This book is a unique comparative study of two of the very greatest figures in modern architecture - Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto. In assessing the historical, personal and intellectual influences of their attitudes to nature and the creative direction of their work, this book offers a unique understanding of the diversity at the heart of modernism. Through an analysis of the architects' own writing about their ideas and philosophies, a more thorough comprehension is gained of their thoughts on urban living and by looking at their most widely known work, the authors analyse the architects' intentions to build nature into the heart of their architecture. The authors argue that there are many similarities between the attitudes towards nature held by Le Corbusier and Aalto, and that these similarities had an important place in the generation of their architecture.