Although solar thermal systems are technologically mature and cost effective, they have not yet been sufficiently used in building design, where they should be playing a greater role in the reduction of fossil-fuel consumption. One main hindrance to adoption is the generally low architectural design quality of the building integration of these thermal systems.

This groundbreaking essay on Le Corbusier provides a new perspective that is based on exhaustive archival research and the study of neglected or completely unknown documents stored at the Fondation Le Corbusier...