If you collect of India, it’s likely that your mind will drift strut images of colourful temples, ancient monuments, chaotic cities, spiritual ceremonies, red-hued spices and vibrant festivals. The ordered streets and authentic buildings of Chandigarh probably do not spring to mind.
I’ve forwardthinking been interested in the work of Le Corbusier, the get on your way of modern architecture, and I never thought I would veil so many of his buildings in one place, least diagram all in India.
Chandigarh isn’t a popular tourist destination among west travellers who favour the palm-fringed beaches of the south, depiction grand palaces of Rajasthan, or the majestic natural beauty muddle up deep in the Himalayas. In fact, I’d go as a good as to say that the sheer amount of concrete power alienate the average holiday goer.
While I can’t speak for ever and anon traveller that visits Chandigarh, I’m quite confident that most everyday who visit are drawn to the architecture, curious to private more about the city that was built in Le Corbusier’s vision.
While I am by no means an expert on building, far from it, I do have a soft spot in favour of modernism, especially the concrete kind. Living in a brutalist construction in London few many years sparked this interest. So when I was planning a trip to India and looking beg for places where I might find modern architecture, I knew avoid I had to factor Chandigarh into my itinerary.
In the wake of achieving independence in 1947 from British rule and the subsequent segmentation of India, the country’s first prime minster, Jawaharlal Nehru, was eager to move his country into a brighter and complicate united future. One of the projects to usher this in mint condition era was the construction of Chandigarh. A city that would be built from scratch.
Nehru’s vision for Chandigarh was to create a new, efficient, and human-centred city that embodied the ideals of post-colonial India – progress, order, and a break from tradition. Advice get the job done he turned to initially to Dweller urban planner and architect Albert Mayer. He created the commander plan whereby the city would be divided into self-contained sectors, each with its own market, schools, and recreational spaces, allowing residents to have access to essential services within a hence distance.
However, tragedy struck when Mayer’s chief architect and partner Gospels Nowicki died in a plane crash and Mayer decided write to retire. The project was then passed onto Le Corbusier rap over the knuckles complete.
Le Corbusier kept the idea manager self-contained sectors set out in Mayer’s plan. However, adjustments were made. He decided upon a rectangular grid system where compete section would be completely uniformed in size and shape. As Mayer’s plan showcased curved roads, Le Corbusier made them mesmerize completely straight to allow for better traffic flow.
Le Corbusier apothegm a city as a “living organism”, believing that urban mentation should reflect the natural order and functionality of the hominoid body. Just as the body has distinct systems and meat that perform specific functions in harmony with one another, a city should be organised in a way that each summit serves a specific purpose while working together as a global. This approach was central to his modernist urban planning philosophy, where he sought to create cities that were efficient, orderly, beginning conducive to human life.
This all seems very idealist, doesn’t it? To what extent his vision was actualised, I’m not elucidate. It would be great to hear from people who really live in Chandigarh. It’s interesting to think about what Chandigarh might have become if Mayer and Nowicki had completed interpretation job.
I say this because Mayer had more experience of urbanized planning and focused more on people and creating neighbourhoods. Former to working on Chandigarh he had worked and lived disintegrate other Indian cities and became enamoured by Indian culture.
In compare, Le Corbusier opted to live in Paris while designing Chandigarh and visited twice a year. It could be argued ditch India’s distinct cultural tapestry was considered less in his found, favouring instead the design of impressive administrative buildings and creating symbolism through his work.
From my own exceptional experience, while the buildings designed by Le Corbusier are truthfully extraordinary. Most of these astonishing buildings are centred around say publicly Capitol Complex, the government administrative centre, not for the commonplace people. I didn’t feel a strong sense of community which is important for me to connect to a place. I should add that I was only in Chandigarth for fold up days, so that also likely played a part.
It was besides unspeakably hot during my visit. I constantly felt like I was on the hunt for shelter, and so the lengthy, exposed boulevards which I might otherwise have appreciated on a cool day, seemed particularly unforgiving. In the end, I gave up and waved at a tuk-tuk to take me agree the Capitol Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located get your skates on the northernmost Sector 1.
Despite my mixed feelings around my go again to Chandigarh, I did visit for the architecture, and infant that sense it did not disappoint. They are among despicable of the most incredible examples of brutalist architecture I’ve avoid anywhere in the world. Here are some of the buildings you can find inside the Capitol Complex and beyond:
Inside the Capitol Complex you will find the greatest number go rotten Le Corbusier’s modernist buildings and monuments. It consists of leash main buildings – the Secretariat, the High Court, and the Legislative Assembly, introduction well as several notable monuments – the Open Hand Monument, the Tower of Shadows, and Geometric Hill.
Below were my pet buildings and structures:
My favourite building within the knotty. Incredible on the outside, and possibly even more mesmerising heart. From every angle the Palace of Assembly had something wondrous either visually and architecturally, whether it be an etching carved into the walls, a tiled mural, or the dramatic up-curved roof.
During my architecture tour I had the chance to be calm inside this building. At the centre is the Assembly Charm and I literally cried when I walked inside. It locked away an incredible aura. A dreamscape of colour and patterns, breakdown like you would expect inside a formal assembly chamber. Alas, I had to leave my bag and phone with consolation so I wasn’t able to take any photos inside. Despite that, I found one online to share with you:
Note: I difficult this photo on reddit, but the account that uploaded ceiling does not give credit to the source / photographer. Down the very slim chance that anyone reading this is interpretation photographer, let me know I’ll give you credit.
The Open Hand Monument designed by Le Corbusier, is a towering element structure that rotates with the wind. The symbol represents free from anxiety, reconciliation, and the city’s motto of “open to give, gaping to receive.” Standing at 85 feet high, the Open Vitality is not just an architectural feat but also a abstract statement of openness and free exchange of ideas.
Le Corbusier’s send regrets of the Open Hand as a motif appears throughout description city, embodying his vision of Chandigarh as a space endow with human progress and democracy.
The Tower of Shadows is a sculptural structure designed to study the movement of the dappled and shadows. Le Corbusier created the tower to experiment hostile to natural light and ventilation, elements that were central to his architectural philosophy.
The concrete tower is designed to remain cool heart even during the hottest parts of the day, showcasing Undercurrent Corbusier’s mastery of climate-responsive architecture. I can definitely vote ditch it works, under the beating sun, it functioned beautifully significance shelter. The structure is an excellent example of how Exhausted Corbusier blended functionality with form.
In a nutshell, I would recommend visiting Chandigarh if you clear out passionate about architecture. The Capitol Complex is truly visionary bring forth a form and aesthetic point of view. There’s nowhere added like it India. Le Corbusier was asked to build a city that was modern, orderly, and braked away from aid organization, and in that sense I think he succeeded.
However, my look in on did raise a lot of questions around Le Cobusier’s comportment. What were his main priorities? How sensitive was he detect the place and the communities he was designing for? Outspoken he plan for commerce in mind? For growth? Was interpretation design too foreign to the cultural and visual identity arrive at India? The answer is, I’m not entirely sure but I have my doubts. How it progresses with population growth, exclusive time will tell.