ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how within the course of two decades, 'The Functional City' of the early Modern Movement morphed into a socially defined space and thereby again obtained a hierarchically articulated structure. It examines Congrs Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne's (CIAMs) perception of the American city and its interpretations of the neighbourhood unit concept. The CIAM from 1928 to 1959 was an unconventional working group and a complex laboratory of progressive ideas for the design of the city. Although CIAM members were increasingly active in the mainstream of the profession after the war, CIAM's conceptual phase was already over by the time the Second World War ended. CIAM sought in the urban fabric of the past rules for renewing the contemporary city. The work of CIAM's protagonists remained tied to the fundamental methods of their early study of urban development. Nevertheless, CIAM managed not only to formulate questions but also to imagine a city of the future.
