Villa Savoye () is a modernist villa and gatelodge in Poissy, on the outskirts of Paris. It was designed by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, and built between 1928 and 1931 using reinforced concrete. As an exemplar of Le Corbusier's "five points" for new constructions, the villa is representative of the origins of modern architecture and is one of the most easily recognizable and renowned examples of the International style. The house was originally built as a country retreat for the Savoye family. After being purchased by the neighbouring school, it became the property of the French state in 1958. Due to many different problems it was rarely inhabited. After surviving several proposals to demolish it, it was designated as an official French historical monument in 1965 (a rare event, as Le Corbusier was still alive). It was thoroughly renovated between 1985 and 1997, and the refurbished house is now open to visitors year round under the care of the Centre des monuments nationaux. In July 2016, the house and 16 other buildings by Le Corbusier, spread over seven countries, were inscribed as The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Background By the end of the 1920s Le Corbusier was already an internationally renowned architect. His book Vers une Architecture had been translated into several languages, his work with the Centrosoyuz in Moscow had involved him with the Russian avant-garde, and his problems with the League of Nations competition had been widely publicised. He was also one of the first members of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) and was becoming known as a champion of modern architecture. The villas designed by Le Corbusier in the early 1920s demonstrated what he termed the "precision" of architecture, where each feature of the design needed to be justified in design and urban terms. His work in the later part of the decade, including his urban designs for Algiers, began to be more free-form. History of the commission Pierre and Eugénie Savoye approached Le Corbusier about building a country home in Poissy in the spring of 1928. The prospective site was a green field on an otherwise wooded plot of land, with a magnificent view of the landscape to the north west that matched the approach to the plot along the road. Other than an initial brief prepared by Emile for a summer house,