Published on July 18, 2016 by Marseille Tourism

The news is significant! Sunday morning, UNESCO's World Heritage welcomed 17 works by the renowned architect Le Corbusier. Among his noteworthy creations is the monumental "Cité Radieuse" in Marseille. After two unsuccessful attempts in the past, why does the work of the "mad" architect now enter the World Heritage? What will it change?

WHY WERE THESE WORKS SELECTED?

Le Corbusier was a prolific architect who made significant contributions to the modern movement. For the UNESCO candidacy, 17 works were selected from various locations around the world (France, Switzerland, India, Belgium, Germany, Argentina, and Japan). They were chosen for their "architectural qualities […], authenticity, and contribution to the exceptional universal value of Le Corbusier's work series." They were able to meet at least one of UNESCO's 10 selection criteria:

• Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.
• Testify to a considerable exchange of influences, during a given period or in a specific cultural area, in the development of architecture, technology, monumental arts, urban planning, or landscape design.
• Provide a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or a living or vanished civilization.
• Offer an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble, or landscape illustrating one or more significant periods in human history.
• Be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land use, or sea use that is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment, especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.
• Be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
• Represent exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.
• Be outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth's history, including the record of life, significant ongoing geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features.
• Be outstanding examples representing significant ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals.
• Contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity.

WHY DID THE PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS FOR INSCRIPTION FAIL?

In 2008 and 2011, the dossier was rejected from the World Heritage List. This year, the selection of 17 major works by the "fada" qualified the candidacy. The collaboration of the 7 countries holding these properties strengthened it. According to Laurent Stefanini, the French ambassador to UNESCO, it should be noted that "at the time of the previous failures, architectural works were less of interest than they are today […] We enriched the dossier by demonstrating how important Le Corbusier was as a figure in contemporary architecture."

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR THE CITÉ RADIEUSE IN MARSEILLE?

No financial reward is given to works inscribed on the World Heritage List. However, it grants them a certain prestige! It is a guarantee of visibility and international cooperation, as well as an increase in tourist attendance. It could also attract tour operators who specifically target UNESCO World Heritage sites. As the second most visited private site in Marseille after Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, the Cité Radieuse currently welcomes 53,000 visitors per year. This number is likely to increase. The properties are placed under a sort of international safeguard: the State that owns the property benefits from the UNESCO's system of cooperation and financial and material assistance.