It was customary to present new urban projects at the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM). The grid system was devised by ASCORAL under the leadership of Le Corbusier and presented at the seventh CIAM meeting; the first assembly after the war.

At CIAM VII in Bergamo in 1949, the grid was presented as an analytical method for comparing the various subjects and designs discussed at CIAM congresses. The theme of this conference was the Athens charter in practice. The main objective of the meeting was to consider the ‘challenges that modern society poses for urbanisation’ (Risselada, 2005).

The Athens charter was simplified into four functions; each was given a colour and placed on the ASCORAL grid. The color system functioned as following: 1) Dwelling (green)2) Working (red)3) Cultivating the body and the mind (yellow) 4) Circulation (blue).



The purpose of this grid was to simplify the analysis and understanding of urban planning in terms of the Athens Charter. The seventh and eighth CIAM meetings were both about developing another document that would be a natural progression from the Athens Charter, the Charta of Habitat. The ‘CIAM Grid’ was also the precedent for future presentations within CIAM. The Guidelines for these grids was defined by CIAM and were intended to be an aid in the analysis of various subjects and designs. This system allowed other members of CIAM to make presentations in a way that could be discussed and analysed. Although accepted by CIAM, the new means of presentation was criticized from the start, also within the CIAM organization itself. The grid system opened up the way for the younger generation of CIAM to put forward their ideas. In effect it gave them the freedom to challenge the leadership and strategy of Le Corbusier. The initial feelings of the young Team 10 were expressed in their reaction to the eighth CIAM meeting. The grid and the debates surrounding its validation, was characteristic of the postwar CIAM climate with much emphasis on official and bureaucratic procedures. Eventually, this climate would instigate the younger generation to abandon the CIAM organization altogether. (MvO)



Sources:

Avermaete, Tom. Another Modern: The Post-war Architecture and Urbanism of Candilis-Josic-Woods. Rotterdam: NAi, 2005.

Mumford, Eric. CIAM Discourse on Urbanism, 1928-1960. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000.