CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh came into light when

India was divided in 1947.
The earlier capital of Punjab was
Lahore which eventually fell into
Pakistan territory.
The Govt. of India thought of
developing a new capital city,
which
Rehabilitates the refugees.
City with center for
governance.
Symbol of spirit and potential.
Let this be a new town, symbolic of
the freedom of India, unfettered
by the traditions of the past, an
expression of the nations faith in
the future, Nehru said when he
visited the site of the city .
The bisected Punjab needed a
new capital and Ambala,
Ludhiana & Chandigarh were
selected.
INTRODUCTION
Selection of site
Close to road and rail networks.
Not in vicinity of any city.
Good distance from Pakistan.
Close to national capital.
Less cost of acquirement.
Defence factors.



Albert Mayer, an American
planner was invited to design
the new capital.
Matthew Nowicki, was also
invited to collaborate on this
project, who died in 1950.
Later Le Corbusier took the
project in 1951, along with
Maxwell fry, Jane drew, Pierre
Jeanerette.

ALBERT MAYER
For population of 5 lakh
Basic aim was beautiful city
Filling the site in between two river
Curvilinear grid according to site
contour and river
Fan shaped
Super block 500m x 1000m

Headcapitol (place of power)
Heart the city centre
Stomachthe commercial area
Armsuniversity and Industrial zone
Lungsleisure valley ,open spaces
Arteriesnetwork of roads


Simplifying mayers plan
Town are biological phenomena
Self supporting neighborhoods



MONEY-weak in economy, ventilation ,hydraulics
TECHNOLOGY- max.hand labour, min.mechines
CLIMATE- shades
LE CURBUSIER
City is a living organism
Govt. Buildings-Head

City Centre- Heart

Roads, footpaths arteries

Parks, playfields lungs

Industries
(Limbs)

Institutions
(Limbs)
Industries
(Limbs)

Institutions
(Limbs)
THREE
DISCIPLINES
The discipline of money

Le Corbusier once remarked that India has the treasures of a proud culture, but her coffers are
empty. And throughout the project the desire for grandness was hampered by the need for strict
economy.
In working up his designs, le Corbusier consulted the program for each building as given in the
budget and then prepared the initial project.

The discipline of technology

Available in quantity, however, was good clay stone and sand, and, above all human labour.
The materials of which Chandigarh has been constructed are rough concrete in the capitol complex
and the central business district and for most of the city, especially in housing, locally produced brick.

The discipline of climate

Besides the administrative and financial regulations there was a law of the sun in India.
The architectural problem consists; first to make shade, second to make a current of air[to
ventilate],third to control hydraulics.

MASTER PLAN : LE CORBUSIER
Cultural
Residential
Commercial
Administration
Industrial
Educational
Green spaces
CORBUSIER PROPOSED THE 7Vs-ROAD SYSTEM

V-1
Roads connecting
Chandigarh with other
cities like Ambala,
Kharar and Shimla. They
have dual carriageway,
good tree
plantation and distinctive
central verge lighting.
The Madhya Marg and
Dakshin Marg are two
roads, which merge into
V-1s leading the Kalka
and Ambala,
respectively.
V-2
They are the major
avenues of
Chandigarh, with
important institutional
and commercial
functions running
alongside. In
Chandigarh they are
identifiable as Marg,
Madhya Marg,Dakshin
Marg, Jan Marg,
Himalaya Marg, Uttar
Marg and Purv Marg
are important
examples.
CORBUSIER PROPOSED THE 7Vs-ROAD SYSTEM

V-3
They are the
corridor- streets for
fast moving
vehicular traffic.
A sector is
surrounded either by
V-2 or V-3 roads.
CORBUSIER PROPOSED THE 7Vs-ROAD SYSTEM

V- 4
Roads bisecting the
Sector with shopping
complex located
along their southern
edge.
V- 5
Roads meandering
through the sector
giving access to its
inner lands.
V- 6
Roads coming off of
the V-5s and leading
to the residential
houses.
CORBUSIER PROPOSED THE 7Vs-ROAD SYSTEM

V- 7
They are intended for
pedestrian
movement and run
through
the middle of the
sector in the green
areas. A few
examples are
along the Jan Marg,
in the Punjab
University & Sector-15.
CORBUSIER PROPOSED THE 7Vs-ROAD SYSTEM

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING :-
NEIGHBOURHOOD AS AN URBAN SPACE :-
Each sector is bisected on its long axis by a strip of continuous
open space or green strip for recreation and on its shorter axis.
Sectors are autonomous unit consisting of schools, the
necessary maintenance org., the food, the artisans(repairs
etc), the daily leisure.
The sector is surrounded by high speed roads with bus stops
every 400 meters and giving the eight entrances in this social
group.
The fundamental principle of the sector is that never a door
will open on the surrounding V3s; precisely the four surrounding
V3s must be separated from the sector by a blind wall all
along.

The master plan aims for 1.5lakh expanding up to 5lakh in future.
Primary neighbourhood unit, sector with 1200 x 800 m.
The sectors area framed in grid with roads., with 3 or 4 blocks in unit.
Green strip oriented longitudinally in north direction
stretching centrally along the sector in the direction of the
mountains. The green strip was to stay uninterrupted
CONCEPT OF NEIGHBOURHOOD UNITS:
Chandigarh was to develop both in private and public
sectors, 13 type houses accommodating from C.M of State
of Punjab & Haryana to the peon, 70% of housing in
Chandigarh was to be of private building.
private building are under strict rigid system of architectural
control. the interior could be altered by the owner as long
as the exterior was not vitally affected.
This system in the city center is based on a grid of columns,
fixed floor heights and fixed 17-3 shuttering pattern on
concrete and system of glazing or screen walls behind the
line of columns.
TYPOLOGY:
Hence the neighbourhood concept gives the effect of
an urban spaces which are required for various basic
needs to perform in it.
Most of the buildings are in pure, cubical form,
geometrically subdivided with emphasis on proportion,
scale and detail.
CAPITOL COMPLEX
THE MONUMENTAL APPROACH TO CAPITOL:
JAN MARG
The capitol was planned as :

The Head of the city
Detached
Contrast to the traditional india
cities where the important
government functions were
located in the centre of the city
SHIVALIK HILLS
Le corbusiers sketch for chandigarh
square containing the cross axis
Permit views of the city from whatever perspective
Splendid back drop of the ridges
OPEN HAND
GOVERNERS PALACE
HIGH COURT
TOWER OF SHADOWS
SECRETARIAT
ASSEMBLY HALL
Martyrs memorial

ZONING
In Le Corbusier's original CONCEPT ,
the Capitol consist of the edifices
Besides these main
buildings there were also
to be a number of
monuments based on
Corbusier's personal
philosophy -- to adorn the
piazzas and the open
spaces between the
edifices.

The open hand
Martyrs memorial
Geometric hill
Tower of shadows
Secretariat
Assembly
High Court
Governor's Palace

PROPOSED MUSEUM
OF KNOWLEDGE
PIAZZA
Governors palace
City centre
Assembly
High court
The plaza was to give expression to the expanse of space.






Plaza conceived as crossing of two axes

The Open Hand
This giant hand in metal sheet rises
26 meters from a sunken French
and rotates freely in the wind from
a high concrete pedestal,
conveying the symbolic message
"Open to give, open to receive".
Conspicuous by its scale, the
Open Hand is the official emblem
of the city.
Initially designed as a box-framed building for upper and lower houses.
In 1955, insertion of chamfered hyperbolic parabaloid as the main
chamber.
An assembly chamber is 128 ft. in diameter at its base and rises to 124
ft. at its highest point.
This tower was designed to insure the natural light, ventilation and
proper acoustics.
This chamber encloses Upper house surrounded by forest of pillars.
Clearstory windows on three sides, provides light into the interior.
Art work is welcoming in entrance hall.

ASSEMBLY BUILDING
37m
HIGH COURT
Inaugurated in 1995.
L- shaped building dominated by a massive roof in form of an inverted
umbrella (a symbol of royalty and shelter of law).
Keeping in view the special dignity of the judges, Le Corbusier created a
special entrance for them through a high portico resting on three giant
piers or columns painted in bright colours.
8 court rooms (8m x 8m x 12m) are identical in elevation
Separated Chief Justices court by the three pillars.
Arches hung from the frame compress and release the prevailing winds.
In section, the upper roof forms a V- shape, that harvests rainwater,
dropping it into collecting pool.
20m
Entrance
Court rooms
High court
Lobby
Library
PARASOL ROOF FORMING
ARCHES
DOUBLE ROOF GAP LEFT BETWEEN
TWO ROOFS
FULL HT. ENTRANCE
COLORED MASSIVE PILLARS
SERPANT FOUNTAIN
REAR VIEW
SECRETARIAT
Completed in 1958
This is a thin flat vertical tower.
It is 240m x 24m x 50m tall (8 storey)
Ministerial offices in the center and offices for
employees on either side.
Allow prevailing winds to pass through
aerator- screens located at every 2.25m.
Brise-soleil faade screens out the summer sun
and lets in the winter sun.
Expansion joints divide the long faade into six
sections.
An acutely angled ramp attaches at the
second expansion joint dividing the faade
into three.
Roof garden is the most popular lunch spot for
its 5,000 inhabitants, especially during the
winter.
The rigidity is given to the building by free
standing exterior ramps enclosed in rough
concrete walls
Approach to the building is through
roadways below ground level to a large
parking area in front of the central
block, and a floor is left open at this level
to form an entrance hall.
50m
RAMP ENCLOSURE
ROUGH CONCRETE
FINISH
SQUARE WINDOWS
PROJECTED PORTICOS
SMALL ENTRANCE
BIG ENTRANCE
FREE FACADE
TOWER OF SHADOWS
Security checkpoints

Guarded Area

Restricted Area

Public Area

SECURED AND PUBLIC ZONES
OFFICIAL MOVEMENT
VEHICULAR MOVEMENT (present)
PUBLIC MOVEMENT
PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT
AS PLANNED MOVEMENT
PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT
ACTUAL MOVEMENT
Merits
It is a symbol of free India. Establishment of Chandigarh was a
vision of future unaffected by traditions of past.
It is a planned city according to anthropometric body
proportion and golden ratio.
By creating a hierarchy of roads intersecting at 90
0
, Le
Corbusier sought to make every place in the city swiftly and
easily accessible and at the same time tried to ensure the
tranquility and safety of living spaces.
Every sector is self sufficient in terms of institutes, medical
facilities, recreational and commercial spaces.
Separate roads for pedestrian, bicycle and heavy vehicles.
Visually attractive.
All the sectors have open pockets as parks for recreational
spaces and greenery.



Demerits
Although the site is very big, it is not designed with
allowance for expansion and so presently its low-density
characteristic is not maintained.
The city does not comply according to the Indian tradition
and culture.
Creating sectors as Autonomous units for the aspect of self-
sufficiency resulted in element of exclusion/segregation.
The sectors have a monotonous look which creates
confusion thus signage are required.
The city though designed as an alternate capitol city is not
planned for lower income people.
Large open spaces in the centre of the city pushed the
residential buildings to the periphery. Hence the growth of
separate little settlements at the periphery resulted in
congestion.
Due to the restricted budget, low tech machinery, unskilled
labours, Cheap materials etc were used. These have led to
a rapid decay of the buildings.
For proper ventilation or aeration of buildings,
though le Corbusier provided louvers, windows etc
but he did not considered the climate in an Indian
context and hence the dwellers faces the problems
of ventilation.

Informal entry and exit.
No defined sufficient parking resulting in parking
on the soft landscape
Physical and visual barriers as barbed wire fencing
splitting the open space and hindering pedestrian
circulation.
The idea of utilizing the space as civic public
space is hindered, leaving it only for the
beaurocrats parking
T.L.V.S.MURTHY
PRADEEP KUMAR
SRISHTY SARASWAT
MUBASHIR
RAJ KUMAR B.
PRANJAL GUPTA
LOHITA N.
NAVEEN KUMAR S.
TENZIN DOKAR
LAVANYA PADALA
DYANESHWAR

THANK YOU
References :
http://chandigarh.gov.in/cmp2031/preamble.pdf
http://chandigarh.gov.in/cmp2031/mp-area.pdf