Unfolding layers of Chandigarh's creation

CHANDIGARH: A few weeks ahead of master architect Le Corbuiser's 50th death anniversary, more than 40 people turned up for the first-ever guided tour of Architecture Museum in Sector 10 on Saturday, where layers of history unfolded in front of them from the pre-Corbusier era and the creation of Chandigarh to his unfinished buildings.
Architect Rajnish Wattas turned guide for the first tour, decoding the slices of time preserved in the museum in the form of notes, blueprints, maps and letters that dealt with the hunt for an architect to create Chandigarh to the incomplete projects of Corbusier.
The idea behind the tour, organized by the UT department of tourism and TOI, was simple: to acquaint residents with the buildings and heritage they look at every day. "When one looks at just a building, it means nothing to them. They cannot see the message behind it. But when we understand its essence, we would try to preserve it better," said Kavita Singh, director, tourism, UT administration.
As he started the tour from the lowest level of the museum, Wattas told the audience, "It is the greatest experiment of urban planning. This museum shows what it took to turn a barren land into a city for 1.2 billion people."
The audience was taken through the basement level, which showcases the pre-Corbusier era and all that occurred before the city's creation and the need for Chandigarh�the Partition trauma, site selection and the first team of architects. Level 1, which is the basement, began with Jawaharlal Nehru's quote, "Let this be a new town, symbolic of freedom of India unfettered by the traditions of the past�.. an expression of the nation's faith in the future".
Wattas explained why the site where it stands now was chosen for Chandigarh. "There were several reasons for why Chandigarh stands here now: The land was not very fertile, so no harm would be done to agriculture. It had a gentle slope, which later allowed the creation of the lake on one end. Plus, it offered a great view of the Shivaliks," he said.
Level 2, or the ground floor, displays material pertaining to Corbusier's entry into the scene and his work. The level also has on display a letter by the government team which mentions how Corbusier had shown �great interest' in planning the city. He was subsequently selected the architecture adviser of Chandigarh. "This is where you see how Corbusier came into the picture after the death of Matthew Nowicki, who was part of the American team with Albert Mayer," Wattas explained.
"We can see in his buildings and the furniture designed by Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret how local material and lowest costs were used to bring up this city," Wattas said.
The tour reached the first floor, which shows unfinished projects of the master architect, besides the finished buildings and housing schemes.
Chandigarh College of Architecture assistant professor Deepika Gandhi also assisted Wattas during the tour.