Le Corbusier legacy threatened by 'fascist' revelations

Revelations that one of the world's most famous modern architects, Le Corbusier, was a "fascist" with links to France's WWII collaborationist Vichy regime have been published just ahead of a major Paris exhibition of his work.

The disclosures made in two new books about Le Corbusier confirmed previous, less-categoric assertions and threaten to mar his legacy in a year in which France commemorates the 50th anniversary of his death.



Paris's Pompidou Centre, which is to open a three-month long exhibition dedicated to Le Corbusier on April 29, has come in for allegations of whitewashing his image by omitting references to the controversy.

- 'Kept secret' -

Xavier de Jarcy, a journalist who wrote about the find in his book "Le Corbusier, un fascisme francais" (Le Corbusier, a French fascism), told AFP: "I discovered he was simply an out-and-out fascist."

The architect "was active during 20 years in groups with a very clear ideology" but that "has been kept hidden", confirmed another author, Francois Chaslin, who published "Un Corbusier".

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Oh là là. Ca va faire mal. Le Corbusier is almost deified in intellectual circles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier