After the loss of Lahore to the newly-created Pakistan, India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, envisioned the new capital of post-Independence Punjab as a city that would mark the beginning of a new era for the country.
“Let this be a new town, symbolic of (the) freedom of India unfettered by the traditions of the past…an expression of the nation’s faith in the future,” he said.
A futuristic city, then, was to be built in Chandigarh, near the foothills of the Himalayas—240km north of New Delhi. The location was chosen for its good water supply, moderate climate, and pleasant views. On Dec. 19, 1950, after the tragic death of the Polish architect initially chosen for the project, the Swiss-French architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier, signed on to create the city’s masterplan.
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