Le Corbusier's 1920s works are referred to as the “white boxes” and after WWII the “brutalism.” However, such simple classification does not do justice to the vast creativity of the architect.

Beginning his career in the 1900s, by the age of 30 he has made six houses in his home country before heading to Paris. Variety of forms, from Swiss style structures to works influenced by his travels abroad, are seen in these early works, but none quite what we consider Corbusian.

His works in the 1920s may be seen as the “white boxes,” however, the whites are only accentuated because of the presence multiple colors. His “Les Cinq Points d'une Architecture Nouvelle”, piloti, free plan, free façade, horizontal windows, and roof gardens, promoted the construction technique using columns and beams. Some of the prominent works of this era are, Villa “Le Lac”, Maisons La Roche-Jeanneret, and Villa Savoye.

Not many major works stand out in the 1930s approaching the WWII, but one can see his transformations over the years with Pavillon Suisse, Villa de Madame H. de Mandrot, and Villa “Le Sextant”. These works embody new form of expression using bare stone, bricks, wood, steel, and glass.

After WWII, dynamism of brutalism is born of the display of rough exposed concrete as the finished façade. Community housing of Unité d'Habitation, religious structures of Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp and Couvent Sainte-Marie de La Tourette, large scale public structures of Chandigarh, and various works in Argentina and Japan are some of his representative works of this time. This global icon of architecture, at the height of his career, lived in an 16m2 Cabanon in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, which is one of his characteristics that familiarizes him with the fans around world.

17 of Le Corbusier's realized works were included in the UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 2016. Behind the total of 79 realized works are numerous unrealized projects which attest to his passion for creativity.