Le Corbusier and Pierre Jean­neret —Chandi­garh, India

This book docu­ments the creation of Chandi­garh, India — conceived by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jean­neret as a new city built from the ground up follow­ing India’s inde­pen­dence. Commis­sioned by Prime Minis­ter Jawa­har­lal Nehru, the project encour­aged exper­i­men­ta­tion and a deci­sive break from tradi­tion, result­ing in a city — and an asso­ci­ated body of furni­ture, plans, and objects — that remains central to twentieth-century modernism.

Combin­ing archival and contem­po­rary photographs, sketches, maque­ttes, and archi­tec­tural draw­ings, the book presents Chandi­garh with clarity and restraint. Build­ings appear through clean lines and sculp­tural form, while furni­ture and inte­ri­ors reveal careful atten­tion to propor­tion and mate­r­ial. Photographs by Lucien Hervé under­score the city’s rhythm and light, creat­ing a measured dialogue between archi­tec­ture and image.

Rather than present­ing Chandi­garh as an abstract ideal, the book shows it as a lived envi­ron­ment. Streets, civic build­ings, and domes­tic spaces are treated as inte­grated elements of a coher­ent vision, demon­strat­ing Le Corbusier and Jeanneret’s modernism at both urban and human scale. It offers a sustained study of a city that contin­ues to inform archi­tec­tural and design thinking.