Le Corbusier: The Architect on the Beach

The mastermind behind what he termed beautiful and functional “machines for living,” Le Corbusier has long been recognized as one of the foremost figures in the international style of architecture. Yet, beginning in the 1940s, the famed architect and urbanist increasingly took modernism in a new direction that has until now been insufficiently considered—and little understood.

Dispensing with his trademark suit and bowtie, Le Corbusier was spending increasing amounts of time at the shore in...