Chandigarh Revealed

Ch a ndIga rh rEVE a LED Le Corbu sIer’S CI T Y TODaY PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEX T BY

S H AU N F Y NN

F O R E W O R D B Y M A R I S T E L L A C A S C I AT O

MAPIN PUBLISHING

Ch a ndIga rh rE VE a L ED L e C orb u sIer’S CI T Y T ODaY The unlikely story of Le Corbusier and Chandigarh has proven itself to be one of modernism’s boldest experiments, breaking from tradition and defining a new future. Born of a vision of a modern India, the new capital city of Punjab was designed by Le Corbusier and created as a statement for an emerging modern nation–state. Nicknamed the City Beautiful, Chandigarh has been called one of “the perfect cities of the world in terms of architecture, cultural growth, and modernization,” and in 2016 its Capitol Complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Like all transcendent visionaries, Le Corbusier was adept at taking the iconic and symbolic and using them to fashion his own unique vocabulary. This volume points us towards the way in which his ideas created fertile grounds for architecture and urban planning in Chandigarh, and in India, that encapsulated the visions of the post-war and post-colonial era.

With insightful analyses of multiple buildings across Chandigarh, the author illuminates the compositional poetry evident in Le Corbusier’s structures, and the ways in which the patina of time has changed the city. This volume offers commentary on not just the intentions and plan that shaped Chandigarh, but also the dialogue of what they have become. A visceral journey through a remarkable modernist landscape using the photographic medium, Chandigarh Revealed pays homage to the works of a master with reflective observations of a living city.

With 243 photographs and 5 maps.

Ch a ndIga rh rEVE a LED Le Corbu sIer’S CI T Y TODaY PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEX T BY

S H AU N F Y NN

F O R E W O R D B Y M A R I S T E L L A C A S C I AT O

Ch a ndIga rh rEVE a LED

1

2

Ch a ndIga rh rEVE a LED Le Corbu sIer’S CI T Y TODaY PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEX T BY

S H AU N F Y NN

F O R E W O R D B Y M A R I S T E L L A C A S C I AT O E S S AY B Y V I K R A M A D I T YA P R A K A S H

M A P IN P U BL I S HIN G 3

First published in India in 2017 by Mapin Publishing 706 Kaivanna, Panchvati, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad 380006 INDIA T: +91 79 40 228 228 • F: +91 79 40 228 201 E: mapin@mapinpub.com www.mapinpub.com India edition © Mapin Publishing Text © Shaun Fynn unless otherwise indicated Photographs © Shaun Fynn Maps © Giles Dunn and Shaun Fynn Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright.

Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-93-85360-13-8 Copyediting: Neha Manke / Mapin Editorial Design: Giles Dunn at Punkt, London Typeface: Lutz and Universe Colour Reproductions: Mapin Design Studio Paper: 170 gsm Lumi Silk matte art Printed at TWP Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia

Front cover: A view through an aperture on the upper level of the High Court with the Legislative Assembly building in the distance.

Back cover: Bas-relief of the Open Hand Monument in the wall at Chandigarh College of Architecture.

Pages 2–3: Serpent bas-relief in the wall of the Legislative Assembly building.

4

CONTENTS

Chandigarh: A Tryst with Architecture. Foreword by Maristella Casciato

8

Visions for a New Era and the Patina of Time. Introduction by Shaun Fynn

10

Planning

14

T HE CAP I T OL COMP L E X

16

HEALT H, EDUCAT ION, AND RECREAT ION

1 02

HOU SING

156

COMMERCIAL AND CI V IC CEN T RE S

186

‘L. Corbusier’ and the State of the Nation-State by Vikramaditya Prakash

230

Interview with M. N. Sharma

232

Acknowledgements

238

About the Author & Contributors

239

5

a r c hi t ec t u re i c o rrec t, a nd m of f orm O u r e y es a r e m a d e to s e e fo r m s i n l i g h t ; l i g h t a n d s h a d e r ev e a l t h es e fo r m s ; c u b es , co n es , s p h e r e s , c y l i n d e r s o r p y r a m i d s a r e t h e g r e at p r i m a r y f o r m s w h i c h l i g h t r e v e a l s t o a d va n ta g e ; t h e i m a g e o f t h e s e i s d i s t i n c t a n d ta n g i b l e w i t h i n u s w i t h o u t a m b i g u i t y . I t i s f o r t h i s r e a s o n t h at t h e s e a r e b e a u t i f u l f o r m s , t h e m o s t b e a u t i f u l f o r m s . E v e r y b o d y i s a g r e e d t o t h at , t h e c h i l d , t h e s ava g e a n d t h e m e ta p h y s i c i a n .

Le Corbusier

6

s the masterly, agnif icen t p l ay in ligh t.

7

CHANDIGARH: A T ryst w I t h ArchI t ec t ure On 19 December 1950, the Swiss-French planner Le Corbusier signed a contract with the Indian government to act as architectural advisor on the master plan for Chandigarh. It would be a long endeavour: more than thirteen years would pass before the Legislative Assembly building was inaugurated on 15 April 1964, and the government of Punjab received its institutional seat. As a capital built from scratch, Chandigarh was to compensate this region in northwestern India for the loss of Lahore during Partition. It would also show that modern architecture, on its new postwar path, could still embrace a political ideal in order to construct the social and cultural identity of a city and its future residents.

Le Corbusier and Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the central figures of this enterprise, were enacting a modern version of a patronage relationship between the architect and the enlightened prince. Both were aware not only of the project’s historical and political significance but also of its looming programmatic difficulties. The Cold War was well under way, and our two principal actors had only partly similar aims. While both were motivated by deep idealism and linked by their humanitarian socialism, this common ground should not to be confused with a shared political creed. Nevertheless, for more than a decade the two men invested a great deal of energy in advancing the Chandigarh project, using the full weight of their institutional and intellectual charisma while balancing their respective goals.

They succeeded because they both believed in the endeavour and could count on their common willpower. On one hand, Le Corbusier’s unwavering loyalty to the undertaking drove his insistence to complete the projects he had first proposed in 1951. On the other, Nehru was a shrewd and iron-willed politician who resisted anything out of step with his politics of moderate Soviet-style modernisation—a politics tempered, nonetheless, by the need to address the pressing socioeconomic issues and religious problems that continued to generate instability and political conflict in India.

It is worth noting that these two great twentieth-century figures were contemporaries, born only two years apart. Nehru (1889–1964), the younger of the two, died a year before Le Corbusier (1887–1965). Both men were well along in years and already white-haired when they met for the first time on 22 November 1951. They were committed to the challenge Chandigarh posed because betting on the future had paid off in the past and had allowed them to gain international respect and recognition in their fields.

The British crown’s decision to grant independence to the subcontinent had forced Nehru, then the leader of the Indian National Congress, to guide negotiations around the partition of India with his political opponent Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

These two men—the former a Hindu-agnostic and the latter a nationalist head of the Muslim League—were lawyers who had built their careers within that British political milieu and were deeply engaged in the frantic negotiations to divide the former colony largely along religious lines in order to create two new nation-states. Although this solution brought painful consequences in the short term, it reinforced Nehru politically and he was elected prime minister of India in 1947. Once the new constitution was approved in 1950, Nehru undertook an ambitious programme of social, political, and economic reforms meant to give the country control over South Asia.

This transition from colony to republic was marked by political stability and strong economic growth.

For his part, Le Corbusier accepted the project for the Chandigarh master plan at a time of intense professional activity and widespread acclaim for his work. In 1947, he collaborated on the design of the United Nations Secretariat building in New York City. In 1949, the government of Colombia asked him to create a master plan for its capital city, Bogotá. In early 1951, while preparing the master plan for the capital of Punjab and designing the principal buildings of the Capitol, Le Corbusier was at once in the final phase of building the Unité d’Habitation in Marseille and embarking on his project for the Notre Dame du Haut Chapel in Rochamp. During these years, he also lectured widely and his architectural and artistic works were exhibited in a number of museums. He also published more than a dozen new books.

8

FOREWORD

In 1945, Le Corbusier met Eugène Claudius-Petit, a politician who had fought in the French Resistance and was one of the central figures in the French postwar reconstruction. The architect shared Claudius-Petit’s egalitarian and socialist positions, which eclipsed his brief period of support for the collaborationist Vichy regime. It takes little imagination to draw a connection between Claudius-Petit’s struggles on behalf of ‘those who have nothing’ and Nehru’s famous speech, ‘A Tryst with Destiny’ (15 August 1947), in which the great Indian leader pledged ‘dedication to the service of India and her people, and to the still larger cause of humanity’.

In a letter to a close friend, the architect José Luis Sert, on 30 November 1950, Le Corbusier commented on his meeting with the representatives of the Indian government, P. L. Varma and P. N. Thapar. They had visited him in his studio on the Rue de Sèvres to ask him to accept the position of ‘Architectural Advisor to the Government of Punjab—Capital Project’. He seemed quite satisfied with the conditions of the appointment: Maxwell Fry and Pierre Jeanneret will be named ‘Senior Architects’ on site to supervise the Planning Office, which will consist of a group of young Hindu architects . . . .This arrangement in principal has fully satisfied the Hindu representative [Thapar], who was accompanied by the chief engineer [Varma] of the enterprise . . . Maxwell Fry and Pierre Jeanneret will work entirely on site in India for three years. The climate is excellent, the landscape magnificent, the site is devoid of structures. I think that it is a typical and well defined CIAM [Congrès international d’architecture moderne] job, situated in one of the key points of the contemporary world . . . Claudius-Petit has involved himself in the matter for several days, and could only approve of these developments.

Even before landing in India, Le Corbusier conveyed not only a total confidence that he could undertake the project successfully but also an almost boyish enthusiasm for the adventure. It was a moment of apotheosis for the architect, who seemed transformed, immediately appropriating the place as his own in a letter to his wife Yvonne: ‘Chandigarh (this is the name of our new capital) . . . . We are on the site of our city, beneath a marvellous sky in the midst of a timeless landscape. . . . All is calm, slow, harmonious, lovely. . . ‘ (25 February 1951; italics added).

Six months later, Le Corbusier met with Nehru for the first time. ‘Here was my chance!’ he wrote. His account of the meeting suggests an act of submission by the architect to the political leader: Then I presented my respects and declared that I am bringing to bear, and will bring to bear, upon this task the whole of my intelligence, together with all of my sensibility and emotions. I am elated by the assignment, which serves to crown my career; and I will undertake in humility, namely in poverty, to draw architecture out of its dead skin, expressing it and giving it grandeur and youthfulness.

The prime minister remained impassive: ‘Nehru was very grave’. Not until just before the two took their leave did he smile kindly and nod his head when the architect remarked—sounding more ideological than political—that ‘wherever unlimited intellectual and material wealth flows in the modern world, we must open our hand [a reference to the Open Hand sculpture] to receive and to give’.

The Indian adventure had barely begun. As he had pledged to Nehru, Le Corbusier would remain committed to his task even under adverse conditions. The architect made twenty-three trips to Chandigarh in fourteen years; the final visit took place in April 1964 for the inauguration of the Legislative Assembly building, at which Nehru was also present. Both men had kept their appointment with history and with architecture.

M A R I S T E L L A C A S C I AT O

9

INTRODUCTION

10

V I SION S F OR A NE W ERA AND T HE PAT INA OF T IME

CHANDIGARH

INDIA

More than sixty-five years have passed since Le Corbusier was commissioned by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to fulfil the role of architect and planner for Chandigarh.

A bold experiment, Chandigarh broke from tradition to define a new vision for the future of urban living and became one of the twentieth century’s most powerful expressions of modernism. The origins of Chandigarh lie in the 1947 Partition of India, which divided the state of Punjab between India and the newly formed country of Pakistan. Lahore, the former state capital of Punjab, was now situated in Pakistan; therefore a new administrative and political centre was needed to govern the Punjabi territory that remained in India. A sparsely inhabited area of the plains within clear sight of the Himalayan foothills was chosen as the site for a planned city of half a million inhabitants, Chandigarh. The turmoil of Partition combined with the ideals of twentieth-century modernism and the optimism of the postwar era provided fertile ground for architecture and urban planning projects that intertwined political agendas and utopian visions. Nehru, India’s first prime minister and a preeminent figure in the country’s struggle for independence, saw the chance for India to define its future in its own image by formulating a distinctly Indian interpretation of modernity, untethered from the legacy of its colonial past. Paralleled only by Brasilia, the new Brazilian capital designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, Chandigarh stands today as a significant site of architecture that encapsulates the visions of the postwar and postcolonial era. The fact that such a huge scheme came to fruition may not be attributed solely to the ideologies driving Chandigarh’s existence, but also to Le Corbusier’s ability to convince those in the highest political office that his plan and vision must be executed.

The story of Le Corbusier and Chandigarh began in an unlikely location—the Egyptian desert—with a tragic event—the untimely death of Polish architect Matthew Nowicki, whose airplane crashed while en route from India to the United States.

Nowicki, in conjunction with American architect and urban planner Albert Mayer, had been appointed master planner and chief architect for the Chandigarh project by the Nehru government. His death led to an immediate search for a replacement.

The British architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry recommended Le Corbusier for the position on the grounds that he was an architect capable of realising the iconic and symbolic works befitting a new capital. Le Corbusier was initially reluctant to accept the contract given the time commitment a project of such a scale demanded.

The eventual resolution involved his cousin Pierre Jeanneret—also an architect— assuming a full-time role based in Chandigarh for the duration of the project, with Le Corbusier visiting for two months of every year.

Great masters of many disciplines were at one time held as visionaries of society’s needs, agents of progress who manifested the directives and visions of leaders. Whether any individual architect or planner is truly capable of understanding the complex dynamics of urban populations is debatable. However, there is always value in revisiting Le Corbusier’s works, particularly Chandigarh, as it remains his largest assemblage of buildings on one site and his most fully realised urban plan.

Great architectural works are born of their era and are inextricably linked to the ideologies of their time. However, visionaries such as Le Corbusier transcended such boundaries with works of singular and enduring significance. Le Corbusier was a master at creating his own original vocabulary of icons, forms, and symbols, culminating in unprecedented spatial experiences, as demonstrated by the Legislative Assembly, Secretariat, and High Court buildings of Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex.

The stories surrounding the creation of Chandigarh and regarding the role of Le Corbusier and of his associates makes a definitive architectural record difficult to ascertain. Oral histories from Le Corbusier’s few remaining Chandigarh associates will surely form part of this record, as will the contributions of scholars of Le Corbusier’s work and those who have passionately dedicated their time over the years to advocate for the city’s protection and preservation. It is clear that Le Corbusier designed the Capitol Complex himself: his hand is visible in the harmony of forms, the deployment of symbolic gestures, and the mastery of composition that abounds within the structures and the spaces between them. However, much of the remainder

Manhole covers depicting the city plan were designed by Pierre Jeanneret in the 1950s.

11

of the city was designed by his colleagues Pierre Jeanneret, Maxwell Fry, and Jane Drew, who were supported in their work by architects M. N. Sharma, S. D. Sharma, and Aditya Prakash, and joined by an emerging generation of Indian modernists (Prime Minister Nehru also appointed the engineer P. L. Varma and the administrative manager P. N. Thapar to represent the Indian government and they were both instrumental in the successful and rapid completion of the plan). Although many great works of architecture are situated outside the Capitol Complex, the compositional poetry so clearly demonstrated within the complex is not always so evident throughout the city.

Chandigarh remains fascinating today not only for the importance of Le Corbusier’s works but also for its patina of time and the changes that have shaped the city in ways he could never have foreseen. The rich legacy of Indian culture has emerged in the adaptation and decoration of buildings, and has imposed its own visual codes. The entrepreneurial nature of Indian society, particularly of the trader and the shopkeeper, has led to the adaptation, for commercial use, of spaces that were only seen as voids by Le Corbusier and his associates. Further, the overpopulation of the city, which was planned for half a million inhabitants but now houses one million, has led to the development of residential areas beyond its original parameters. These areas do not adhere to the codes set out by Le Corbusier’s team. The jhuggi (slum) ubiquitous in many Indian cities today is also making it presence felt on Chandigarh’s periphery.

Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex has remained somewhat veiled in secrecy since its construction. The 1995 car-bomb assassination of the Punjab chief minister outside the Secretariat increased security concerns, which ensured that the barbed wire fences that surround the Capitol Complex remain to this day. These barriers between the buildings and the people compromise the vision and function of the civic space, although they have contributed to the enigma of Chandigarh, a city that half a century later still has much to reveal, especially through photography. The masterpiece of the plan remains the Assembly, which was completed in 1962 and is both one of Le Corbusier’s most magnificent creations and a building that defines a nation. If there were only one building chosen to represent modern India, surely it would be the Assembly, a worthy addition to an architectural heritage that includes the Taj Mahal, and hopefully its equal in endurance.

Every aspect of Chandigarh was designed and planned. Government complexes, commercial sectors, educational, medical, and research institutions, parks and housing were all planned down to the last detail. Housing makes up the largest body of construction, with fourteen categories of government housing, each with variants, all built according to a hierarchy based on socioeconomic status. Bricks, which were cheaper than concrete and did not require skilled labour while meeting the demands of the climate, became the material of choice for the housing. Most of the housing developments are the work of Jeanneret, Fry, and Drew, but some of the greatest modernist experiments in the design of Chandigarh’s housing developments were undertaken by Jeanneret for the private residences in Sectors 4 and 5.

Le Corbusier established the control parameters for the Sector 17 commercial centre, although his associates did have some influence on the final design manifestations.

Today, Sector 17 is in noticeable decline as it becomes eclipsed by the malls and cinemas appearing on the city’s periphery, where global brands proliferate in protected, air-conditioned complexes no different from their counterparts elsewhere in the world. There is still a magnificence to Sector 17 even in its marked state of decay, and despite the significant difference between what the architects envisioned and the reality that economic and cultural forces have exerted on it. In a sense the edifices are monuments to a vision of urbanism that never materialised.

Chandigarh has many excellent parks and recreation areas that were created in alignment with Le Corbusier’s belief in the necessity of supporting and enriching the mind, body, and spirit. However, the care of some of these civic spaces is a contentious issue, particularly in the local sector markets and commercial spaces.

How this is possible in one of India’s wealthiest city by GDP per capita is somewhat perplexing, although some answers lie in how the city was funded and in its shifting economic tides. Historically, property taxes were not collected from residents of the city, leaving it dependent on financial resources from the Central government in distant Delhi. Today, Chandigarh is a city proud to display its private wealth through property and automobile assets, while the upkeep and preservation of the civic space remains an ongoing issue in need of short- and long-term resolution. A UNESCO

12

INTRODUCTION

World Heritage Site designation, which Chandigarh finally received in July 2016, had eluded the city for many years and for many reasons. This designation reaffirms the city’s status as one of modernism’s finest expressions and it will undoubtedly also assist in preservation efforts.

Chandigarh is also subject to the forces of private interest, which can sometimes come before the needs of the community and the city, often in contradiction with the codes set out by Le Corbusier and his team. The need for economic development and the right of the people to prosper is irrefutable, particularly in the context of an emerging economy where large sectors of society are preoccupied with survival. However, the question remains: Can the twenty-first-century needs of Chandigarh’s population be served by a mid-twentieth-century plan?

Le Corbusier’s original plan certainly has it merits and its fair share of faults.

This is to be expected of an entity as complex as a city. Perhaps the issue most pressing for Chandigarh and its future is how the current and future administrations can foster the guardianship necessary to effectively develop the original plan to suit the evolving needs of its inhabitants while preserving the integrity and the unique character of the city. Chandigarh also remains a success story from many points of view when considering the unplanned traffic chaos gripping many Indian cities in the throes of rapid development. To many, Chandigarh is the most orderly city in India with its well-planned road infrastructure, easy-to-navigate grid-based layout, and convenient local sector markets.

Some fifty years after Le Corbusier’s death, we live in a world that the architect and his contemporaries could hardly have anticipated. Rapid urbanisation, particularly in the developing world and specifically in Asia—the context in which Chandigarh exists—presents a model of development in which the economic forces of a new industrial revolution transpire to create ever-expanding cities. These new urban landscapes represent a future that seems to have abandoned the all-encompassing planning concepts of twentieth-century modernism and the principles of CIAM, an organisation, of which Le Corbusier was an original member, that created a series of international architecture conferences promoting modernism. Today, a journey through the metropolises of the developing world reveals a landscape shaped more by survival than by visions of the future. Planning and building schemes as coherent as Le Corbusier’s for Chandigarh—or Niemeyer’s for Brasilia—are considerably more challenging to produce in a contemporary context. Today, the political and financial endorsement of such grand schemes seems to have been consigned to the past as the dynamics of population growth meet the sometimes spontaneous and random processes of urban development.

Photography has the potential to communicate wider truths about the built world and to reveal the political, social, cultural, and economic forces that unite in today’s cities. Chandigarh tells a story in which the architectural visions of a great master meet the political visions of a postcolonial society. Much has been written of this convergence, but the most pertinent commentary is one that not only observes the intentions behind Chandigarh’s plan but also promotes a dialogue about how the plan has developed beyond these intentions. This book uses photography as a medium to inform this dialogue by providing a comprehensive yet visceral journey through a remarkable modernist landscape. A desire to promote reflection rather than to draw conclusions is at the core of this photographic narrative, and balances the book’s content between the magnificent, the iconic, and the neglected. These characteristics not only offer rich visual content but also frame the necessary debate about Chandigarh, where it stands today, and where it will stand in the future. Viewing the work of Le Corbusier through the camera celebrates and pays homage to the architect himself, while exploring the improvised and unintended elements that have shaped the city despite his plans, as well as the patina of time that has settled over it, reveals the cultural and political dynamics underlying Chandigarh’s continuum and ultimately its future.

SHAUN FYNN

13

VISION PHASE 3

PHASE 2

PHASE 1

M I D - 1 9 70 s – PRESENT

L AT E 1 960 S – 1 98 5

1 951 – 1 9 76

39

56

54

38

40

55

41

14

25

24

15

23

16

12

11

37

2

42 53

36

1 10

V2 52

43

35

V2

50

49

48

34

44

51

45

46

47

31

21

8

18

33

20

19

32

30

27

29

9

17

22

7

26

28

V2 V1 + V2

Important examples of V1 and V2 roads are marked above.

14

3

V1 + V2

4

5

6

PLANNING

DEVELOPMENT PHASES Chandigarh’s plan is based on a primary module called a sector, and was officially developed in two phases. A sector is a neighbourhood unit of 800 × 1200 metres. It is a self-sufficient unit having shops, schools, health centres, and places of recreation and worship. The population of a sector varies between 3,000 and 20,000, depending upon the sizes of plots and the topography of the area.

Sectors 1–30 constituted Phase 1 of development, while Phase 2 comprised Sectors 31–47. Sector 13 merged with Sector 14 to create a larger area for the university. A third phase, the most recent period of expansion, did not develop according to Le Corbusier’s plan and was never fully executed. The region created during Phase 3 followed a more haphazard pattern of development and is one of the city’s higher density areas. In general the most desirable and lowest density areas are Sectors 2–9, which are adjacent to the Capitol Complex, while population density increases as the sectors recede from the mountains, the Capitol Complex, and Sukhna Lake.

CIRCUL AT ION Le Corbusier adopted the system of the Seven Vs (Les Sept Voies de Circulation), the CIAM-influenced hierarchy of road networks. V8 was later added as a cycle pathway, but remains incomplete.

V1

Major roads connecting Chandigarh with other cities in the region. The Madhya Marg and Dakshin Marg merge with the V1s leading to Kalka and Ambala, respectively.

V2

Major avenues on which are located important institutional and commercial buildings. Examples of these are Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg, Jan Marg, Himalaya Marg, Uttar Marg and Purv Marg.

V3

Roads between sectors for fast-moving vehicular traffic. Each sector is surrounded either by a V2 or V3.

V4

Shopping streets running through sectors.

V5

Circulation roads within sectors.

V6

Roads providing access to houses.

V7

Footpaths through greenbelts enabling pedestrians to traverse sectors without having to cross vehicular traffic and cycle tracks.

V8

Cycle paths through green spaces.

CARE OF BODY AND SPIRIT From the city’s conception, Le Corbusier had envisioned its landscaping and green spaces to be an integral part of its urban plan, supporting the complete well-being of the city’s inhabitants. The Leisure Valley, which runs from the Capitol Complex to Sector 53, forms a natural spine through the city and is the base for various gardens, most notably the Rose Garden in Sector 16. Following the natural form of the land and the flow of the stream that runs through it, the Leisure Valley was devised as a place for pedestrians to escape the congestion and noise of the city.

By utilising natural elements for recreational spaces, Le Corbusier provided a deliberate contrast to the expansive lawns of Lutyens’s Delhi. The Sukhna Lake in Sector 1 is also an essential element of this scheme. Throughout the city, recreation is supported by the accessibility of green spaces and designated sports and recreation complexes.

The Rock Garden in Sector 1, although not part of Le Corbusier’s plan, also provides an escape from the city for its inhabitants and visitors.

15

S E C R E TA R I AT

19

17

12

15

16

18

11 The red numbers on this map indicate the position and viewing angle from which a photograph was taken.

These numbers are marked on the corresponding photographs in the Capitol Complex chapter.

13 A S S E M B LY

1 5

8

4

7

9

2

TOWER OF SHADOWS

GOVERNOR’S PALACE/ MUSEUM OF KNOWLEDGE

GEOMETRIC HILL

M A R T Y R S’

6

MONUMENT

14

10

3 (proposed site, not yet built)

23

OPEN HAND MONUMENT

29

22 21

28 TRENCH OF C O N S I D E R AT I O N

20 27 24 26 HIGH COURT

16

25

T HE CAP I T OL COMP L E X L E G I S L AT I V E A S S E M B LY B U I L D I N G S E C R E TA R I AT P U N J A B A N D H A R YA N A H I G H C O U R T OPEN HAND MONUMENT T R E N C H O F C O N S I D E R AT I O N TOWER OF SHADOWS M A R T Y R S’ M O N U M E N T SECTOR 1

Although Chandigarh’s master plan was executed by a team of architects, Le Corbusier reserved the design of the Capitol Complex for himself. This assemblage of buildings and monuments contains what many consider his masterpiece and one of the greatest buildings of the twentieth century—the Vidhan Sabha, commonly known as the Legislative Assembly.

Comprising the three Capitol buildings—the Legislative Assembly, the Secretariat, and the High Court of Punjab and Haryana—and several monuments— the Tower of Shadows, the Open Hand Monument, Geometric Hill, and the Martyrs’ Monument—the Capitol Complex was built at an enormous scale, with all its elements conforming to a matrix of overlapping 800-metre squares and linked by an extensive esplanade. A fourth building, the Museum of Knowledge, was included in the original plan but has not been built, although the intention is to complete it. The museum replaced the plan for the Governor’s Palace, which was never realised as Prime Minister Nehru viewed such edifices as representative of undemocratic ideals.

The site of the Capitol Complex was chosen primarily for its view of the Siwalik Hills, which constitute the transition to the Himalaya mountain range (the centre of the city, in Sector 17, was therefore left to be occupied by the commercial buildings). The location of the Capitol Complex at the head of the city, closest to the hills, was considered by Le Corbusier to be a suitably significant and inspiring site for the primary edifices of the new capital.

Each building in the Capitol Complex is a masterpiece in itself, designed as a symbol of the democratic aspirations of the newly formed nation-state, while representing distinct manifestations of the functions of democracy. The buildings’ collective relationship is formed by the use of reinforced concrete as the primary material and by the elaborate brise-soleils that grace their facades. The brisesoleils, in conjunction with the orientation of the buildings, provided a natural, nonmechanical method of cooling and ventilation, specifically addressing the challenges of local climatic conditions. As the buildings have since been adapted to include air conditioning systems, the cooling effects of the brise-soleils may not have been adequate.

The High Court was the first building to be completed and was inaugurated in 1955. It was followed by the Secretariat, which was completed in 1958. The Assembly was completed in 1962 and inaugurated later, in 1964.

17

L egI sl at I v e a s sembly BuIlding

2. A pool reflects the

Legislative Assembly and, in the distance, the Secretariat.

At the centre of the Capitol Complex sits the Legislative Assembly. The Assembly is the most masterful of all the Capitol Complex structures, with its dominant sickle-shaped portico and harmonious composition of elemental roof geometries. From its interior, the distinctive paraboloid form that houses the main legislative chamber penetrates the roof with a chamfered peak, which is adorned, on the exterior, with sculptural elements inspired by the Jantar Mantar in Delhi, an eighteenth-century observatory composed of architectural astronomical instruments.

The Assembly includes two main chambers. Prior to the creation of the state of Haryana, these chambers hosted the upper and lower houses of the Punjab assembly. Now the smaller chamber houses the legislature of Haryana and is defined by a pyramid form that intersects the roof. The larger of the chambers houses the state legislature of Punjab. The Punjab legislative chamber is characterised by its paraboloid form, which is intersected by viewing galleries and balconies. Acoustic panels in the chamber conform to a rectilinear grid in the lower portion of the space and transition to expressive free-form cloud-shaped panels in the upper reaches. The ceremonial entrance to the Assembly is marked by a giant enamelled door—porte émail—designed by Le Corbusier and decorated with symbols, including animals representing the lead figures involved in Chandigarh’s planning: within a yellow rectangle in lower half of the door are Le Corbusier, the crow; Jane Drew, the goat; Maxwell Fry, the kid; and Pierre Jeanneret, the cockerel. The yellow arcs in the upper section represent the orbit of the sun. The door, which was gifted by France to the Government of Punjab at the 1964 inauguration of the building, was used only on the first day of legislative session. On other days, visitors were admitted through a side entrance.

Near the Assembly building in the Capitol Complex plaza are three of the site’s monuments. The Tower of Shadows represents Le Corbusier’s preoccupation with the sun, its role in daily life, and the relationship of architecture to the cardinal directions. The Martyrs’ Monument incorporates auspicious Vedic symbolism in the form of the swastika and commemorates those lost in India’s struggle for independence. This memorial is dedicated to those who died during Partition and signifies the rebirth of India. Although now largely overgrown, the Geometric Hill occupies a central point in the complex and was formed from the earth excavated during the creation of the vehicular arteries below the level of the esplanade.

2. The Assembly.

3. A view across the plaza of the Capitol Complex toward the Assembly, with the Martyrs’ Monument in the foreground.

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C h a n d i ga rh RE V E A L ED : L e C o rb u s ier’S CI T Y T O DAY C A P I T O L C O M P L E X / A S S E M B LY B U I L D I N G

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The Punjab Legislative Assembly chamber.

The schedule board in the lobby of the Assembly.

The Punjab Legislative Assembly chamber.

In the hall surrounding the legislative chambers hang portraits of important figures in Chandigarh’s history.

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SH aUN F Y NN

UK–born Shaun Fynn is a designer and photographer who resides in New York and Chandigarh. A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London, he is the founder of StudioFYNN, a design and communication agency.

Fynn’s award-winning work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design in New York, the Chicago Athenaeum, and Weserburg in Bremen, Germany.

It has also appeared in Fast Company, the Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, Graphis, International Design Yearbook, and Repertorio del Design Italiano, 1950–2000.

Fynn is a visiting lecturer at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles, and Parsons School of Design. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

ARCHITECTURE

Chandigarh Revealed Le Corbusier’s City Today

Shaun Fynn with Foreword by Maristella Casciato and an Essay by Vikramaditya Prakash

the architecture of

Hasmukh C. Patel Selected Projects 1963–2003 Catherine Desai and Bimal Patel

Celebrating Public Spaces of India Archana Gupta and Anshuman Gupta

Living Heritage of Mewar Architecture of the City Palace, Udaipur Shikha Jain and Vanicka Arora

Mapin Publishing www.mapinpub.com

Printed in Malaysia

240 pages, 243 photographs and 5 maps 9 x 12” (228 x 305 mm), hc ISBN: 978-93-85360-13-8 ₹3500 | $60 | £39 2017 • World Rights

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