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Chandigarh: Le Corbusier’s birthday celebrated with a walk at Capitol Complex
The walk was organised by Chandigarh Citizens Foundation (CCF) in order to learn why the Capitol Complex has been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016
As many as 136 participants took a walk-through the Capitol Complex on Sunday to celebrate the 138th birth anniversary of Le Corbusier, a pioneering Swiss-French architect, designer, and urban planner who created the master plan for Chandigarh, India’s first planned modern city, and designed its Capitol Complex.
The walk was organised by Chandigarh Citizens Foundation (CCF) in order to learn why the Capitol Complex has been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. Walking through the four monuments and three buildings of the complex, participants learned about the legacy work done and how Chandigarh came into existence.
The walk began with adorning the architect marvel of Punjab and Haryana high court, to open hand monument, to the assembly building and concluded at the rooftop cafeteria of Secretariat building, the highest rise point of the city, that provided a 360-degree view of the city.
Deepika Gandhi, convenor of CCF urban planning focus group and former director of Le Corbusier Centre highlighted how the city, which spreads over 114 square km area, was conceptualised over the spirit of democracy, modernity and man-cosmos relationship.
Gandhi said, “The Punjab and Haryana high court building does not have any steps at the entrance and as per the original design of Corbusier, the front side of the court with coloured pillars is the main entrance to the building for the public.” She added that the concept behind the design was to make law accessible to all.
She said that the secretariat building, which is the largest building in the city, was designed in a lean horizontal shape to have maximum natural light and a good ventilation system.
