Chandigarh City

Chandigarh city (1951-1965)
Chandigarh, capital city of Punjab state in India is one of the most significant
urban planning experiments of the 20th century. It is the only one of the numerous urban
planning schemes of Le Corbusier to have actually been implemented. It also sites some
of the marvelous creations of the architect. The city is famous for its landscaping as for
its architectural ambience.
After Pakistan was partitioned from India, Indian part of Punjab was left without a
capital, so they decided to build a new capital city for Punjab rather than developing an
old city as one due to various reasons. The present site for the city was found suitable due
to its fairly central location in the state, availability of sufficient water, its proximity to
the national capital and ideal gradient for natural drainage with Sivalik Hills in the
background. The name given to the new city is after the goddess Chandi.
Master plan of the city

The preliminary plan of Chandigarh was prepared by Mayer (American) and
Nowiczki (Polish) in 1949, but could not proceed after death of Nowiczki. So in 1950 Le
Corbusier was appointed as head of commission accompanied by Pierre Jeanerette,
Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew. He visited the site on February 1951 and discussed the
master plan with his group. Corbusier considered the earlier Master plan but introduced
some major changes. He simplified the earlier curvilinear road system by adopting grid
iron pattern of the roads dividing the city into 47 sectors.
According to Corbusier city was a biological phenomenon symbolizing human
itself.So The capitol complex placed on the top was symbolized as the head of the city,
the industrial and the educational belts on either side of the town symbolizing the limb,
the city centre with commercial buildings and offices represented the heart, the
networking roads as the arteries and the green belts and gardens as the lungs of the city.
The plan was developed in two phases. In the first phase, the city was developed
to accommodate 0.15 million people with 30 sectors in an area about 3600 hectares, and
in the second phase it was developed for 0.35 million people with additional 17 sectors
covering an area of about 2400 hectares.
The region experiences extremes in climate. The temperature could rise to 45
degree centigrade in summer and drop to freezing point in winters. So planning was made
so that the climate could be moderated. Grid iron has its long axis in a NE-SW direction
avoiding direct west sun to any buildings. Measures were applied to control
environmental pollution, the industrial zone was separated by buffer zones of greenery
and was placed far from the city center.
The dimension of major sectors was 800m x 1200m and these dimensions were
derived from the modular concept. Each sector has a central green strip which is bisected
by a shopping street and should stay on interrupted and accommodate schools, sports
fields, walk ways and recreational facilities. Vehicular traffic is forbidden in the green
strip. The individual houses are approached by streets which branch out from the loop
road. Footpath and cycle tracks run down the green wedge.
Capitol complex, secretariat building, high courts, museum, and the assembly hall
were the works of Le Corbusier in Chandigarh city. Water bodies are planned to
moderate the micro climate around capitol complex. The buildings, trees, and hill
reflected in these ponds produce a very pleasing effect. Plan of complex is asymmetrical
and houses monumental buildings of massive concrete. The secretariat is ten storeyed
building. It is shaped like concrete slabs with distinctive brisesoleil (louvered screen) of
deeply sculptured two storey portico in the centre housing the offices of ministers.
Cafeteria rests on the top of the terrace along with the roof garden.
The assembly building is square in plan with a monumental portico free from the
main building. It faces the high court, the main assembly chamber is covered with
truncated hyperbolic parabolic, extending well above the roofline. The offices are located
in three sides of the assembly chamber in ground and upper floor while front façade
contains 8 thin piers. The piers supporting a huge trough from which the rain water spill
out at either end falls into the pond.
So Chandigarh is a well planned city. The credit of the renowned project goes to
Le Corbusier along with his companies and the Indian Government. Use of landscapes,
monumental expressions of buildings, labour oriented technology moderation of climates,
good zoning of the different functions are some points to be noted while studying about
the city of Chandigarh. It is great architectural site for architectural professions and
practitioners.
Ronchamp Chapel
It was one of Le Corbusier’s marvelous works of religious nature. It is a church
building built in France in 1954. This building reflects the use of modular developed by
him and the organic character he rendered in a building.
There are openings made on the façade are like small punctures on a massive
wall. This opening in the facade which may look random to the ordinary people was
actually based on the modular scheme. They provide a magnificent lighting to the interior
of the chapel and bestow quite a spiritual environment.
The bent roof of the chapel actually was a replacement to the original roof
inspired from a crab’s carapace due to the technological limitations. The posterior wall
using stones from the old demolished chapel is triangular in section and trumpet shaped
in plan.

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Chandigarh city (1951-1965)

Master plan of the city

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