CIAM 4
The fourth CIAM conference took place on board the S.S. Patris, an ocean-going liner journeying from Marseilles to Athens in July 1933.
The national groups reported to the conference with the findings from their city studies, presenting in each case the agreed three boards showing a total of 34 cities. In addition, Le Corbusier and the group who had met earlier in Zürich hosted a meeting to state the core goals of the Functional City.
On arrival in Athens on the 3rd August an exhibition of the Functional City boards was held at the Ethnikon Metsovion Polytechneion (National Technical University of Athens) and inaugurated by Greece's prime minister. The boards were separated into seven categories: metropolises, cities of administration, ports, industrial cities, pleasure cities and cities of diverse function. The delegates remained in Athens for a number of days, some visited local classical sites and others visited nearby islands. On 10 August they embarked on the return journey to Marseilles.
During meetings on the return journey delegates found it impossible to agree on resolutions for the Functional City. Van Eesteren's original Amsterdam plan had, with greater resources, a basis formed by scientific data. The plans presented by the national groups did not have this and, despite Giedion's insistence delegates were reluctant to agree guidelines. Eventually, two groups agreed two separate texts: observations and resolutions.
Read more about this topic: Athens Charter