THE CONCRETE REGULARITY OF CHANDIGARH
India is known for its emphasis on tradition, history, and religion, but also for its chaos, constant honking, and crowds. In contrast to this, lies Chandigarh, a city in the foothills of the Himalayas, the capital of Punjab and Haryana. Completed in 1960, it was designed by the famous architect Le Corbusier.
New Traditions
The first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, aimed to build a new capital for the state of Punjab, which was to be Chandigarh. “A new city, unburdened by the traditions of the past, symbolizing a new future” was the brief, which was eventually taken up by the architect Le Corbusier in 1950.
Concrete Kingdom
The city is planned with strict geometrical precision, boasting squares and promenades typical of European metropolises. The local elite, officials, and judges live in a residential area resembling the functionalist part of Prague's Hanspaulka. The remaining million-plus inhabitants of the city live in houses that look very similar to one another, with living rooms, thanks to planning, having no view of the main streets but rather of recreational zones. The concrete kingdom has something beautiful yet, in a way, eerie about it.
Nature Wins
The main landmark and the "head" of Chandigarh is the complex of the parliament building, the capitol, and the supreme court. Le Corbusier personally designed this complex, and the huge concrete surfaces are interrupted at regular intervals by ponds, meadows, and the buildings are a tribute to geometry, greyness, and modernity. Nature tries to fight and grow with the concrete wherever it can, living in its twisted form in a unique symbiosis with the recurring right angles of the buildings, roads, and sidewalks.
