The UNESCO process is clearly highly political. Tim Slade’s fine new filmDestruction of Memory (based on Robert Bevan’s book of that title) shows how the organisation stands on the very frontline of global vandalism – and there may be diplomatic reasons as to why these particular choices were made, or why other equally suitable Corbusier buildings were excluded. Where, for example is the vulnerable Immeuble Clarté of 1930, in Geneva? A list of 19 Le Corbusier buildings was considered in 2011 and then deferred.

The current selection spreads across continents and typologies, and from the birth of pure ‘white modernism’ to the apogee of Brutalism. The church at Ronchamp is there, along with the convent La Tourette, and the Punjabi capital city of Chandigarh. ...  But perhaps there is another motive in the choice of Le Corbusier? Perpetually seen as the ogre of the future city following his polemics in Le Plan Voisin (1922–25), Le Corbusier and his Unité d’Habitation (Marseille) and other successful housing schemes are easily belittled. When, earlier this year, David Cameron lashed out at British ‘sink estates’ the media response hinged on the architecture rather than poor management or lack of maintenance. In spotlighting a portfolio of modernist buildings in varying states of repair, UNESCO is offering a valuable universal case-study, with benefits both architectural and social.