BY

NAMESHRUTI
WAGHMARE
CLASS- T.Y.
B.ARCH
GUIDED BYAR.KULDEEP
BHATIYA

CHANDIGHAR BEFORE
ITS PLANING

Historical
Background

With the partition in the subcontinent, Lahore, the capital of

undivided Punjab fell within Pakistan, leaving East Punjab without
a Capital.

It was decided to built a new Capital city called Chandigarh about

240 kms. north of New Delhi on a gently sloping terrain with foothills
of the Himalayas and two Seasonal rivulets flowing on its two sides
approximately 7-8 kms apart.

Location -30 degree 50' N latitude and 76 degree 48' longitude

Vision

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,

Independent Indias first Prime
Minister, laid down the founding
principles of the new city when he
saidLet this be a new town,
symbolic of freedom of India
unfettered by the traditions of
the past.. an expressions of
the nations faith in the future.

Selection of Site
The present site was selected in 1948 taking into
account various attributes such as its

-Central location in the state

-Proximity to the national capital
-Availability of sufficient water supply
-Fertile of soil
-Gradient of land for natural drainage
-Beautiful site with the panorama of
blue hills as backdrop
-Moderate climate.

PLANERS

Le Corbusier
Pierre
Jeanneret
Maxwell Fry
Jane B. Drew

PLANERS
An American Firm of Albert Mayer and Mathew
Novicki were commissioned in 1950 to prepare
the Master Plan.
Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki evolved a
fan shaped Master Plan
The concept of super block was developed by
them
The super block was designed as a self
sufficient neighborhood units
Novicki was tragically killed in an air accident and
Mayer decided to discontinue.
Thereafter, the work was assigned to Le

Le Corbusier became the

project head of the city
planning in 1951.

Le Corbusier's Master Plan

The Master plan by Le Corbusier was similar to the one

prepared by Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki except that
the shape of the city plan was modified from one with a
curving road network to rectangular shape with a grid
iron pattern for the fast traffic roads.
The city plan was conceived as post war Garden City
wherein vertical and high rise buildings were ruled out,
keeping in view the socio economic-conditions and living

GRID-IRON
PATTERN

Le Corbusier's Master Plan

Due to economic constraints, the master plan was to be
realized in
Two phases
Catering to a total population of Half a million.
Phase-I
-30 low density sector
-area of 9000 acres (Sector 1 to 30)
-for 1,50,000 people
Phase-II
-17 high density Sectors
-area of 6000 acres ( Sectors 31 to 47)
-for a population of 3,50,000.

Le Corbusier's Master Plan

Sector-based Planning
A SUPER BLOCK CONCEPT
A Sector,
- A neighborhood unit of size 800 meters x 1200 meters.
-It is a self-sufficient unit having-shops
- school
-health centers
-places of
recreations and worship.
-Population- 3000 -20000
-depending upon
-the sizes of plots
-the topography of
the area.

SHOPING
AREA
AND
RECREACTI
ONAL AREA

SCHOOLS

CIRCULATION
Le Corbusier's traffic system followed Mayer's lines but was
more elaborate; he called it Les Sept Voies de Circulation,
or Seven Vs.
'The 7 Vsact in the town plan as the bloodstream, the lymph
system and the respiratory system act in biology.
These systems are quite rational, they are different from
each other, there is no confusion between them, yet they
are in harmony.

The 7Vs are no longer the sinister instruments of death, but

become an organised hierarchy of roads which can bring

CIRCULATION
The 7Vs establishes a
hierarchy of traffic
circulation ranging from :

Arterial rsoad (V1)

Major boulevards (V2)
Sector definers (V3)
Shopping streets (V4)
Neighborhood streets
(V5)
Access lanes (V6)
Pedestrian paths and
cycle tracks (V7s and
V8s).

V-1

Arterial road

V-2 roads

Major boulevards

V-3 roads (Sector difiners)

V-2
roads
(Along
with
service
lanes)

V-4
roads
(Shoppi
ng
lanes at

V7s and V8s

(Pedestrian paths
and cycle tracks )

center of
every
block)

V-5 roads

(Neighborh
ood streets
)

V-6
roads

CIRCULATION
The entrance of cars into the sectors, which are
exclusively reserved to family life, can take place on four
points only; in the middle of the 1,200 meters; in
the middle of the 800 meters.

FOUR
All stoppage of circulation shall be prohibited at the four
POINT
circuses, at the angles of the sectors.
ENTRANCE
The bus stops are
provided each time at 200 meters
from the circus so as to served the four pedestrian
entrances into a sector. TO A
Buses can ply on the V4s, the horizontal connection
BLOCK
between contiguous sectors,
but not within the sector
interiors.

LIVING

The functions of living occupies

primary place. Keeping in view
the habits of he peoples, Le
Corbusier planned that every
dwelling should have three
elements of Sun, Space and
greenery. The housing in the

LIVING
Government Housing
The Govt. housing in the city was divided into 13 categories, ranging
from the house for the Chief Minister to the two-room house completer
with sanitary facilities, a kitchen, a verandah and a courtyard for the
lowest paid employee.
The socio economic conditions of the city restricted the height of most
of the residential buildings to two to three storeyed structures.

LIVING
Private House-Controlled
Various economic
classesDevelopment

-plots of areas -114sq. mtrs. - 4500 sq. mtrs. were

planned.
The living habits of the people are of outdoor
type because of hot summers and hot and
humid rainy seasons comprising most part of
the year.
Keeping this factor in view, Corbusier conceived a
series of Architectural Controls / frame controls/
zoning regulations for each and every category of

LIVING
Private House-Controlled
Development
These courts provided
light and ventilation to
houses besides serving as private open-to-sky
spaces. A series of such OPEN
houses were planned
COURTS
around community level
open space which served
SURROUNDI
the purpose of holding
social and religious functions
and outdoor activities
and
games by children.
NG
HOUSES

LIVING
Citys Green
The hierarchy of open space is prominently visible in
the city.
At the City level, the open space consist of the
Leisure Valley and special gardens.
At Sector level, the open space constitute the
central green in each sector whereas open space
at community level consist of parks around which
clusters of houses re arranged.
The smallest category of open space is the

WORKING

Chandigarh has four main

work centers :
The Capitol Complex in the
north-east
The Educational institutes
in the north-west
The City Centre in the heart
The industrial area in the

The Capitol Complex

he industrial area
The Educational institute

WORKING
The Capitol Complex in the north-east
The Capitol
Complex is the
focal point if the
city, both
visually and
symbolically
whose
architectural is
considering to be
the most

WORKING

The three major components of

the Capitol The Assembly (Legislation),
The Secretariat
(Administration) and
The High Court (Judiciary).

THE ASSEMBLY

THE ASSEMBLY
In front of the Secretariat is located the
most sculptural and eye-catching of all
the geometrical forms of the Capitol
-The Assembly.
Characterizing the roofline of the
Assembly is a great hyperbolic drum
connected to a pyramidal by a small
bridge.
Inside, the legislative chambers are
dramatically illumined with shafts of
light.
The building has two entrances: one at
the basement level for everyday use an
the other from the piazza level for
ceremonial occasions.
The entrance is 7.60 m high and 7.60
m broad, whose enameled door.
The external faade of the cuboid base
has a rhythmic pattern of the brisesoleil.

THE SECRETARIAT

THE SECRETARIAT

The Secretariat is the largest of all

from the buildings in the complex
(254 meters by 42 meters).
A vast linear slab-like eight storey
structure a workplace for 4000
people.
An endless rhythm of balconies and
louvers on its linear facades is
punctuated by a deliberately
asymmetrical composition of brisesoleil (a sun shading device),
evolved by Le Corbusier.
Its faade is also sculpturally
punctuated by the masses of angled
ramps and stairways.
The root line has a playful
composition of a restaurant block, a
ramp and a terraced garden, to
break the endless linearity.

HIGH COURT

HIGH COURT
Built in the Capitol Complex
during 1951-57.
Has a double roof, projecting over
the office block like an inverted
umbrella.
The outward sweep of the upper
roof is symbolic of protection and
justice to the people.
The three vertical piers, rising 60
feet from the floor and painted in
bright colours form the grand
entrance to the building.
The entrance symbolizes pylon.
A giant egg-crate screen covers
the building faade.
On the rear walls of the court
rooms,are the giant woolen
tapestries designed by Le

WORKING
The Educational institutes in the
north-west
The Master Plan was later
reorganized by Pierre Jeanneret
alongwith designing of all major buildings including Gandhi
Bhawan and the Administrative Block, Arts and science teaching
blocks.

The most distinctive and well-known landmark of the Panjab

University is the 'Gandhi Bhawan' building which is lotus
shaped, appearing as if floating in a pool of water.

Gandhi Bhawan forms the focal point on the main North-East to

South-West axis and is of major architectural importance.
Adjacent to the university in sector-11 are the two undergraduate
colleges; one for men and the other for women, which were
planned by Maxwell Fry.

 To the north of the university is

located at the Postgraduate
Institute of Medical Education
and Research.
It is a multi-facility, super
speciality referral institute with a
1300 bedded hospital attached
to it.
Patients come here from all over
the country.
The first phase of the including
the Hospital and Research
Blocks were designed by
Pierre Jeannere.

GHANDI BHAWAN

WORKING
The City Centre in the heart
The City Centre representing the
heart of the city lies at the
intersection of two main axial Roads,
Madhya Marg and Jan Marg.
Designed on a monumental scale of
uniform four-storied concrete
buildings, it is laid out along four
pedestrian promenades intersecting
a nodal
where
all civicthe most important civic and
at
Around
thispoint,
chowk
are created
buildings
arebuildings,
located. the town hall, the central library and the
commercial
General Post and Telegraph office, large cinemas, commercial
houses and banks.
Besides the monuments that mark the large piazza, there are a
number of attractive structures in the piazza.
The City Centre contains large shopping stores, office buildings,
banks and cinemas and other public buildings.

 The three water fountains amidst

the central piazza or the chowk are
the focal point of the sector, which
were designed by M. N. Sharma.
The city centre is landscaped with
trees, which presents a subtle
contrast of form and colour against
the concrete facades. This sector
also houses the district courts, the
central police station and the interstate bus terminus.

WORKING
The industrial area in the southLocated in, the south-east
side of the city close to
east

the railway station and wholesale markets of the

city, the Industrial Area provides easy access to the
goods, transport centre and wholesale market.
Its location while planning was decided after taking
into account factors such as the proximity on the
access road for the entry of raw materials and exit
of finished goods without having to go through the
populated streets disturbing the peace of the town,
thus keeping the pollution zone away from the city.
Further, a buffer zone has been provided between
the industrial area and the residential and
administrative spaces.

THE OPEN HAND

THE OPEN HAND

Most important as a compositional
element in the capitol complex is the
monument of the open hand.
It says "open to give, open to
receive.
The hand rises 85 feet.
The giant hand is designed to turn
on ball bearings to indicate
symbolically the direction of the wind
that is the state of affairs.
The surface of the hand was to be
coated with baked enamel in orange,
white and green the colors of the
Indian flag.

FEW OTHER PLACES IN CHANDIGARH

HOCKEY STADIUM

ROSE GARDEN

ROCK GARDEN

PINJORE
GARDEN