On 128th b'day, youthful dream as gift

CHANDIGARH: When the birth anniversary celebrations of Le Corbusier kick off from October 6, visitors to Capitol Complex will be able to see a life-size model of Museum of Knowledge near Open Hand monument - the exact spot where the Swiss-French architect envisaged it to be.Chandigarh College of Architecture (CCA), Sector 12, is attempting to complete the unfinished landscape of Capitol Complex by building the life-size model that was intended to be its fourth building after the Secretariat, Assembly Hall and the high court.Made of timber, plywood, wood blocks and canvass, the structure will be placed exactly at the spot where Museum of Knowledge was intended to be built. It will also be of the same dimensions, towering close to 70 feet in height. Corbusier had conceptualized the museum as the Governor's Palace, but the plan was abandoned later.Le Corbusier was born on October 6, 1887, at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and died on August 27, 1965 at the age of 77. The UT administration held a slew of events to observe the 50{+t}{+h} death anniversary of the master architect recently, even re-opening a sound and light show at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, Chandigarh.With the celebrations scheduled to go on till October 12, CCA principal Pradeep K Bhagat expressed confidence that the project will be completed by October 9.A CCA faculty member associated with the anniversary celebrations said it was the second time such a structure will be built to commemorate the unbuilt symphony of Corbusier. Earlier, it was done in the 1990s.While CCA will float tenders to hire workmen to complete the job, the structure will be erected in the first week of October, when a host of other activities like an exhibition and an international symposium are also lined up.It is yet to be decided whether the structure will remain at the same spot, or go back to the college after the celebrations are over.What will it haveLe Corbusier had conceptualized the Museum of Knowledge as a decision-making or briefing centre for government officials. Its interiors were to be of offices, workshops, laboratories, exhibition rooms and a state hall.Birth anniversaryThe birth anniversary of Corbusier will be commemorated with lectures by eminent architects and prize distributions for various painting, photography and design competitions held as part of the celebrations. A book on Chandigarh by M N Sharma, the first Indian chief architect of Chandigarh, will also be released.