Through the lens of Sigfried Giedion: CIAM IV and the stay in Greece

In the black and white photographs of the Sigfried Giedion private archives, the contrast between ancient and modern, vernacular and international, shadow and light is evident, as it captures the impressions of the Swiss art historian from his first visit to Greece. On occasion of the fourth meeting of Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM IV), Giedion – together with as assorted group of architects, men of letters, artists and poets – would acquire unmediated impressions of a Southern European country, in which the efforts to overcome the financial and political ramifications of its past were cogent. These were manifested also through aspirations to align with Western European expressions of modernity in the grounds of architecture and urbanism; a fact that led to a warm reception of the CIAM IV delegates, aboard the steamboat Patris II at the port of Piraeus on August 1, 1933. From the position of the general secretary, Giedion had served a crucial role in the organisation of the Congress, assisted by key coordinators, namely Stamos Zervos, Stamo Papadaki and, his envoy, Fred Forbát. Following the cancellation of the original plans to hold the Congress in Moscow, it had been an immediate organising process after all. By exploring Giedion’s involvement in CIAM IV, I traverse the Congress’s chronological framework, extending beyond its initial spur and across its later evaluation. Through the photographic and literary lens of Giedion, I focus on his appreciation of early manifestations of the Modern Movement in the extended area of Athens, including Villa Fakidis (Papadaki, 1933) and the primary school on the foot of the Akropolis (Karantinos, 1930), seen in juxtaposition with the built remnants of Ancient Greece and the vernacular architecture of the Cycladic islands. By doing so, I address a reciprocal relationship between Greece and the Western world – a dynamic discourse between areas and eras, as the former was striving to define its identity.