2. Building Chandigarh: Assembling the Capital Project Team
Release Date: 07/01/2024
10. The Museum Complex
Story of Chandigarh
In today’s episode, we talk about the Museum Complex in Sector 10 - the various buildings and typologies, and the process of translation in Corbusian design thinking. We explore the evolution of the concepts of the Museum of Inifinite growth, the Mundaneum and the miracle box. We compare the relationship between the College of Art and the Museum and also discuss the calmness of the museum complex as compared to the Capitol. TIMESTAMPS: 1:27 - How was the Museum Complex sited? How does it relate to the urban plan and the green belt? 4:47 - The significance of...
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9. The Open Hand & Other Monuments
Story of Chandigarh
In this episode, we explore the monuments of the Capitol Complex - their meanings, functions and origins. We critique the symbolism of the Open Hand and its present-day transformation and overuse as a symbol. We also briefly discuss the mythical status of Chandigarh in the architectural imagination. TIMESTAMPS: 1:10 - What might be the reason behind the lack of literature around the monuments in the Capitol Complex? 2:13 - What are the different monuments? 3:16 - The missing sculptures of the Martyr’s Memorial 4:41 - The martyrdom / end of history...
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8. The Governor's Palace and the Museum of Knowledge
Story of Chandigarh
In this episode, we explore the missing building(s) of the Capitol Complex - the Governor’s Palace and the Museum of Knowledge. We explore the formal brilliance of the Governor’s Palace and Corbusier’s idea of the museum. We also talk about the mythical status of Chandigarh in the west and the possibility of reinterpreting the program of the museum of knowledge. TIMESTAMPS: 1:16 - What was the initial thinking behind the Governor’s Palace and why was the project scrapped. 3:59 - Corb’s practice of collaging elements into a single composition. 5:36 -...
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7. The Assembly
Story of Chandigarh
In this episode, we explore the Assembly building in Chandigarh. We discuss the evolution of its design, examining how it became the focal point of the Capitol Complex. We also critique the sculptural form of the building and the symbolic significance of the painted enamel door. TIMESTAMPS: 1:07 - Why does the Assembly building seem to be in the centre of the Capitol? Was this always the case? 3:51 - How did the scrapping of the Governor’s Palace change the design and significance of the Assembly? 5:58 - Hyperbolic paraboloid connection to cooling towers of...
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6. The Secretariat
Story of Chandigarh
In the sixth episode, we explore the Secretariat building. We discuss Corbusier’s transformation of the building, its Excel spreadsheet architecture, its oceanliner-like quality, and its potential for infinite expansion. We also highlight the uniqueness of its ramps and roof garden. TIMESTAMPS: 1:48 - The original ‘UN style’ vertical design and the current ‘Unité-esque’ form and orientation of the Secretariat building. 5:02 - The Capitol Complex as Corbusier’s playground. 7:28 - Analogy of the Writers’ Building in Calcutta - Secretariat as a...
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5. The High Court
Story of Chandigarh
In the fifth episode, we’ll talk about the High Court, the first building to be constructed within the Capitol Complex. We discuss its likeness to an umbrella, its weightlessness and the experience of the uncanny. We also discuss the interiors and specifically the tapestries of the high court as well as Corbusier’s flexible approach to executing his vision. TIMESTAMPS: 1:19 - Why was the High Court the first building to come up? 1:50 - The ‘umbrella’ analogy: visual, literary, mythological 5:35 - Making it look structural: The visual trickery of the...
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4. The Capitol Complex
Story of Chandigarh
In the fourth episode, we discuss the implications of the UNESCO Heritage designation for the Capitol Complex on Chandigarh. We discuss Corbusier's process of siting the Capitol and its connection to cubism and the cosmos. We also talk about the intentionally open-ended quality of the Capitol Complex and how it relates to the future of citizenry and a faith in the nation's future. TIMESTAMPS: 1:08 - The UNESCO Heritage Tag for the Capitol Complex and its consequences. Which parts of the city were included and why wasn’t the whole city included? 5:31 - Barbed wire,...
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3. The Masterplan
Story of Chandigarh
In this episode, we will talk about the development of the Chandigarh masterplan. We will look at the design strategy behind the streets, the philosophy of the sector and the role of 'mistakes' in the masterplan. We'll also learn how Corbusier paid homage to the Mayer-Nowicki plan as well as the anthropomorphic nature of the Chandigarh plan. Finally, we'll briefly discuss the placement of the Capitol Complex and the Sukhna Lake. TIMESTAMPS: 1:13 - What was the thinking behind the zig-zag arrangement of the sectors? Where is sector 13? 4:59 - The reason behind the...
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2. Building Chandigarh: Assembling the Capital Project Team
Story of Chandigarh
In this episode we will talk about how the Chandigarh Capital Project team was selected. When did Corbusier and Jeanneret enter the picture and how was the rest of the team assembled? Who were the people displaced by Chandigarh and where did the labourers involved in the city's construction come from? We will also discuss the team's heirarchy and how the work was divided amongst them. TIMESTAMPS: 1:07 - How and when did Le Corbusier become a part of the team? 3:23 - Was the idea of a competition ever floated to select the architects? 5:03 - How did Jane Drew and...
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1. From Partition to Utopia: The Birth of Chandigarh
Story of Chandigarh
In our first episode, join us as we explore the origins of the modernist city of Chandigarh, with Dr. Vikramāditya Prakāsh. How did the partition of India and Pakistan lead to its creation? Who were the idealized inhabitants of this utopian city? How was the site selected? What was the Garden City movement, how does it relate to Nehruvian modernism? TIMESTAMPS: 1:07 - Why Chandigarh? The need for a new capital city of Punjab in post partition India. 5:24 - Nehru, modernist and industrialisation; modernism architecture as a global movement 9:42 - British...
info_outlineIn this episode we will talk about how the Chandigarh Capital Project team was selected. When did Corbusier and Jeanneret enter the picture and how was the rest of the team assembled? Who were the people displaced by Chandigarh and where did the labourers involved in the city's construction come from? We will also discuss the team's heirarchy and how the work was divided amongst them.
TIMESTAMPS:
1:07 - How and when did Le Corbusier become a part of the team?
3:23 - Was the idea of a competition ever floated to select the architects?
5:03 - How did Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry enter the project, following their African experience?
7:34 - Corbusier’s terms and conditions for joining the Chandigarh project
8:36 - The deal: Jeanneret to be in Chandigarh on behalf of Corbusier
12:24 - Corbusier’s preference to work from home
14:55 - CIAM’s role in globalising modernist architecture
17:46 - The false East-West dichotomy in Chandigarh’s discourse
19:51 - Criteria for selecting the younger architects
22:58 - Chandimandir rest house office as described by Mulk Raj Anand; how Corbusier ‘shrunk’ the Mayer plan.
27:30 - Land surveying and road laying by the engineers before shifting the office to Chandigarh
28:33 - The first building in Chandigarh - Capital Project Office in Nagla (Sector-19)
28:53 - The first houses came up in sector 22 to house the architects and engineers
30:28 - Labourers showed up in Chandigarh… from where? Were they trained on-site?
31:11 - The untold stories of the people and villages displaced to make way for Chandigarh
35:26 - The first ‘inhabitants’ of Chandigarh
36:17 - Corbusier fascinated by Indians carrying their beds on their heads!
37:00 - Jeanneret’s design for the Sector-19 Planners’ Office
38:46 - How the junior architects joined the team
39:44 - How was the work divided amongst the architects?
41:51 - The order of constructing the institutional buildings
42:57 - The conflict between white painted plaster and exposed bricks