BOOK
Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret – The Indian Architecture
The achievements of creative men reach out far
beyond the bonds of their national background and
environment. They soar like mountain peaks above
narrow confines of their immediate setting and
become part of a world panorama. This is true of the
works of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. Most of
the architectural fraternity is already familiar with
their Indian work which was accomplished when
they were at the zenith of their career. The enduring
quality, eclectic range and
enormous volume of their work
in India calls for an intensive
critical appraisal. Undoubtedly,
a large number of publications
include Le Corbusier’s projects
in India but very few dwell on
Pierre Jeanneret’s contribution
to architecture in India. Most of
those which cover Le Corbusier’s
work are subjective in nature
and are often dealt with by
foreign authors who presumably
have made rather brief visits
to view their creations before
writing about them.
The book, though a modest
addition to the voluminous
publications, mostly descriptive,
on these legendry architects,
hope to throw light on some
features hitherto not dealt with
in earlier existing literature. The
present book discusses almost
all the works of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in
India including some lesser-known ones as well as
some projects which were not realized. Indeed some
of these have been written about for the first time, in
particular Pierre Jeanneret’s works which were not
so well-known earlier but find a befitting coverage in
this book. Published after more than five decades of
Chandigarh’s inception, this work portrays the up-todate scenario of the built-environment vis-à-vis the
inhabitants’ views on it. The reaction of the ultimate
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recipients of any delivery system, naturally based on
their felt needs, is a most critical aspect for any indepth analysis.
Besides discussing Le Corbusier and Pierre
Jeanneret’s work in this sub-continent, the book also
reviews their influence on contemporary architecture,
urban design and town planning in India in the postIndependence era. It acquaints the readers with
a number of well-known and some lesser-known
architects and their work
in the country, in terms of
their planning and design
approaches which reflect
an undeniable and indelible
influence of Le Corbusier and
Pierre Jeanneret.
The book has been
divided into eight rigorously
drafted chapters:
• Chapter 1, Tale of Two
Colossi sketches the luminous
lives of le Corbusier and
Pierre Jeanneret. It explains
their Indian connection with
interesting events which
happened during their stay in
this country.
• Chapter 2, titled City
Planning describes Le
Corbusier’s theories
of town planning and
their implementation in
Chandigarh. It includes a
brief comparative study of planning of contemporary
capital cities like Islamabad, Brasilia and Canberra.
It evaluates the Chandigarh city after more than five
decades of its existence. It also covers Jeanneret’s
Talwara, Sundernagar, Pandoh and Slapper township
projects.
• Chapter 3, deals with Citadels of Democracy and
is devoted to the Chandigarh Capitol Complex with
comparison to similar projects designed by other
architects. It also describes Jeanneret’s Raj Bhavan at