Name – Sarita Kumari

Roll No. - 26

Important Features of Le Corbusier

Master Plan
Introduction:-
Chandigarh, the dream city of India's first Prime Minister, Sh.
Jawahar Lal Nehru, was planned by the famous French architect Le Corbusier.
Picturesquely located at the foothills of Shivaliks, it is known as one of the best
experiments in urban planning and modern architecture in the twentieth
century in India.
Chandigarh derives its name from the temple of "Chandi Mandir" located in
the vicinity of the site selected for the city. The deity 'Chandi', the goddess of
power and a fort of 'garh' laying beyond the temple gave the city its name
"Chandigarh-The City Beautiful".
Chandigarh became symbolic of the newly independent Indian. The foundation
stone of the city was laid in 1952. The city is well known for its architecture
and design by architects such as Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew,
and Maxwell Fry.

History:-
After the partition of India in 1947, the former British province
of Punjab was split between (mostly Sikhs) East Punjab in India and (mostly
Muslim) West Punjab in Pakistan. The Indian Punjab required a new capital city
to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistan during the partition.

Therefore, American planner and architect Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki
were tasked to design a new city called "Chandigarh" in 1949. Novicki was
tragically killed in an air accident and Mayer decided to discontinue.
Thereafter, the work was assigned to a team of architects led by Le Corbusier
in 1951.
Le Corbusier was employed for the Master Plan and the Capital buildings and
worked from 1951 until his death in 1965 on the construction of the city.
Pierre Jeanneret, his cousin and partner was hired as the site architect.
Maxwell Fry and Jane B. Drew worked for about three years on the project and
then left due to their engagements elsewhere. In 1965 M.N. Sharma took over
from Pierre Jeanneret as the first Indian Chief Architect of the Project and after
the reorganization of the State of Punjab in 1966 and the establishment of
Union Territory, Chandigarh, he was appointed as Administrative Secretary of
the Department of Architecture in the Chandigarh Administration.

Master Plan:-
 Le Corbusier conceived the master plan of Chandigarh as analogous to
human body, with a clearly defined
1. head (the Capitol Complex, Sector 1)
2. heart (the City Centre Sector-17)
3. lungs ( the leisure valley, innumerable open spaces and sector greens)
4. the intellect (the cultural and educational institutions)
5. the circulatory system (the network of roads, the 7Vs)
6. viscera (the Industrial Area)
 The concept of the city is based on four major functions: living, working,
care of the body and spirit and circulation
 Residential sectors constitute the living part.
 The Capitol Complex, City Centre, Educational Zone (Post Graduate
Institute, Punjab Engineering College, Panjab University) and the
Industrial Area constitute the working part.
 The Leisure Valley, Gardens, Sector Greens and Open Courtyards etc. are
for the care of body and spirit.
 7 different types of roads known as 7Vs constitute the circulation part.
Later on, a pathway for cyclists called V8 were added to this circulation
system.

Important Features of Le Corbusier’s Master Plan

A. Punjab and Haryana High Court:-
Punjab and Haryana High Court
is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana
and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India.
Sanctioned strength of Judges of this High Court is 85 consisting of 64
Permanent Judges and 21 Additional Judges including Chief Justice. As
of 28 March 2022, there are 48 Judges in the High Court, comprising 42
Permanent and 6 Additional Judges.

The court building is known as the Palace of Justice. Designed by Le

Corbusier, it and several of his other works were inscribed as UNESCO
World Heritage Sites in July 2016.

B. Secretariat Building:-
 Secretariat Building is a Le Corbusier-
designed[1] government building built in 1953, located inside the
Chandigarh Capitol Complex. In July 2016, the building and several
other works by Le Corbusier were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage
Sites.
The Secretariat building is a long, horizontal Concrete slab form, 254
meters long and 42 meters high, which marks the edge of the Capitol
Complex on the left side. The Secretariat is a 10-storeyed building. The
facade of the building gives a sculptural appearance with exposed
concrete ramps, perforated with small square windows dominating the
front and rear views. The building facade is provided with projections
for sun control.

C. The Palace of Assembly:-

The Parliament or Legislative Assembly
(1955) was designed as a large box with the entrance portico on one
side, concrete piers on the other, and a repetitive pattern on the
façade. Sculptural forms on the roof, a dramatic ‘funnel’ top light over
the Assembly, and a tilted pyramid over the Senate chambers
completed the composition. The assembly building houses the rooms
where parliament sessions are held. Photography is prohibited inside
the building. The facade is a series of symmetrical boxes.

D. The Open Hand Monument:-

The Open Hand was installed in 1985,
20 years after Corbusier’s death. The Open Hand Monument is a
symbolic structure designed by the architect Le Corbusier and located
in Sector 1 in the Capitol Complex of Chandigarh, on the backdrop of
the Himalayan Shivalik hill range. It is the symbol of “peace and
reconciliation. It is open to give and open to receive and the unity of
mankind". Le Corbusier also stated that it was a recurring idea that
conveyed the "Second Machine Age". The largest example of Le
Corbusier's many Open Hand sculptures, it stands 26 meters (85 ft)
high. The metal structure with vanes is 14 meters (46 ft) high, weighs
50 short tons (100,000 lb), and was designed to rotate in the wind.

E. The Shadow Tower:-

 The Tower of Shadows. Le Corbusier constructed
it in such a way that not a single ray of sun enters it from any angle. The
north side of this tower remains open because the sun never shines
from this direction. Le Corbusier used the same principle for other
Capitol Complex buildings as well.

F. The Geometric Hill:-

Corbusier made this hill with construction waste.
He create an mound that would hide the assembly from the road. It
also has art work on it . Geometric Hill is a  UNESCO World Heritage
Site spread over an area of around 100 acres.
This hill is located in the sector 1 is a prime manifestation of
Chandigarh's architecture.