The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier is a World Heritage Site consisting of a selection of 17 building projects in seven countries by the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier. These sites demonstrate how modern movement architecture was applied to respond to the needs of society and show the global reach of an architectural style and an architect. Charles-ÃÂdouard Jeanneret (1887âÂÂ1965), known as Le Corbusier, was an architectural designer, urban planner and writer who was one of the pioneers of what is now referred to as modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and acquired French nationality in 1930. He designed buildings all over the world, and he was an important representative of the 20th-century modernist movement, which introduced new architectural techniques to meet the needs of the changing society. He revolutionised urban planning and was a founding member of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM).
Modern architecture, also called "the modern movement", is an architectural movement that was prominent in the 20th century. Modern architecture developed from the principles of functionalism (i.e. that form should follow function) and minimalism, resulting in constructions with little ornament, usually built with recently developed techniques and newly available materials (particularly glass, steel, and concrete). The properties that comprise this site are of various building types and include individual houses, apartment buildings, a factory, a chapel, a monastery, a legislative assembly, a museum and a cultural centre. The group of sites was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2016, during the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Istanbul.
In 2006, France nominated a list of 14 properties designed by Le Corbusier to its tentative list. Other sites from 5 countries were also nominated and submitted as a serial site along with the French entries. In 2009, the WHC decided to postpone their review of the properties until 2012. They asked for a better justification for both the selection of the sites and of Le Corbusier's influence on architecture. The International Council on Monuments and Sites, which advises UNESCO on cultural World Heritage site nominations, also noted that "the omission of both the urban planning schemes and the public buildings at Chandigarh is a serious gap" in the nomination. In 2011, a modified nomination consisting of 19 sites was submitted, but this was deferred by the WHC so that the justification of the "outstanding universal value" point could be improved. In 2015 the nomination was further modified to only 17 sites, but now included the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh. This was accepted by the WHC and the site was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2016, during the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Istanbul.
The properties chosen were deemed to represent an "outstanding response to some of the fundamental issues of architecture and society in the 20th century" and to have "had a significant influence over wide geographical areas". The site as a whole was deemed to meet criteria 1 (masterpiece of human creative genius), 2 (important interchange of human values over a span of time) and 6 (directly associated with ideas of outstanding universal significance) of the selection criteria for cultural sites.
In 2025, the WHC noted that the conservation status of all the sites is "generally satisfactory", with maintenance/restoration continuing in various sites, and future restoration planned in other sites. They also requested that the next review be done by December 2026.