Community members have now reviewed most of the inscribed Le Corbusier (LC) sites in Europe, Argentina and Japan - but not the Indian site at Chandigarh. I therefore add comments arising from our visit in Feb 2019. I had originally visited the Capitol Complex way back in 1976. Travelling between Simla and Dehli, I had wandered freely around the site before catching my onward bus. I have since counted it as “seen” (together with some other inscribed locations) but, in all honesty, I then lacked the background knowledge to appreciate or learn! 43 years later it isn’t as easy to visit. These are sensitive government buildings situated in a province which has had terrorism problems and lies near the Pak border. In Aug 1995 a suicide bomb at the Secretariat killed the Chief Minister of Punjab – Sikh “terrorism” may have quietened down since then but only to be replaced by the Islamic variety. So, you can no longer just visit on demand and walk around.

Instead you must join an official tour which departs the Capitol Complex Info Centre at 10am, noon and 3pm each day.    You will be accompanied by an official guide and 2 armed policemen – and are supposed to stay close to them and not wander off! But it is even more complicated. Officially you can’t just turn up and join a tour. Your details have to be security pre-checked. We had pre-booked a wider day tour of Chandigarh and our “permit” had been acquired as part of this so they already had our passport details etc. We were told that this had to be done in advance, but LP indicates it can be done as late as 15 minutes before a visit so you may be able to scam your way through at the office without a pre-booking - but I wouldn’t bank on it! See here for the official procedures.  

The above procedure states that you can “visit the Hon’ble High Court, Open Hand Monument, Punjab Assembly and the top floor of Punjab & Haryana Civil Secretariat” – but that too is problematic. We visited on a Saturday and the Assembly was closed. This was a major, major blow as its interior is “iconic”. If you have the chance, I would schedule any visit in midweek. But even that wouldn’t guarantee entry to the Assembly if it is sitting (and, there is no photography inside either)!! The High Court on the other hand doesn’t work on a Saturday so we were able to visit a lesser court room. And, as far as I could see, the Secretariat building was permanently off limits whatever the day, since it was cut off from the Assembly by a strong fence (The Web records a considerable tightening of security there during 2018). So you will see the outsides of 3 buildings and may get inside 1 of them. But, the Secretariat will probably only be seen from a distance and, in any case, only the top floor cafeteria would be open (though a chance to go up there would have been very nice!!). The situation regarding the LC “Monuments” is a bit better than indicated above however - you will see 4 of them during your walking tour.

But, didn’t LC design/plan the WHOLE of Chandigarh city as a new “green field” capital for the state of Punjab which had lost its traditional capital of Lahore in the Partition? Indeed, but only the Capitol Complex was nominated and inscribed. ICOMOS states that “The Complexe du Capitole, the focal point of the plan for Chandigarh, is seen as the most complete contribution to the principles of Radiant City and the Athens Charter”. So Chandigarh is included as representative of the 4th phase of LC’s career (“Large standardised buildings” - AB) which lasted from 1944-1965, beginning with the Cité Radieuse, and included a number of projects which were never built. But its inclusion didn’t come easily - the entire nomination took 3 attempts and the first 2 didn’t even include Chandigarh. The number of sites was reduced from 22 to 19 to 17, with the final total being achieved by dropping a further 2 buildings in France and 1 in Switzerland whist adding just the Capitol Complex from the canon of work left in Chandigarh by LC. (in its 2011 evaluation ICOMOS had stated "Any nomination that sets out to encapsulate the influence of the Modern Movement ought to encompass this dimension, particularly as outstanding exemplars do survive such as Chandigarh (India).")

Unfortunately, limiting the inscription solely to the Capitol Complex means that it fails to capture some important “LC aspects” which inclusion of the overall City could have encompassed - the only example of a city designed (at least in part) by him which got built. So, representation of the ideas of the Radiant City and Athens Charter is at best only partially achieved. One can understand why the wider city was excluded - to have included it would have significantly increased management and preservation issues. ICOMOS had to accept compromises on such matters even when considering Chandigarh's limited inscription - matters which had presumably led to its non-inclusion in the earlier nominations, despite being on India's T List. Also, beyond the Capitol Complex, the hand of LC is only represented in outline since much of the detailed design work was done by others (particularly his cousin). This was at his wish. Unlike his cousin, he never moved to India, preferred to work from Paris plus occasional visits, and soon got tired of the detail required to bring the city itself to reality and the compromises required to work in India/cope with budgetary restrictions (“I had a free hand but very little money”) etc etc. Nevertheless, if you have made it to Chandigarh, the rest of the city is out there to be seen and experienced – it would seem a waste not to do so!!  I would suggest therefore that the visitor to Chandigarh should also try to visit at least the Museum area, 1 residential sector and the Commercial centre at Sector 17. These may not add to your UNESCO “tick” – but will add to the visit! LC analogised the city as a human body with the head, heart, lungs, circulatory system, arms etc etc. The Capitol was the “head” but some of the other elements really “need” to be seen in order to gain a more complete picture of LC’s contribution to the new city and to highlight some aspects which are and are not included in the somewhat limited and unsatisfactory tour of the Capitol complex itself.

First – start at the Chandigarh Government and City/Architecture Museums (situated next to each other in LC’s “Museum Area”, c2kms from the Capitol Complex). The former is a LC-designed building and holds a collection of Gandharan art which doesn’t compare with those in Musea such as Lahore (from where it all came being India's agreed "divorce settlement" from that collection), Taxila and Delhi. So - don’t visit for its collection but DO go to identify its LC design elements. Anyone interested in his general architectural concepts and those relating specifically to India (which has 9 LC buildings – exceeded only by France, whilst Switzerland has but 7! Ahmedabad has 4 and Chandigarh 5 - we missed the College of Architecture) and to Musea (he built 3 – but only the last in Tokyo got included in the WHS) should NOT miss it (Beton brut, ramps, hidden staircases, handling of sunlight, piloti, pools, rain water “harvesting”, attempts at air flow control, standard sizes, square grids, expandable as an “unlimited museum”...etc etc!!!!)  The second building was actually designed by one of LC’s Indian associates at Chandigarh, utilising LC’s 1965 design for an exhibition building in Zurich. It contains an exhibition telling the story of Chandigarh’s creation. This includes original letters from/to LC (including with Nehru himself who took a close personal interest in the development of Chandigarh), furniture designed for the buildings, a wonderful contemporary chart explaining the concept of the “Modulor” (“a scale of harmonic measures that set architectural elements in proportion to human stature”). It also contains models of 2 unbuilt structures which are worth knowing about. The “Governor’s Palace” was dropped both for lack of money and because it was felt that a “Palace” for a president didn’t fit the zeitgeist of newly independent and democratic India. LC then designed a “Museum of Knowledge” for the same location - which was also never built. The resultant “gap” is widely considered to unbalance the overall concept of the Capitol Complex. The Nomination File contains a long section on this latter building and states that “it is imperative to build the Museum of Knowledge to complete the Capitol Complex design as conceived in its entirety by Le Corbusier”. In its evaluation, however, ICOMOS states “The authenticity of the existing Capitol Complex in Chandigarh could be impacted if either or both of the governor’s palace or the museum of knowledge were now to be constructed, an eventuality that has apparently been discussed. Even though plans exist, the lack of opportunity for the architect to be engaged in discussions on the building work would compromise their authenticity.”

Above all, the exhibition documents how LC took over a previous city plan developed by 2 US architects originally commissioned to develop the new city. When 1 was killed in a crash, his partner didn’t want to continue. LC was contacted (though was not 1st choice) and agreed to take over (as “Chief Architectural Consultant”) - his motivation for doing so is still discussed as it certainly wasn’t for the money! In 1955 the New Yorker wrote “The general feeling seems to be that he (i.e LC) took on the task primarily as a way of justifying his theories….He is almost 70 and thus far most of those theories have been tried only on paper”.  The museum describes the ways in which he altered the city layout to remove many of its softer “Garden City Movement” aspects. The pros and cons are still debated to this day – see "Urban Planning in the Third World. The Chandigarh Experience" (1982), by Madhu Sarin! He also completely altered the location and design of the buildings in what became the “Capitol Complex”. IMO, understanding all this is an essential prerequisite to appreciating and understanding the Complex and its role within the wider design. We spent some 90 minutes on the 2 museums which was all we had before our noon tour – I could have done with longer.

Here are a few suggested aspects to look out for during the walk around the Complex, followed by a few other “LC in India” matters which we noted!

a. It starts at the High Court Building. The visit experience is unsatisfactory (You cannot see it from all angles, go onto the ramps etc) – but the building itself is still magnificent. We did get to see one of the “Modular-based” tapestries and also entered via the ugly single story verandah added after CL’s Brise-soleil design proved totally inadequate (See )!! Unfortunately the 2 pools, which, as the above article shows, are an essential element, were empty. Finally - the building has been given 2 extensions which have been excluded from core zone by a very "net" cut off at the building's corner! Noon is not a good time to photo the façade and, if photography is important to you, the 10 am and 3 pm tours might be better in general.

b. Next is the “Open Hand” monument which was constructed as late as 1985 (LC died in 1965) and was originally intended by LC to be at Bakhra Dam some 100+ km away.

c.  The “Martyr’s Monument” has never actually been finished though India promised to do so in its nomination (“The Martyrs’ Memorial should be completed as per the original drawings and details”). This article from 2011 describes the background, but is out of date to the extent that the incomplete Memorial (with its Chakra and Swastik) IS “open” to tourists. The adjacent "Geometric Hill” is also incomplete.

d. On the other hand the “Tower of Shadows” (Photo with the Assembly) isn’t the unfinished building it might appear but a demonstration of LC’s concern with and knowledge of sunlight – it is so constructed that no ray of sun ever enters it directly and LC adopted similar principles in his buildings (it too was only built in 1983, long after LC's death).

e. The "Assembly Building" was designed as a bicameral chamber for the state of Punjab. Since the split into 2 states (Punjab/Haryana) each got 1 chamber!!! The enamel door of the assembly building is LC’s own design – a reminder of the fact that he “entered” architecture via decoration and painting! One of the 2 ponds is cut off by an enormous and rather permanent looking fence which both ruins the view of the building on the LHS, and cuts off the Secretariat – which can only be glimpsed in the distance.

f. Our only way of "approaching" the "Secretariat" was via our Binoculars. Particularly noticeable were the rows of A/c units peppering the facade. Contemporary Indian civil servants obviously don't find LC's "brise soleils" and induced air flows adequate! ICOMOS has asked India to find some way of hiding the units from view! Renovation, which includes their replacement by a central system seems to be "in progress" which might be another reason why we wouldn't enter?

g. Unfortunately the excessive security goes directly against LC’s objective of creating an open and democratic space, very different from the grandiose and closed imperial structures of Colonial New Delhi. The enormous open “Esplanade” which connects the Judiciary with the Legislature is now a rather forbidding, unfriendly and sun beaten route march. That part in front of the Court building was still being used as a car park, despite statements in the Nomination that this would cease.

h. This article provides an interesting assessment of LC’s successes and failures in relation to the Capitol complex. As the article indicates, LC wasn’t particularly a “detail” person and left much of the design beyond the Outline Plan and the Complex to others – particularly to his cousin Pierre Jenneret who spent most of the rest of his life in Chandigarh, designing the range of mass housing across numerous categories down to the level of detail of door handles etc! (Unlike LC he was even appointed “Chief Architect”!). His own “mid range” home has been turned into a museum/rest house . The rest house aspect was fully operational when we visited in Feb 2019 and it could be an interesting place to stay.

i. We also visited the LC museum in Ahmedabad whilst we were in India – it is a near copy of that in Chandigarh but its dilapidated condition was shocking. In 2018 the Getty Institute commenced a project to conserve all 3 of LC’s musea. But, presumably, only the 2 Indian ones need such support!

j.  The Chandigarh museum has an exhibit of the standard manhole cover designed for the new city and invites people to see how many they could find. We found none! Hardly surprising - this article from 2011 describes how examples (and other interior fittings) were being stolen and sold for as much as £15000!!! 

k. Everyone we met in Chandigarh liked living there (apart from its high CoL!). On most “lifestyle” measures it exceeds other Indian cities. CL’s “rigid” sectors with their fixed layout and unmixed housing seemed to have been softened and the 7 levels of road he provided for the motor car which was criticised back in the 1950s have proven, if anything, to still be not enough!! The trees have matured and the entire city has green/clean feeling. Much of this of course can be laid at the door of the team working below LC. I suspect that the majority of those living there give little or no thought to the Capitol Complex with its iconic 20th C buildings, which, in LC’s design are very cut off from the rest of the city.  This article gives an impression of what it was like to live there in 2010 (it also refers to Nek Chand’s rock garden – if you DO go to Chandigarh do NOT miss it. I went a bit reluctantly but it turned out to be a wonderful example of modern “folk art/architecture”. It is situated within the Capitol Complex “buffer zone”.