The “Athens Charter” was the name given by Le Corbusier to his version of the results of the fourth congress (1933) of the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM). This congress was organized on the theme of the “Functional City,” a concept developed in part by the Dutch town planner Cornelis van Eesteren, who became president of CIAM in 1930. In contrast to what he called the “cardboard architecture” of classical urbanism, van Eesteren and other CIAM members advocated an approach to city planning based on the most rational siting of functional elements, such as workplaces and transportation centers. This idea was linked to the belief that city planning should be based on the creation of separate zones for each of the “four functions” of dwelling, work, recreation, and transportation. At the fourth congress, held on a cruise ship traveling from Marseilles to Athens and back in July-August 1933, CIAM members from Eastern and Western Europe analyzed the samescale plans of 33...