The CIAM Discourse on Urbanism ,1928-1960 - by Eric Mumford

I am quoting few lines from the book, which will give us inside into CIAM (Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne)and the modern architecture movement .

i am quoting lines from forward to this book by Kenneth Frampton.

CIAM has long enjoyed a mystic status within the recieved history of twentieth century architecture. Commonly regarded after 1945 as an organization that was unduly dominated by sigfrie Giedion and Le Corbusier .

The idea of modern architecture includes the link between the phenomenon of architecture and that of the general economic system.

The inaugural congress of 1928 was attended by more than 20 architects from 8 european countries .Why certain leading architects of the weimer republic failed to attend remain a mystery ,above all Meis van der rohe ,walter groupis and eric mendelsohn. The absence of these liberal humanist left the field open to the more polemical basel based ABC group - Mart Stam , Hannes Mayer , and Hans schmidt- who insisted that a rigorous modern architecture must be contingent upon the broader issues of politics and economics and that ,far from distancing itself from the realities of the industrialized world, architecture must depend for its future quality not on craftsmanship but on the adoption of rationalized production methods.CIAM emphasized the need for standardization and a more equitable distribution of wealth in term of low-cost , mass housing . It advocated the introduction of normative dimensions and efficient production methods as a preliminary step towards a rationalization of building .Thus,what aesthetes would regard as a formal preference for regularity was for CIAM a prerequisite for increasing both quality and quantity by superseding the limited methods of traditional craftsmanship .

Casa Malaparte (A House Like Me)

Casa Malaparte (also Villa Malaparte) is a house on Punta Massullo, on the eastern side of the Isle of Capri, Italy. It is one of the best examples of Italian modern and contemporary architecture.

The house was conceived around 1937 by Italian Rationalist architect Adalberto Libera for Curzio Malaparte. Malaparte actually rejected Libera's design and built the home himself with the help of Adolfo Amitrano, a local stonemason.