21/02/2025
Making of the icons :
As Chandigarh began to take shape, its identity emerged brick by brick. However, with the architectural achievements came a critical question: how would these spaces be furnished? Like the city itself, the furniture needed a unique identity, one that embodied the progressive ideologies on which Chandigarh was founded. Already operating on a shoe string budget, the furniture needed to be cost effective as well.
This pivotal task was entrusted to Pierre Jeanneret as earlier he had collaborated with Charlotte Perriand designing furniture in Le Corbusier’s office in 1928 and later with Knoll in 1948, where he designed the Scissor Chair.
Jeanneret assembled a small but dedicated design team under the larger umbrella of “Team Capitol,” Together, they began experimenting with furniture concepts, starting with pieces for Jeanneret’s own Chandigarh residence. The initial designs drew inspiration from vernacular Indian furniture, such as the ‘manjha’ (Indian cot), utilizing bamboo as the primary material and incorporating weaving techniques with cotton straps (navar) and thin jute ropes (vaan).
These early explorations laid the foundation for the iconic furniture we associate with Chandigarh today. The designs achieved a harmonious blend of modernist aesthetics and traditional Indian craftsmanship, embodying the spirit of Punjabiyat. Over time, the team developed more than 200 prototypes, including chairs, lab stools, office desks, library tables,etc. Furniture of almost every typology was explored. They even designed daybeds which were a modern take on the traditional Indian cot.
Despite major constraints, the resulting designs were extraordinary, showcasing the skill and artistry of Indian craftsmanship who could create wonders with simple tools and their hands alone.
Image sources :
(1&3) Archives from Canadian Centre of Architecture
(2&5 ) Lucien Harvey, Archives Judith et Lucien Hervé, Paris
(4,6 & 7) Photos Studio Indiano, Chandigarh Archives Eric Touchaleaume, Paris
*The photographs are used as references to explain the caption & CAL has no copyrights on the same. Rightful credits have been given for each photograph.
