City Icons: Amsterdam - Final Call!

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon

Modernism Week Lecture: 10 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons

Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success

Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá

Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!

Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin

Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen

'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House

Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97

Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved

Serralves Villa after restoration

Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage

Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces

July is Iconic Houses Month

Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

New Centre for Historic Houses of India

An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands

A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership

Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

Our Badge of Honour

Iconic Houses End Year Message

City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?

Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk

Renovation Gili House in Crisis

An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

Work in Progress: Casa Vicens

Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House

Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House

Conference calls!

Follow us!

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Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

Conference Program 25 November 2014

Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld

Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments

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Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

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New arrivals: Spain special

MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June

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Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

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Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

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Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

At Home in the 20th Century

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Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

20 July 2016

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

Finally, Le Corbusier has gained the status his work deserves, with 11 of his most influential residential buildings now on Unesco’s World Heritage List, together with seven of his other works. Le Corbusier, one of the greatest architects of the 20th century, has had a huge and enduring impact on the world with his built and written oeuvre. Together, his works embody some of the most important technical and conceptual achievements of the Modern Movement in the field of architecture and urbanism.

Getting this World Heritage listing was far from straightforward, however. The nomination proposal was first submitted in 2008. It was examined during the 33rd Session of the World Heritage Committee (in Seville in 2009) and referred. It was examined again during the 35th Session (in Paris in 2011), and again referred. A revised proposal was submitted in 2015. Finally, at the 40th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Istanbul, during the failed coup of last Sunday (17th July), the nomination was successful.

It is of course curious that the two most influential Modernist houses in the world, Villa Savoye in Europe and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in the USA (more on this later), should be missing from the Unesco list. Up until now, only six houses and residential complexes by famous 20th-century architects have featured on the Unesco World Heritage List. They are: the Rietveld-Schröder House in Utrecht; Casa-Estudio Luis Barragán in Mexico City; the Victor Horta house in Brussels; Mies van der Rohe’s Villa Tugendhat in Brno; the works of Gaudí in Barcelona; and the housing estates (Siedlungen) in Berlin. All of these are of course members of Iconic Houses.

Le Corbusier’s work reflects an ongoing search for new forms as well as constructive principles and models for living. He wanted his work to be profoundly universal, and as such included programmes for all types of people. Thanks to the international scope of his work, his achievements are found on almost every continent. The architect of many projects, Le Corbusier was also a prolific theorist and his ideas were not only transmitted through his projects and constructions, but also through his writings.

So, congratulations to the Fondation Le Corbusier and all who were involved in achieving Unesco World Heritage listing for 17 works of Le Corbusier!

  • Maisons La Roche and Jeanneret, Paris, France, 1923
  • Petite villa au bord du lac Léman, Corseaux, Switzerland, 1923
  • Cité Frugès, Pessac, France, 1924
  • Maison Guiette, Antwerp, Belgium, 1926
  • Weissenhof-Siedlung houses, Stuttgart, Germany, 1927
  • Villa Savoye and gardener’s lodge, Poissy, France, 1928
  • Villa Savoye and gardener’s lodge, Poissy, France, 1928
  • Immeuble Clarté, Genève, Switzerland, 1930
  • Immeuble Molitor, Boulogne-Billancourt, France, 1931
  • Unité d’habitation, Marseille, France, 1945
  • Casa Curutchet, La Plata/Buenos-Aires, Argentine 1949
  • Cabanon de Le Corbusier, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, 1951
  • Maisons La Roche and Jeanneret, Paris, France, 1923
  • Petite villa au bord du lac Léman, Corseaux, Switzerland, 1923
  • Cité Frugès, Pessac, France, 1924
  • Maison Guiette, Antwerp, Belgium, 1926
  • Weissenhof-Siedlung houses, Stuttgart, Germany, 1927
  • Villa Savoye and gardener’s lodge, Poissy, France, 1928
  • Villa Savoye and gardener’s lodge, Poissy, France, 1928
  • Immeuble Clarté, Genève, Switzerland, 1930
  • Immeuble Molitor, Boulogne-Billancourt, France, 1931
  • Unité d’habitation, Marseille, France, 1945
  • Casa Curutchet, La Plata/Buenos-Aires, Argentine 1949
  • Cabanon de Le Corbusier, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, 1951

The majority of these (11) are residential buildings, of which most (seven) are members of our Iconic Houses network. See our slideshow above for a full overview of these works, in chronological order:

Residential

  • The Claude & Duval factory, Saint-Dié-des Vosges, France, 1946
  • Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France, 1950
  • The Assembly, Chandigarh, India, 1952
  • The Assembly, Chandigarh, India, 1952
  • The Assembly, Chandigarh, India, 1952
  • Convent of La Tourette, Éveux, France, 1953
  • National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1955
  • Maison de la Culture, Firminy, France, 1955
  • The Claude & Duval factory, Saint-Dié-des Vosges, France, 1946
  • Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France, 1950
  • The Assembly, Chandigarh, India, 1952
  • The Assembly, Chandigarh, India, 1952
  • The Assembly, Chandigarh, India, 1952
  • Convent of La Tourette, Éveux, France, 1953
  • National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1955
  • Maison de la Culture, Firminy, France, 1955

Non-residential (see above slideshow)

  • The Claude & Duval factory, Saint-Dié-des Vosges, France, 1946
  • Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France, 1950
  • The Assembly, Chandigarh, India, 1952
  • Convent of La Tourette, Éveux, France, 1953
  • National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1955
  • Maison de la Culture, Firminy, France, 1955

Unesco Listing for Frank Lloyd Wright?
In Istanbul, the World Heritage Committee also completed its consideration of the USA’s nomination of Key Works of Modern Architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright to the World Heritage List. After spirited discussion, the committee decided to refer the nomination for further discussion. As we know, for Le Corbusier’s successful inscription it took repeated attempts, so Frank Lloyd Wright’s nomination will certainly be back for a rematch.

Of the referral outcome, Fallingwater’s Lynda Waggoner said: “While we would have preferred the series be inscribed at this session, we feel the decision to refer is fair. A serial nomination like ours is a very complex undertaking and it is certainly not unusual for such nominations to be reworked multiple times before inscription is achieved. We appreciate the opportunity to address the Committee’s concerns in the coming months and hope for inscription of the series in a few years.”

Having seen this outcome in Le Corbusier’s case, we hope for a good future outcome for Frank Lloyd Wright. Fallingwater and Villa Savoye are simply the iconic 20th-century houses of North America and Europe respectively.

Visit the exhibition at Maison La Roche
On display in Maison La Roche in Paris are various items from the Fondation Le Corbusier collection, including photos, drawings and models, relating to the 17 buildings and sites that Le Corbusier realised between 1923 and 1955 and that are now included on the World Heritage List. The exhibition, The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier – An Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement, scan be seen until 30 November.

Publication date 20 July 2016

The photos were taken in 2014 and in 2015 (with the exception of the Cabanon). The slideshows show all the buildings in chronological order.©Photos by Cemal Emden, except Olivier Martin-Gambier for the Cabanon and Casa Curutchet. ©FLC/ADAGP, 2016