Le corbusier

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret
OR
LE CORBUSIER
MAJOR URBAN
PLANNING CONCEPTS
C.B.ABIRAMI

• Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier was
a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner,
writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern
architecture.
• He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in
1930.
• His career spanned five decades, he designed buildings in
Europe, Japan, India, and North and South America.
• After the First World War he "became quite active among the
avant-garde and devoted a large portion of his energy to
painting.
• His radical outlook extended to city planning, and his first
hook on the subject, Urbanisme. was published in 1924.
• la Ville Radieuse. his second major writing in city planning,
was published in 1935. In this book Le Corbusier clarified and
put into somewhat more complete order the proposals of
Urbanisme.

• Rectangle containing two cross axial highways
• At its heart was a six-level transport interchange – centre for motor, rail lines
(underground and main-line railways) and roof of which is air-field.
• 24 cruciform skyscrapers - 60 storeyed office building with density 1200 ppa and
covers 5% of the ground.
• Surrounding skyscrapers was apartment district – 8 storey buildings arranged in
zigzag rows with broad openspaces with density of 120 ppa.
• The buildings in the central area were raised on stilts (pilotis) so as to leave
panoramas of unbroken greenery at ground level
• The general impression was more of a city in a park than of a parkland in the city.
• The city espoused space, speed, mass production and efficient organisation, but
also offered combination of natural and urban environments.
City for 3 million people was proposed by Le
corbusier in 1922, which was based on four
principles :
• Decongestion of the centre of the cities
• Augmentation of the density
• Enlargement of the means of circulation
• Increase in the number of parks and open spaces
RADIANT CITY

PLAN VOISIN 1925
• 18 double cruciform 60 – storey skyscrapers, placed in an
orthogonal street grid and park-like.
• Le corbusier reworked green space certain elements of the
Ville Contemporaine.
• three clusters of applied to a section of luxury apartments
paris
• Street system
• Heavy traffic would proceed at basement level.
• lighter traffic at ground level.
• fast traffic should flow along limited-access arterial roads that supplied
rapid and unobstructed cross- city movement.
• pedestrianized streets, wholly separate from vehicular traffic and placed at
a raised level.
• The number of existing streets would be diminished by two-
thirds due to the new arrangements of housing, leisure
facilities and workplaces, with same-level crossing points
eliminated wherever possible.

LINEAR CITY
• Le corbusier rearranged the key features of the LINEAR CITY.
• The basic ideas of free circulation and greenery were still present, but the juxtaposition of
different land-uses had changed. For example, the central area was now residential instead
of a skyscraper office core.
• Elements of Le Corbusier’sPlan
– very high density
– 1,200 people per acre in skyscrapers
– overcrowded sectors of Paris & London ranged from 169-213 pers./acre at the time
– 120 people per acre in luxury houses
– multi-level traffic system to manage the intensity of traffic
• Analogy of the city with the abstract image of a man
– The skyscrapers (business area) of the Ville Contemporaine were rearranged away from the city center at
the ‘head’…[The] ‘body’ was made up of acres of housing strips laid out in a stepping plan to generate
semi-courts and harbours of greenery containing tennis courts, playing fields and paths.
– Light manufacturing, freight yards and heavy industries at the bottom.
• Traffic pattern –
– an orthogonal system with super imposed diagonals & the civic center is on the main axis
• Elements of Le Corbusier’sPlan
– access to greenspace
– between 48% and 95% of the surface area is reserved for greenspace
– gardens
– squares
– sports fields
– restaurants
– theaters
– with no sprawl, access to the “protected zone” (greenbelt/open space) is quick and easy

INTRODUCTION
• Chandigarh is a city and
a union territory in India that
serves as the capital of both
neighboring states
of Haryana and Punjab.
• Chandigarh was one of the
early planned cities in post-
independence India and is
internationally known for its
architecture and urban
design.
• About 8000 years ago, the
area was also known to be a
home to the Harappans.
• Area 114 km2 (44 sq mi)

CHANDIGARH
• Chandigarh was the dream
city of India's first Prime
Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru.
After the partition of India in
1947, the former British
province of Punjab was split
between (mostly Sikhs) East
Punjab in India and (mostly
Muslim) West
Punjab in Pakistan.
• The Indian Punjab required a
new capital city to
replace Lahore, which
became part of Pakistan
during the partition.
-CITY OF DREAMS (MODERN HISTORY)
•Therefore, an American planner
and architect Albert Mayer was
tasked to design a new city called
"Chandigarh" in 1949.

DESIGN TEAM
• An American Firm was commissioned in 1950 to
prepare the Master Plan for the new City.
• Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki were assigned.
• Novicki was tragically killed in an air accident and Mayer
decided to discontinue.
• Thereafter, the work was assigned to a team of architects led
by Charles Eduard Jeanneret better known as Le Corbusier in
1951.
• He was assisted by three senior architects, Maxwell Fry, his
wife Jane B Drew and Corbusier’s cousin, Pierre Jeanneret.
These senior architects were supported by a team of young
Indian architect and planner consisting of M.N. Sharma, A. R.
Prabhawalkar, U.E. Chowdhary, J.S. Dethe, B.P. Mathur, Aditya
Prakash, N.S. Lanbha and others.

GARDEN CITY
• 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.
• Certain
principles of
planning was
taken from the
plan of Mayer
and Noviciki.

Albert Mayer vs Corbusier
• The framework of the master plan and its
components the Capitol, City Centre, unive
rsity, industrial area, and a linear park and
as conceived by Mayer and Nowicki were
retained.
• The restructured master plan almost covere
d the same site and the neighborhood
unit was retained as the main module of
the plan.
• The Super block was replaced by now what
is called the sector covering an area of 91 h
ectares, approximately that of the three‐bl
ock neighborhood unit planned by Mayer.
• The City Centre, the railway station and the
industrial areas by and large retained their
original locations.
FAN-SHAPED MASTER PLAN
BY ALBERT MAYER
GRID-IRON MASTER PLAN
BY CORBUSIER

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).
The concept of the city is based on four major functions: living, working, care of
the body and spirit and circulation.
• Residential sector constitute the living part
• The Capitol Complex, city centre, Educational Zone and the Industrial Area
constitute the working part.
• The Leisure Valley, Gardens, Sector Greens and Open Courtyards etc. are
for the care of body and spirit.
• The circulation system comprises of 7 different types of roads.
PLANNING PRINCIPLES

2.City centre
1. Capital complex
3.Leisure valley
4.Industrial
6.Sukhna lake
5.Educational

PRIMARY MODULE - Sectors
• The primary module of city’s design
is a Sector, a neighborhood unit of
size 800 meters x 1200 meters.
• Each SECTOR is a self-sufficient unit
having shops, school, health centers
and places of recreations and
worship.
• The population of a sector varies
between 3000 and 20000 depending
upon the sizes of plots and the
topography of the area.
• Northern sectors have less density
than southern sectors.
• All sectors are further under Architectural control,
which consistof Frame Control, Material Control, Elevation Co
ntrol etc.

• It is clear that each residential sector
was envisaged as a relatively self-
contained urban village, consisting of
four neighborhood-sized quarters (24
ha) each bordering on a green strip with
pedestrian paths running north-south,
and a market street east-west.
• He allocated nearly 30% of the city to
parks and recreational areas.
• The sector has four entrance points,
two at either end of the market street
and two at either end of the green belt,
the maximum walking distance.
PLANNING OF A TYPICAL SECTOR
• The size of the sector is based on the concept of no pedestrian need
to walk for more than 10min.

SECTOR 17
• The sector 17 or the city center is placed in
the heart of the city, which is the majorly
for pedestrian.
• Its designated as the pedestrian paradise
Le Corbusier. 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.
• It is one complete sector of
approximately 100 hectares and broadly
divided into a two zones on the north
and south. The Southern zone was
developed as a center of district
administration, containing the district
courts and police headquarters, the fire
station and interstate bus terminus,
while major commercial and civic
functions are carried out in the northern
section.

CAPITAL COMPLEX – Sector 1
• Corbusier took upon himself the tasks
of designing the buildings of the
Capitol and exercising architectural
control over the city.
• Chandigarh capitol complex houses
the seat of Government.
• The Capital complex comprises three
architectural masterpieces, the
Secretariat, the High Court and the
Legislative Assembly, separated by
large piazzas.
• In the heart of the Capital Complex
stands the giant metallic sculpture of
the Open Hand, the official emblem of
Chandigarh, signifying the city’s credo
of “open to give, Open to receive”.

Secretariat
Assembly
Tower of Shadows
Geometric Hill
Martyrs Memorial High Court
Open Hand High Court
Extension
CAPITAL COMPLEX – SITE PLAN

SECRETARIAT
ASSEMBLY
HIGH COURT

GEOMERTIC HILL MARTYRS
MEMORIAL
OPEN HAND TOWER OF SHADOWS

Posh Areas of Chandigarh
• Sector 5
• VIP Sector of Chandigarh, Sector 5 hosts ministers, bureaucrats and
big shots. Beautiful bungalows with security guards on alert, Sector
5, Chandigarh is posh and only for influential people.
• Sector 8
• Mini Las Vegas, Sector 8 of Chandigarh is one of the posh sectors.
Housing retired army officers and colonels, Chandigarh has grand
houses with beautiful little patio in the front architecturally designed
for that classy living.
• Sector 9
• Sector 9, Chandigarh, you are be welcomed by mind blowing villas,
independent houses, kothis, bungalows as well as fine dining
restaurants for that classic chic lifestyle in a posh area of Chandigarh.
• Sector 10
• Safest in terms of thefts, crimes, etc, Sector 10 has huge houses with
lush green private lawns in the front porch.
• Not only houses, Sector 8, 9, 10 and 11 residents also own the best
of cars of the city.

• Sector 11
• Almost all the highly positioned gazetted officers, bureaucrats,
government officials and senior professors of the city, the sector
adds a feather, YMCA sports arena with recreational programs &
services for all ages.
• Sector 16
• The only sector in town where even the administration won’t dare to
allow a power supply cut and water scarcity to occur even if the
entire world is topsy-turvy.
• Homestead to wide variety of influential class ranging from high-
class Supreme and High court judges to IAS officers of the city, this
sector is a high security region
• Sector 33
• One sector that allows the business class to settle in the city with its
aesthetically sound lush green garden squares to beautifully
designed luxurious villas.
• Sector 33 of Chandigarh allows you to have a look at what the same
building material like a cement or stone is capable to cause. A havoc
in your brain and adrenaline rush in your body to be able to just
stare at those magnificent creations without a break.

ROADS – Circulation
• The 7Vs establishes a hierarchy of traffic
circulation ranging from : arterial roads (V1),
major boulevards (V2) sector definers (V3),
shopping streets (V4), neighbourhood streets
(V5), access lanes (V6) and pedestrian paths and
cycle tracks (V7s and V8s).
• Le Corbusier's traffic
system followed Mayer's
lines but was more
elaborate; he called it Les
Sept Voies de Circulation,
or Seven Vs.
• The 7 Vs act in the town
plan as the bloodstream,
the lymph system and the
respiratory system act in
biology.
• The transit traffic takes
place out of the sectors.
• The road system was so
designed that "never a
door will open on the
surrounding V3s: precisely
the four surrounding V3s
must be separated from
the sector by a blind wall all
along."

V1 ARTERIAL ROADS
V7 PEDESTRIAN PATHS

Landscaping
• Some 800 hectares of
green open space are
spread over the
approximately 114
square kilometers of the
Capital Project area.
• A Hierarchy of Green
Spaces can be observed
in both the layout
ranging from Public
Greens at City Level to
Semi-Private to Private
Green Areas.
• The Expert Heritage Committee on Preservation and Conservation
of Chandigarh has recommended preserving certain green areas of
the first phase, for declaration as ’Heritage Status’.

LIESURE VALLEY
• The city landscape plan of the first phases
showing the leisure valley and the swaths of
green Spaces that also acts as flood control.
• The Leisure Valley is a continuous 8 km
parkland with various theme gardens,
extending North-East to South-West along a
seasonal riverlet gradient and was conceived by
Le Corbusier as the lungs of the city.
• RAJENDRA PARK, Sector 1
• SMRITI UPAVAN, Sector 1
• BOUGAINVILLEA GARDEN, Sector-3
• FITNESS TRAILS, Sector 10
• BOTANICAL GARDEN, Sector 14
• ROSE GARDEN, Sector 16
• SHANTI KUNJ, Sector16
• TERRACED GARDEN, Sector 33
• TOPIARY PARK, Sector 35
• HIBISCUS GARDEN, Sector 36
• GARDEN OF FRAGRANCE, Sector 36

SUKHNA LAKE
• The artificial lake created has modified the
climate of the city.
• During the hot months of May and June,
enormous amounts of dust used to blow into
the city, a protective zone so that the city is now
free of the inconvenience of this flying sand.
• The area was declared as a ‘Silence Zone’.
• The lake is fringed by a golf course to the south,
and Nek Chand's famous Rock Garden of
Chandigarh to its west.
• Sukhna is a sanctuary for many exotic migratory
birds like the Siberian duck, storks and cranes,
during the winter months.
• The lake has been declared as a protected
national wetland by the Government of India.

ROCK GARDEN
• The Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a sculpture garden in Chandigarh
also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand.
• The Rock Garden is still made out of recycled materials.
• Today it is spread over an area of 40 acres .
• It is near Sukhna Lake.

The city of Chandigarh was developed in 3 phases :
• Sectors 1 to 30 have been developed in Phase-I , it was
completely developed in 1975.
• Sector 31to 47 have been developed in Phase- II , for
accommodating population of 5 lakhs in combined.
• Sectors 48 to 56 in Phase III has been taken up.

This edict of Chandigarh
was prescribed by Mon
Le Corbusier, for its
citizens to follow in
future. This edict sets out
the following basic ideas
underlying the planning
of the city.
EDICT OF THE CITY
“THE SEED OF CHANDIGARH IS WELL SOWN, ITS FOR THE CITIZENS
TO SEE THAT THE TREE FLOURISHES”

• Human Scale
– The city of Chandigarh is planned to human scale.
– It provides us with places and buildings for all human activities.
• Sectors
– Each sector caters for the daily needs of its inhabitants and has
a green strip oriented longitudinally stretching centrally along
the sector in the direction of the mountains.
– The green strip should stay un-interrupted and accommodate
schools, sports, walks and recreational facilities for the sector.
– Vehicular traffic is completely forbidden in the green strips
• Landscaping
– Selected ornamental trees, shrubs and climbers have been
planted according of colour schemes to beautify it. In future
planting and replacement, these principles must be kept in view.
– The Leisure Valley, the Rajindra Park and other parks shall be
developed as parks only and no building other than already
planned shall be permitted.

• Roads
– The roads of the city are classified into seven categories known
as systems of 7 Vs as below :
• V-1 Fast roads connecting Chandigarh to other towns.
• V-2 Arterial roads.
• V-3 Fast vehicular sector dividing roads.
• V-4 Meandering shopping streets.
• V-5 Sector circulation roads.
• V-6 Access roads to houses.
• V-7 Foot paths and cycle tracks.
– Buses will only ply on V-1, V-2, V-3 and V-4 roads. A wall shall
seal the V-3 roads form the sector.
• No Personal Statue Be Erected
– The age of personal statues is gone. No personal statues shall be
erected in the city or parks of Chandigarh.
• Truthfulness of Building Materials to be Maintained.
– The truthfulness of materials of constructions, concrete, bricks
and stone shall be maintained in all buildings and constructed or
to be constructed.

• Areas of special Architectural interest.
– Along V-2 central where sky-line heights, character and
architecture of buildings as planned shall not be altered.
– No building shall be constructed north of the Capitol
Complex.
– Along V-2 beyond dual carriage way, areas are reserved for
cultural institutions only and shall never have any residential
buildings.
• City Centre
– The central plaza in Sector-17 was designated by Le Corbusier
as “ Pedestrians Paradise”. No vehicular traffic will be
permitted in the plaza.
• Industrial Area
– Only such industries as are powered by electricity would be
permitted in the Industrial Areas so that atmosphere is saved
from pollution.
• The Lake
– There shall be no commercial exploitation of the lake and its
environment and its tranquility shall be guaranteed by
banning noises.

Pros & cons
• City not planned for lower income people.
• Un-Indian.
• Lack of excitement of Indian cities.
• Absence of Indian culture.
• Wealthiest town of India.
• First modern architecture of Indian city planning.
• No 1 in terms of Human Development Index.
• 3rd highest GDP growth rate 9.64%.
• Cleanest and Greenest City in India.
• Visually powerful.
• It was majorly designed giving importance to the
pedestrian usage.
HIGHLIGHTS
DRAWBACKS

Le corbusier

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