Palais des Nations

About this audio guide

This guide to the Palais des Nations in Geneva turns on the nineteen twenty-seven international competition to design it, when the architect Le Corbusier submitted one of the strongest entries and watched the jury throw it out over a single technicality. You will hear how he fought the decision for years, all the way to a lawsuit demanding a fortune in damages. Best heard facing the building's stone facade, where his glass and steel vision once stood rejected.