HISTORY

AFTER INDEPENDENCE PUNJAB SPLITED INTO TWO PARTS AND IT NEEDED A NEW CAPITAL.

THEN THE PROJECT WAS ASSIGNED TO AMERICAN PLANNER AND ENGINEER ALBERT MAYER WITH MATHEW NOWICKI AS HIS ASSISTANT.

AFTER NOWICKI’S DEATH IN A PLANE CRASH MAYER RESIGNED IN 1950.

IN 1951 INDIAN GOVERNMENT APPROACHED LE CORBUSIER FOR THE PROJECT.

MAXWELL FRY, JANE DREW AND PIERRE JEANNERET WERE ALSO INVOLVED IN THE TEAM OF ARCHITECTS.

LOCATION

• THE CITY IS LOCATED AT THE JUNCTION OF FOOTHILLS OF THE HIMALAYAS MOUNTAIN RANGE AND THE GANGES PLAINS.

• IT WAS BOUND BY TWO SEASONAL RIVULETS, THE PATIALI RAO AND THE SUKHNA IN THE NORTHWEST AND THE SOUTH EAST RESPECTIVELY. IT EXTENDS IN THE NORTHEAST RIGHT UP TO THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SHIVALIKS.

• THE REGION EXPERIENCES EXTREMES IN THE CLIMATE. THE TEMPERATURE COULD RISE TO 45 DEGREES IN SUMMER AND DROP TO FREEZING POINT IN WINTER.

• THE DIRECTION OF THE PREVALENT WINDS IS SOUTHEAST TO THE NORTHWEST IN SUMMER AND NORTHWEST TO THE SOUTHEAST IN WINTER.

ALBERT MAYER’S PLAN

• ALBERT MAYER’S PLAN WAS FAN SHAPED AND SPREAD GENTLY BETWEEN THE TWO RIVERS SUKHNA AND PATIALI RAO.

• IT CONSISTED OF SUPERBLOCKS WHICH WERE MARKED BY THE CURVED ROADS.

• TWO LINEAR PARK LANDS CAN ALSO BE SEEN RUNNING FROM ONE END TO OTHER IN THE PLAN.

• AT THE HEAD OF THE PLAN WAS THE CAPITOL (SEAT OF STATE GOVERNMENT ) AND THE CITY CENTRE WAS AT THE MIDDLE.

ALBERT MAYER’S PLAN

CAPITOL

CITY CENTRE

SUPERBLOCK

PARKLANDS

LE CORBUSIER

• THERE WERE FOUR PEOPLE INCLUDING CORBUSIER WORKING IN THE PROJECT: PIERRE JEANNERET, MAXWELL FRY AND JANE DREW. ALONG WITH 20 YOUNG ARCHITECTS FROM INDIA.

• THE INDIAN ARCHITECTS WERE ASSIGNED TO DETAILED PLAN WHILE CORBUSIER HAD TO CONCENTRATE ON MAJOR BUILDINGS AND PIERRE JEANNERET,MAXWELL FRY AND JANE DREW WERE CHARGED WITH THE TASK OF DEVELOPING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD SECTORS WITH THEIR SCHOOLS,SHOPPING BAZAARS,AND THE TRACTS OF GOVERNMENT HOUSING.

THREE DISCIPLINES

• CORBUSIER NOTICED THREE QUALITIES IN INDIA • THE DISCIPLINE OF MONEY- AS IT WAS THE PERIOD OF POST

INDEPENDENCE THE PROJECT COUDNT BE MADE TO A GRAND LEVEL AND HAD TO BE MADE IN A IDEAL BUDGET.

• THE DISCIPLINE OF TECHNOLOGY-EVEN WITH VAST AMOUNTS OF CLAY STONE , SAND CORBUSIER WENT FOR USAGE OF ROUGH CONCRETE IN CAPITOL AND CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT.

• THE DISCIPLINE OF CLIMATE- BESIDES THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL REGULATONS 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.

CORBUSIER’S PLAN OF CHANDIGARH

CORBUSIER’S PLAN

• HIS PLAN WAS IN GRID-IRON PATTERN SURROUNDED BY THE TWO RIVERS IN BOTH THE SIDES.

• THE UNIT WAS A SECTOR INSTEAD OF A SUPERBLOCK.(NEARLY 3 SECTORS MADE A SUPERBLOCK)

• THE BASIC FRAMEWORK OF ALBERT MAYER’S PLAN WERE RETAINED- CAPITOL, CITY CENTRE,INDUSTRIAL AREA, PARKLAND

• THE CITY CENTRE AND RAILWAY STATIONS REMAINED IN THE SAME LOCATIONS THE CAPITOL WAS SHIFTED FROM THE NORTH-EASTERN TIP THE TO NORTH-WESTERN TIP

HUMAN ANALOGY

• LE CORBUSIER CONCEIVED THE MASTER PLAN OF CHANDIGARH AS ANALOGOUS TO HUMAN BODY, WITH A CLEARLY DEFINED

• HEAD (THE CAPITOL COMPLEX, SECTOR 1),• HEART (THE CITY CENTRE SECTOR-17), • LUNGS (THE LEISURE VALLEY, INNUMERABLE OPEN SPACES

AND SECTOR GREENS), • INTELLECT (THE CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL

INSTITUTIONS), • CIRCULATORY SYSTEM (THE NETWORK OF ROADS, THE

7VS) • VISCERA (THE INDUSTRIAL AREA).

CAPITOL (HEAD)

• THE AREA OF THE GREATEST SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE IN CHANDIGARH WAS THE CAPITOL COMPLEX.

• THE MOST IMPORTANT GROUP OF THE BUILDINGS CONSTITUTING THE CAPITOL- THE PARLIAMENT, THE SECRETARIAT THE POOL OF THE PALACE OF JUSTICE.

• THE ARTIFICIAL HILLS IN THE FRONT OF THE SECRETARIAT HAVE NOT BEEN CREATED AND LAID OUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CORBUSIERS CONCEPTIONS

CAPITOL COMPLEX PLAN

Open hand

secretariat

Assembly

High court

Governor's place

THE CITY CENTRE(HEART)

• The Central Sector of the city, Sector 17, is the main Public Congregation area of the city. It houses all major Shopping Complexes, Sports Facilities and Congregation Spaces.

LANDSCAPES(LUNGS)

• A HIERARCHY OF GREEN SPACES CAN BE OBSERVED RANGING FROM PUBLIC GREENS AT CITY LEVEL TO SEMI-PRIVATE TO PRIVATE GREEN AREAS.

• CITY LEVEL PUBLIC GREEN SPACE WITH ARTIFICIAL WATER BODY

• FREE- FLOWING GREEN SPACE, CONNECTING THE ENTIRE SITE

• SEMI-PRIVATE GREEN AREAS FOR NEIGHBORHOOD POCKETS

• PRIVATE GREEN AREAS FOR RESIDENTIAL UNITS

OPEN SPACES

• SOME 800 HECTARES OF GREEN OPEN SPACE ARE SPREAD OVER THE APPROXIMATELY 114 SQUARE KILOMETERS OF THE CAPITAL PROJECT AREA. MAJOR OPEN AREAS INCLUDE THE LEISURE VALLEY, SUKHNA LAKE, ROCK GARDEN AND MANY OTHER SPECIAL GARDENS.

THE LIESURE VALLEY

• THE LEISURE VALLEY IS A GREEN SPRAWLING SPACE EXTENDING NORTH-EAST TO SOUTH-WEST ALONG A SEASONAL RIVERLET GRADIENT AND WAS CONCEIVED BY LE CORBUSIER AS THE LUNGS OF THE CITY.

• APART FROM LARGE PUBLIC PARKS AND SPECIAL BOTANICAL GARDENS, IT HOUSES SERIES OF FITNESS TRAILS, AMPHITHEATRES AND SPACES FOR OPEN-AIR EXHIBITIONS.

ROAD NETWORK(7V’S-CIRCULATORY SYSTEM)

• V1 CONNECTS CHANDIGARH TO OTHER CITIES

• V2 ARE THE MAJOR AVENUES OF THE CITY E.G MADHYA MARG ETC

• V3 ARE THE CORRIDORS STREETS FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC ONLY

• V4…..V7 ARE THE ROADS WITHIN THE SECTORS

PRINCIPLES OF URBAN PLANNING

• CONVENIENT WALKING DISTANCE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES LIKE SCHOOLS AND SHOPPING CENTRES.

• STREET SYSTEM MAJOR ROADS SHOULD NOT PASS THROUGH RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD.

• INTERNAL ROAD PATTERN SHOULD ENCOURAGE QUITE , SAFE , LOW VOLUME TRAFFIC MOVEMENT.

• FACILITIES • ORDERLY ARRANGEMENT OF FACILITIES WHICH WOULD BE SHARED

COMMON BY THE RESIDENTS .• A UNIT HAVING SHOPS, SCHOOL, HEALTH CENTRES AND PLACES OF

RECREATIONS AND WORSHIPS. • BLOCKS ARE DIVIDED IN SECTORS. • EACH SECTOR IS SELF SUFFICIENT UNIT HAVING ALL FACILITIES . • THESE SECTORS VARIES DEPENDING UPON THE SIZE AND THE

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE AREA.

THE SECTOR

THE SECTOR

• LE CORBUSIER AND HIS TEAM REPLACED SUPERBLOCKS WITNEIGHBOURHOOD UNITS, ”SECTORS”. IT IS THE PRIMARY MODULE OF CITY’S DESIGN, A NEIGHBOURHOOD UNIT OF SIZE 800 METERS X 1200 METERS.

• EACH SECTOR IS A SELF-SUFFICIENT UNIT HAVING SHOPS, SCHOOL, HEALTH CENTRES AND PLACES OF RECREATIONS AND WORSHIP.

• H A GEOMETRIC MATRIX OF GENERIC THE POPULATION OF A SECTOR VARIES BETWEEN 3000 AND 20000 DEPENDING UPON THE SIZES OF PLOTS AND THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE AREA.

• HOWEVER, THE CITY WAS PLANNED TO HOUSE A NUMBER OF150 000 INHABITANTS IN ITS FIRST PHASE, REALIZED BETWEEN 1951-66, AND 500 000 IN ITS” FINAL STAGE”.

• THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ITSELF IS SURROUNDED BY THE FAST-TRAFFIC ROAD CALLED V3 INTERSECTING AT THE JUNCTIONS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD UNIT CALLED SECTOR WITH A DIMENSION OF 800 METERS BY 1200 METERS.

• THE ENTRANCE OF CARS INTO THE SECTORS OF 800 METERS BY 1200M, WHICH ARE EXCLUSIVELY RESERVED TO FAMILY LIFE, CAN TAKE PLACE ON FOUR POINTS ONLY; IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 1200 M. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 800 METERS.

• ALL STOPPAGE OF CIRCULATION SHALL BE PROHIBITED AT THE FOUR CIRCUSES, AT THE ANGLES OF THE SECTORS.

• THE BUS STOPS ARE PROVIDED EACH TIME AT 200 METERS FROM THE CORNER SO AS TO SERVE THE FOUR PEDESTRIAN ENTRANCES INTO A SECTOR.

• THUS, THE TRANSIT TRAFFIC TAKES PLACE OUT OF THE SECTORS: THE SECTORS BEING SURROUNDED BY FOUR WALL-BOUND CAR ROADS WITHOUT OPENINGS (THE V3S).

• AND THIS (A NOVELTY IN TOWN-PLANNING AND DECISIVE) WAS APPLIED AT CHANDIGARH: NO HOUSE (OR BUILDING) DOOR OPENS ON THE THOROUGHFARE OF RAPID TRAFFIC.

• THERE ARE 30 SECTORS IN CHANDIGARH,OF WHICH 24 ARE RESIDENTIAL.

HOUSING

• LOWER CATEGORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS ARE GOVERNED BY A MECHANISM KNOWN AS “FRAME CONTROL” TO CONTROL THEIR FACADES.

• THIS FIXES THE BUILDING LINE AND HEIGHT AND THE USE OF BUILDING MATERIALS.

• CERTAIN STANDARD SIZES OF DOORS AND WINDOWS ARE SPECIFIED AND ALL THE GATES AND BOUNDARY WALLS MUST CONFORM TO STANDARD DESIGN.

• THIS PARTICULARLY APPLIES TO HOUSES BUILT ON SMALL PLOTS OF 250 SQUARE METRES OR LESS.

BUILDING TYPOLOGY

• The basic typology is extremely rectilinear with similar proportions.

• Residential units are arranged around central common green spaces with different shapes.