Chandigarh Ahmedabad – Le Corbusier - Vereniging van ...

"metaphor" of protection proved highly non-functional against intense summer heat and the monsoon rains --
thus requiring a single-storeyed continuous verandah running in front of them as a later addition.
Space for archives and library also proved insufficient, even after the open terraces of the library had been
taken over, so Le Corbusier agreed to design an unobtrusive, expandable annex to the north. The judges
declined to share the car entrance with the public so now the esplanade, where the pedestrian was to reign, is
a motorway enabling the judges to drive right into the entrance hall.
Colourful tapestries, one to each courtroom, cover the entire rear wall -- 12 metres square in the main
courtroom and 8 metres square for the smaller courtrooms. A number of symbols that encapsulated Le
Corbusier's view of man, earth, nature, the emblems of India and the scales of justice were depicted in
abstract, geometric patches. They were also required for acoustical reasons. These tapestry designs referred
to the architectural plan, in particular Le Corbusier's exaltation of the right angle as basic element of
architecture, and of order generally. The designs are based on Le Corbusier's Modular, which he used to
organise the entire Capitol Complex and give dimensions to all its buildings. He described the Modular as "a
modest servant offered by mathematics to people desirous of harmony, a universal tool for all kinds of
fabrications destined to be sent to all parts of the world. Furthermore, it solves by the decimal system the
inextricable manipulation of the inch-foot system, an ancestral and totally respectable measure. The Modular
is based on human height ... it places man at the centre of the drama, its solar plexus being the key to the
three measures, which express the occupation of space by its members." (cited by Prasad Sunand, 1987)
Monuments
One day in 1952 when the first drawings were being made, Jane Drew casually suggested to Le Corbusier:
"Why don't you set between the edifices of the Capitol some of the signs that you sometimes evoke and which
symbolise your strongest preoccupations?" Le Corbusier accepted the suggestion and so it was that besides
the three major buildings of the Capitol Complex, Le Corbusier planned a number of monuments along the
main piazza to activate and embellish its linear perspective. ( Evenson Norma, 1966)
THE OPEN HAND
The most significant of these is the Open Hand. Conspicuous by its scale, this giant
hand in metal sheet rises 26meters from a sunken trench and rotates freely in the
wind from a high concrete pedestal, conveying the symbolic message: "Open to
give, Open to receive". It is the official emblem of the city.
TOWER OF SHADOWS
MARTYRS' MEMORIAL
Le Corbusier's idea of the "24 Solar Hours" provides the impetus for this monument.
This is an interesting study of the movement of the sun. Here he explored various
shading devices and demonstrated "that one can control the sun on the four cardinal
points of an edifice and that one can play with it even in a torrid country and obtain
lower temperatures."
A memorial to the martyrs of the Punjab partition, consists of an enclosure -- where symbolic sculptures are to
be placed.
MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY
The Museum, located in Sector 10 in the cultural zone of the Leisure Valley
closely resembles the two other museums built by Le Corbusier -- the first
in Ahmedabad (1958) and the second in Tokyo (1959). The museum in
Chandigarh was completed in 1968, three years after the death of Le
Corbusier. All these museums repeat the from of a spiral within a square
box. The façade is clad in brick tiles. Officially named the Government
Museum, and Art Gallery it is a square 50 meters on each side planned on
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