Pierre Jeanneret and Chandigarh

Chandigarh is a dream city that got its character from the fascinating work of two gifted Swiss-French architects—Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. The vision and approach of these two cousins, both masters of modernism, helped Chandigarh emerge as a beautiful, planned city. Over the years, however, it has been Le Corbusier who has been largely talked about and, unfortunately, Pierre Jeanneret’s amazing contribution in shaping this city remained unknown. It is this gap that the book Pierre Jeanneret and Chandigarh aims to fill. For the author, Le Corbusier was the dreamer and Pierre Jeanneret was the implementer and it is their partnership that created the ‘City Beautiful’, as Chandigarh is known. Pierre Jeanneret designed housing for government employees and buildings for health and education services, including the sprawling Panjab University campus. He arrived in India in 1951 and left Chandigarh in 1965, with the expressed desire that his ashes be submerged in Sukhna Lake, as he wanted to stay with his creation even after his death. The author brings alive Pierre Jeanneret’s days in Chandigarh, portrays the brilliance of the architect, the humility and simplicity of the man, as well as shows how he worked with dedication to leave a lasting impact on the world of architecture.