Chandigarh - Le Corbusier's modernist city in India

 


Formed in 1953, Chandigarh is an artificial, planned city by Indian authorities and Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, and it feels different from all the places I have seen in India. It is divided into numbered and walled sectors by a perfect grid of wide streets (avenues) and these sectors contain richer or poorer living districts, shops, hotels (most for Indians only), markets, museums, parks, entertainment or sport centres, or government offices. There are no cows, crowds, serious traffic jams, but everything is far apart. It reminded me of the pioneer city Zánka in Hungary, a Soviet-era planned "town" for communist youth camps, but on a much bigger scale. Chandigarh's main attractions are the architectural work of Le Corbusier, found in a restricted governmental area; you can only visit them as part of a free tour led by a guide. You have to register at a tourist office with your passport, and if there are at least 4-5 people who turned up at (or rather a little before) 10:00, 12:00 or 15:00, the tour will go ahead, and it is indeed free. Apart from these modernist buildings, attractions in Chandigarh include the quite unusual Rock Garden, a big lake with recreational areas, different museums wich were closed on Monday when I visited (something to keep in mind in India), and several parks. 

Le Corbusier, who prepared the final master plan of the city, "built upon earlier plans created by the Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer." (Wikipedia) Chandigarh is the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana. 


















































































































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