Le Corbusier was commissioned to design the new capital city of Chandigarh after the previous designers withdrew from the project. He retained the basic fan-shaped layout but converted it to a grid pattern with sectors. His design compressed the area while increasing density and respecting garden city principles. Chandigarh's plan was conceived as analogous to the human body, with defined areas serving as the head, heart, lungs, and other organs connected by a road network. Key features included sectors, a central business district, cultural/educational institutions, and open green spaces.

1. Le
CorbusierA n d
T h e p l a n n i n g o f C h a n d i g a r h

2. After partition of India in 1947, Punjab
was spilt in two with its initial capital
Lahore become a part of the new Pakistan.
This called for a new capital – Chandigarh.

3. The first layout of Chandigarh was made
by Albert Meyer and Mathew Nowicki.
The plan was fan shaped and used the
concept of neighbourhood design.
concept
City and district planning by Meyer and
Nowicki. The city wound spread into the
space between the two rivers.

4. Nowicki died in 1950 and Meyer withdrew from the project.
So called for a new designer – Le Corbusier.
He retained the basic layout but converted it into a grid iron
pattern. And created sectors in his design.
His new layout compressed Meyer’s 6,908 acres down to
5,380 acres, increasing the density of the city by 20% while
respecting the initial principles of the Garden City Movement.
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was
initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United
Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained
communities surrounded by "greenbelts", containing proportionate
areas of residences, industry and agriculture.
Chandigarh was perceived as a post war Garden city
where vertical and high rise were ruled out in view of the
living habitats of the people.

6. Size : 800m x 1200m
Consists of:
• Residential
• Institutional
• Commercial streets
• Green space
Used these modules to create the
grid pattern. There are total of 60
sectors with no 13th sector as it is
considered unlucky by Corbusier.
Though educational, cultural and medical
facilities are spread all over city,
however, major institutions are located in
Sectors 10, 11, 12, 14 and 26.
Every sector is introvert in character and
permits only 4 vehicular entries into its
interior.
The shopping street of each sector is
linked to the shopping street of the
adjoining sectors thus forming one long,
continuous ribbon like shopping street. The
central green of each Sector also
stretches to the green of the next sector
SECTOR DESIGN

7. HUMAN BODY CONCEPT OF
CHANDIGARH PLANNING

8. 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)
• the intellect (the cultural and educational institutions)
• the circulatory system (the network of roads, the 7Vs)
• the 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 sectors constitute the living part
• Capitol Complex, City Centre, Educational Zone (Post Graduate Institute,
Punjab Engineering College, Panjab University) and the Industrial Area
constitute the working part
• Leisure Valley, Gardens, Sector Greens and Open Courtyards etc. are for
the care of body and spirit.
• Circulation system comprises of 7 different types of roads known as 7Vs.
And a pathway for cyclists called V8 were added to this circulation system.

10. THEMIND

11. THEHEART

12. THELUNGS
Leisure Valley
The leisure valley is a green sprawling space
extending North-East to South-West along a
seasonal choe and was conceived by Le
Corbusier as the lungs of the city. The fitness
trails and the other gardens along the green
belt, which passes through the city, offer
quiet a retreat at all hours of the day,
orchestrating life's subtler impulses and
heightening the spiritual experience.
The Rock Garden
Spread over the several acres, this
fantasyland designed by Padam Shri Nek
Chand is a vast open-air museum that
showcases a vast array of natural rock forms
and stones. The Rock Garden was not a part
of the original Master Plan as conceived by
Le Corbusier. The layout of the garden is
based on the fantasy of the lost kingdom.
Sukhna Lake
Sukhna Lake is a large man made water
body conceived by Le Corbusier on the
North East face of the City. It is fed by water
from the Catchment area of the seasonal
rivulets on the foothills of the Shivaliks.

13. THEINTELLECT

14. THEBLOODLINES THE V8 ROAD SEGREGATION

15. THEVISCERA

16. GROWTH SINCE 1950 HOUSING DISTRIBUTION

17. COMPARION BETWEEN CITIES

18. Le Corbusier Pierre Jeanneret Jane B. Drew Maxwell Fry
TEAM BEHIND THE CHANDIGARH TOWN PLAN