Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (6 October 1887 ââ¬â 27 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier (roughly, the crow-like one), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, and he designed buildings in Europe, Japan, India, and North and South America.