The organization was enormously influential. Not only was it intended to formalize the architectural principles of the modern movement, but it also saw architecture as an economic and political tool that could be used to improve the world through building design and urban planning.

At the fourth congress, held in 1933, the group made the Charter of Athens, a document that adopted a functional concept of modern architecture and urban planning that was unique and provocative. The letter, published in 1942, proclaimed that the problems facing cities could be solved by strict functional segregation, and the distribution of the population into tall apartment blocks at widely spaced intervals. The ideas were widely adopted by urban planners in the reconstruction of Europe after World War II, although by then CIAM members had doubts about some of the concepts.

At the same time that CIAM members traveled around the world after the war, many of their ideas spread outside Europe, especially to the United States. Unfortunately, the implementation of many of the ideas was frequently poorly executed during the post-war period, often due to the economic crisis, and also due to the architects' misunderstanding of the concepts.

The elected executive body of CIAM was CIRPAC, the International Committee for the Resolution of the Problems of Contemporary Architecture.

The CIAM conferences consisted of:

The CIAM organization was dissolved in 1959 as the members' views diverged. Le Corbusier had left the organization in 1955, due to the increasing use of English in conferences and meetings.[4]​.

The organization was enormously influential. Not only was it intended to formalize the architectural principles of the modern movement, but it also saw architecture as an economic and political tool that could be used to improve the world through building design and urban planning.

At the fourth congress, held in 1933, the group made the Charter of Athens, a document that adopted a functional concept of modern architecture and urban planning that was unique and provocative. The letter, published in 1942, proclaimed that the problems facing cities could be solved by strict functional segregation, and the distribution of the population into tall apartment blocks at widely spaced intervals. The ideas were widely adopted by urban planners in the reconstruction of Europe after World War II, although by then CIAM members had doubts about some of the concepts.

At the same time that CIAM members traveled around the world after the war, many of their ideas spread outside Europe, especially to the United States. Unfortunately, the implementation of many of the ideas was frequently poorly executed during the post-war period, often due to the economic crisis, and also due to the architects' misunderstanding of the concepts.

The elected executive body of CIAM was CIRPAC, the International Committee for the Resolution of the Problems of Contemporary Architecture.

The CIAM conferences consisted of:

The CIAM organization was dissolved in 1959 as the members' views diverged. Le Corbusier had left the organization in 1955, due to the increasing use of English in conferences and meetings.[4]​.