It has run found a place in the list of world heritage cities. Chandigarh not only needs to preserve the spirit of its town plan but also address the needs of rising population in an innovative way. For this the city needs to evolve its architecture keeping the Indian ethos is mind and Le Corbusier’s spirit alive. Expressing this, Michael Turner, member World Heritage Committee, Unesco Chair for Urban Design and Conservation Studies, Jerusalem said that Le Corbusier had anticipated growth and planned for a vibrant city. The deep understanding of city that Le Corbusier had was remarkable, he added.
Similar views were expressed by other experts on the on the concluding day of the four-day long workshop on Historic Urban Landscapes of the 20th Century, organised by Chandigarh Administration in collaboration with Unesco.
Leo Schubert from IUAV University, Venice, Italy, said that Corbusier’s architectural concepts were an incorporation of modernity with an acceptance of the past and reinterpretation. “While Corbusier openly said that styles are a lie, he always emphasised that historic buildings such as the Acropolis and others were perfect examples of universalism of proportions. Le Corbusier imbibed the teachings from history to come up with his own proportions and scales study to come up with one of his most important contributions to architectural and aesthetic theory, the Modular,” he added.
Yves dauge, Senateur d’Indre et Loire, Paris, France felt that it cannot be defined what falls under conservation and what falls under urban development. Both issues cannot be isolated but they are to be discussed on a whole. Underscoring the global approach in this direction, he said challenges are being faced for renovation of the cities today. He emphasised on the great political will which is needed to cope with this as private professionals alone cannot do it on their own.
“Efforts should be done at the national as well as at the local level. The main thing is the identification of right policy and implementation of policy by higher authorities. It needs to have a detailed, accurate and precise plan of work for all the fields related to heritage to define the policy and to conduct it. It will valid everywhere, in Chandigarh too,” he added.