France dominates the list of buildings by seminal Modernist architect Le Corbusier that has been set out by UNESCO.As reported already, on July 17, a total of 17 projects, across seven countries, were added to their list of World Heritage Sites. The decision was announced at the meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Istanbul - after being suspended for a day because of the abortive coup in Turkey.It is worth taking a more detailed look at the list. According to UNESCO, the sites across the globe “are a testimonial to the invention of a new architectural language that made a break with the past. They were built over a period of a half-century, in the course of what Le Corbusier described as ‘patient research’ [and] reflect the solutions that the Modern Movement sought to apply during the 20th century to the challenges of inventing new architectural techniques to respond to the needs of society.”As noted, the works span Argentina, Belgium, Germany, India, Japan, and Corbusier's native Switzerland. Still, the bulk of the works, ten out of the 17 listed, are located in France. “These masterpieces of creative genius also attest to the internationalization of architectural practice across the planet,” the citation added.Considered by many to be the greatest architect of Modernism, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887-1965), better known as Le Corbusier, designed some 60 works during his lifetime, through which he developed and refined the language of international architectural Modernism: the flat-roofed standalone villa, the public residential building on stilts, all the way to proposing a new form of city in his Chandigarh, in India.Perhaps most notably, the Complexe du Capitole in Chandigarh, the concrete government building that marked the rise of India after independence from colonial rule, is included on UNESCO’s list, which spans 50 years of the Franco-Swiss architect's practice, includes some of his most renowned works.Brutalist residential masterpiece, Unite d'habitation in Marseille, which set the form for low-cost, efficient housing (what Le Corbusier termed “a machine for living'” for half a century to come, is also included, as is the Villa Savoye, on the other end of the residential spectrum. The flat-roofed Modernist villa on the outskirts of Paris is as well known for its full-length strip windows and void ground floor, as it is for the lengthy arguments Le Corbusier continued to have with the owners after construction (the villa badly leaked).A number of “machines for living” are recognized on the list: from the residential villas such as the House of Dr Curutchet in La Plata (Argentina), Maison Guiette in Antwerp (Belgium), and Maison La Roche in Paris, to the residential buildings and estates such as the Weissenhof-Siedlung Estate in Stuttgart (Germany), Cité Frugès in Pessac (France), Immeuble Clarté in Geneva (Switzerland), Immeuble Molitor in Paris, and the Dominican Monastery of La Tourette near Lyon (France), which would not look out of place on the outskirts of Paris, with its strict concrete form.Villa Le Lac, built for the architect’s parents in Corseaux (Switzerland), also made the cut, as did Corbusier’s last great work, the church of Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp (France), which represented a break from the rigid straight lines of Modernism into a more fluid, organic silhouette.The list also includes the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo (Japan), Maison de la Culture in Firminy (France), one industrial building, Usine Claude et Duval in Saint-Dié, and one cabin: Cabanon de Le Corbusier in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, both in France.The “World Heritage” designation, given by the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), recognizes special cultural or physical significance to the heritage of humanity. While it has long recognized ancient sites and natural landmarks, only in 2001 did UNESCO launch a program for documenting and protecting Modernist buildings, which at the time were still rarely considered valuable heritage.“The inscription on the World Heritage List of 17 buildings of sites by Le Corbusier represents a strong encouragement to continue all along Le Corbusier's built work to maintain this living heritage and to hand it down to future generations,” said Fondation Le Corbusier President Antoine Picon. “It also contributes to the understanding of that complex and fragile legacy and helps its dissemination to the widest audience.”Other Modernist masterpieces under UNESCO protection include Berlin housing estates by Walter Gropius, Martin Wagner, and Bruno Taut. The United States nominated Frank Lloyd Wright’s works in 2015, which is the first time that country has ever nominated a Modernist work.
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