Chandigarh Revealed: Le Corbusier’s City Today

In this work of architectural photography, Fynn provides a superb look at North India’s Chandigarh, Le Corbusier’s singular planned city, 60 years after its completion. In 1950, in the aftermath of the partition of India and Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru commissioned French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier to build a new city, envisioning “a distinctly Indian interpretation of modernity, untethered from the legacy of its colonial past.” The book reveals a futuristic vision that has been absorbed by contemporary Indian society without being subsumed, showcasing both Corbusier’s tremendous work and modern accretions and deviations. There are pictures of contemporary furniture in use and Corbusier-designed sofas piled up in haphazard storage. Accompanying commentary—an essay by architectural historian Vikramaditya Prakash and an interview with M.N. Sharma, one of the architects from Le Corbusier’s team—foregrounds the ways in which Chandigarh is a plan that, while cluttered by reality, has made for a still-desirable city. The book features maps of the buildings and indications of the exact locations and angles of the photographs taken. This is a visually astute and intimately observed study. Color photos. (Apr.)