LE CORBUSIER:TITAN OF ARCHITECTURE BIOGRAPHY:

LE CORBUSIER

WAS BORN IN THE WATCH MAKING TOWN OF LA CHAUX DE FONDS. HIS FATHER GEORGES- EDOUARD JEANNERET-GRIS WAS A DIAL PAINTER WHO WORKED IN A WATCH FACTORY AND MOTHER MARIE CHARLOTTE AMELIE, WAS A TALENTED PIANIST. THEIR HOUSE HAD A CREATIVE ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH ART AND MUSIC WERE A PART OF LIFE AND WHICH UNDOUBTEDLY SHAPED LITTLE EDOUARDS MIND AS FAR AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELEMENTS OF RHYTHM, PRECISION AND COLOUR HARMONY WERE CONCERNED.

EDUCATION
HIS FORMATIVE YEARS WERE SPENT AT THE SCHOOL IN HOME TOWN OF LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS, WHICH DEVELOPED HIM AS A CRAFTSMAN OF CURVILINEAR PATTERNS AND FUNCTIONAL MODES. YEARS LATER, THESE ASPECTS OF HIS CREATIVITY SURFACED WITH THE REMARKABLE LUCIDITY WHEN AS LE CORBUSIER, HE TOOK HIS PLACE ON THE WORLD STAGE AND ENDEAVOURED TO GIVE A CREATIVE EXPRESSION TO A NEW ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE. AFTER LEAVING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, EDOUARD TOOK THE ENGRAVING COURSE IN 1901 AT THE ART SCHOOL IN HOME TOWN, WHICH MEANT FOR CRAFTSMEN INVOLVED IN THE WATCH MAKING INDUSTRY AND IN THEIR VERY FIRST YEAR THE STUDENT WERE INTRODUCED TO NEW TECHNIQUES OF ENGRAVING.

CONTRIBUTION TO WORK
LE
CORBUSIERs GREATEST CONTRIBUTION TO TWENTIETH-CENTURY ARCHITECTURE IS PROBABLY THAT OF HAVING REDISCOVERED MAN WHO HAD BECOME LOST IN THE FRENETIC DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUE. HIS CONTRIBUTION TO BOTH FORM AND TECHNIQUE IS INDEED UNIQUE. HIS WORK BEARS THE MARK OF BOTH RATIONALISM AND HUMANISM AND WAS ESSENTIALLY A SOCIAL ACTION AIMED AT PRODUCING SOLUTION TO MANS PROBLEMS.

 HIS INFLUENCE HAS BEEN SO COLOSSAL, SO WORLDWIDE AND SO COMPREHENSIV THAT HE DOMINATE NOT ONLY THE WORLD OF ARCHITECHTURE BUT, IN EFFECT, A GREAT PART OF WORLD OR INVENTION AND CULTURE. HE RANKS WITH DARWIN, FREUD, IENSTEIN, WITTGENSTEIN AND PICASSO AMONG MAJOR FIGURES WHO HAVE FOR EVER AFFECTED THE WORLD WHICH HE BELONG.

CONCEPTS FOR PLANNING

IN THE EARLY TWENTIES, LE CORBUSIER REALISED THAT MANY CITIES AROUND THE WORLD WERE ON THE BRINK OF AN URBAN IMPLOSION DUE TO POOR DESIGN, INADEQUEATE HOUSING AND INEFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION. HIS PLANS FOR THE CITIES WERE THE RESULT OF A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THREE MAJOR URBAN FACTORS-ROADS, HOUSING AND OPEN SPACES. HE FELT THAT ROADS SHOULD BE ARRANGE ON THE GRID-IRON PATTERN WITH MINIMUM CROSSINGS. CONSEQUENTLY, SEGRAGATION OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF TRAFFIC WAS INEVITABLE.

 HE RECOMMENDED SKYSCRAPERS FOR COMMERIAL AND RESIDENTIAL PURPOSES, SORROUNDD BY LARGE OPEN SPACES OR PARKS. HE CLAIMED THAT ON AN AVERAGE NEARLY 90% OF THE GROUND AREA OF HIS MODERN CITY WOULD CONSIST OF OPEN SPACES ENCOMPASSING RESIDENTIAL AREAS HE CALLED HIS CITY ONE GREAT PARK WIHT A LOT OF GREENERY AROUND THE BUILDINGS.

CHANDIGARH PLANNING

CHANDIGARH PLANNING
CHANDIGARH WAS THE FIRST PLANNED CITY AFTER INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITISH RULE IN 1947.IT IS THE CAPITAL OF THE CITY OF THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA(INDIA). THE CITY IS LOCATED AT THE PICTURESQUE JUNCTION OF THE FOOTHILLLS OF THE HIMALAYAS MOUNTAIN RANGE AND THE GANGES PLANES. AMERICAN ARCHITECTS ALBERT MAYER AND MATHEW NOVICKI WERE THE FIRST ARCHITECTS TO BE APPOINTED FOR THE PROJECT.
AFTER THE DEATH OF NOVICKI IN 1950, LE CORBUSIER WAS COMMISSIONED.

INITIAL PROPOSALS
BY ALBERT MAYER

BASIC PLANNING CONCEPTS

THE CITY PLAN WAS CONCEIVED AS POST WAR GARDEN CITY WHEREIN VERTICAL AND HIGH RISE BUILDINGS WERE RULED OUT, KEEPING IN VIEW THE LIVING HABITS OF THE PEOPLE.

 LE CORBUSIER CONCEIVED THE MASTER PLAN OF CHANDIGARH AS ANALOGOUS TO HUMAN BODY, WITH A CLEARLY DEFINED HEAD (THE CAPITOL COMPLEX, SECTOR 1), HEART (THE CITY CENTRE SECTOR-17), LUNGS (THE LEISURE VALLEY, INNUMERABLE OPEN SPACES AND SECTOR GREENS), INTELLECT (THE CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS), CIRCULATORY SYSTEM (THE NETWORK OF ROADS, THE 7VS) AND VISCERA (THE INDUSTRIAL AREA). HEAD (THE CAPITOL COMPLEX, SECTOR 1), HEART (THE CITY CENTRE SECTOR-17), LUNGS (THE LEISURE VALLEY, INNUMERABLE OPEN SPACES AND SECTOR GREENS), INTELLECT (THE CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS), CIRCULATORY SYSTEM (THE NETWORK OF ROADS, THE 7VS) AND VISCERA (THE INDUSTRIAL AREA).

SECTOR PLANNING

 EACH SECTOR IS A SELF-SUFFICIENT UNIT HAVING SHOPS, SCHOOL, HEALTH CENTERS AND PLACES OF RECREATIONS AND WORSHIP.

The city is composed of sectors. Each sector is ( mile x mile) 800 meters x 1200 meters enclosed by roads allocated to fast mechanized transport and sealed to direct access from the houses. Each sector caters for the daily needs of its inhabitants which vary from 5000 to 25000 and has a green strip oriented longitudinally stretching centrally along the sector in the direction of the mountains. The green strip should stay uninterrupted of the mountains. The green strip should stay un-interrupted and accommodate schools, sports, walks and recreational facilities for the sector.

ROADS
The roads are designed and oriented in such a way that most of the time during the day, they are under shadow. There are huge parking areas for the commercial zones so that the Parking problems dont create a havoc on the main roads. The Parking lanes are as broad as the main roads. There are pedestrian walkway roads that are segregated from the main road with the help of a wide lawn strip. There are huge gardens along the main roads.

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, QT8, MILANO

THE FIRST PROPOSAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AT QT8, BY ARCHITECT PIERO BOTTONI, BEARS SOME BASIC SIMILARITIES IN TERMS OF THE PLANNING PRINCIPLES LIKE HIERARCHY OF GREEN SPACES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND BASIC BUILDING TYPOLOGY. THE LACK OF A DEFINED GRID SYSTEM AND THE SCALE OF THE PROJECT ARE THE MAJOR APPARENT DISSIMILARITIES. FIRST CONCEPT PROPOSAL FOR THE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN QT8 WAS BY PIERO BOTTONI

HIERARCHY of GREEN AREAS

A HIERARCHY OF GREEN SPACES CAN BE OBSERVED IN BOTH THE LAYOUT RANGING FROM PUBLIC GREENS AT CITY LEVEL TO SEMIPRIVATE TO PRIVATE GREEN AREAS. CITY LEVEL PUBLIC GREEN SPACE WITH ARTIFICIAL WATER BODY FREEFLOWING GREEN SPACE, CONNECTING THE ENTIRE SITE SEMIPRIVATE GREEN AREAS FOR NEIGHBORHOOD POCKETS PRIVATE GREEN AREAS FOR RESIDENTIAL UNITS

LEISURE VALLEY, CHANDIGARH

THE LEISURE VALLEY IS A GREEN SPRAWLING SPACE EXTENDING NORTH-EAST TO SOUTHWEST ALONG A SEASONAL RIVERLET GRADIENT AND WAS CONCEIVED BY LE CORBUSIER AS THE LUNGS OF THE CITY. APART FROM LARGE PUBLIC PARKS AND SPECIAL BOTANICAL GARDENS, IT HOUSES SERIES OF FITNESS TRAILS, AMPHITHEATRES AND SPACES FOR OPEN-AIR EXHIBITIONS. IMAGES OF VARIOUS SCULPTURES AND PUBLIC GREEN AREAS IN THE LEISURE VALLEY

CENTRAL PUBLIC COMPLEX

A Large Central Complex was to be proposed at the centre of the site housing the Church and other public facilities like Sports Complex, Assembly Hall, etc. The Central Sector of the city, Sector 17, is the main Public Congregation area of the city. It houses all major Shopping Complexes, Sports Facilities and Congregation Spaces.

BUILDING TYPOLOGIES
The Basic Building Typology is observed as extremely Rectilinear with similar proportions. In both the developments the smaller individual Residential Units are arranged around central common Green Spaces, although the shapes are different.

BUILDING PROJECTS
SECRETARIAT BUILDING1953 GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF ARTS 1959 PALACE OF ASSEMBLY1955 PALACE OF JUSTICE1952 MUSEUM AND ART GALLARY1952

PICTURE
GALLARY.......