, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The CIAM Collections includes correspondence files and manuscript material related to the planning and proceedings of the organization’s conferences (1928-1956) as well as organizational files and photographs.
The correspondence, reports, photographs and ephemera related to the International Congress of Modern Architecture, drawn from the files of Josep Lluís Sert, who was both a founding member of the organization and its president (1947-1956).
The founding of CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) in 1928 has been cited as the beginning of the “academic” phase of modern architecture. The organization and its membership were extraordinarily influential in the development of contemporary architectural and urban planning theory. Through its congresses and publications, CIAM served as an international forum for progressive theoreticians and practitioners in design.
The most complete history of CIAM is Eric Mumford’s book, The CIAM Discourse on Urbanism, 1928-1960 (MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, 2000).
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
Organizational Records
Membership Lists
Membership lists, in variant forms, of CIAM members and listings of individuals proposed for membership. Also included are members’ lists for specialized CIAM chapters and committees.
Organizational History
Two heavily amended drafts (copy 1 annotated in J.L. Sert’s hand) of a text which includes and organizational history, listing of congresses, projects and publications.
Summer School
Promotional brochures issued for the 1954 and 1956 CIAM summer schools by the Italian group of CIAM.
Congress Materials
Photographs
Miscellaneous CIAM Related Materials
THE CIAM COLLECTION
Frances Loeb Library
Curated by Ines Zalduendo, Special Collections Curator at the Frances Loeb Library, M.Arch ’95.
Designed by Ashleigh Brady, Archival Collections Website Editor, M.Arch ’26.