In a bid to encourage and facilitate research and study of heritage buildings in the City Beautiful, the UT Administration is chalking out a plan to work in partnership with renowned national and international organisations.
The UT Urban Planning Department has proposed collaborations with renowned national and international institutions of architecture to encourage research and study on Chandigarh’s heritage buildings. At present, a large number of researchers visit Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex for their study projects. Designed by renowned French architect le Corbusier, the Capitol Complex has been approved as a Grade I heritage precinct by the Government of India on the recommendation of the UT Expert Heritage Committee constituted by it.
As per the UT Administration’s data, the buildings in Capitol Complex are visited by more than 8000 visitors, mainly work related on a working day besides the staff. The entire complex is also visited by a large number of architects, historians and researchers from across the world every day. Notably, Corbusier’s Capitol Complex in Chandigarh along with his works in other countries is included in the trans-border serial nomination for UNESCO heritage status for 2015. After approval of Union Ministry of Culture, Chandigarh’s nomination dossier was sent to Fondation le Corbusier in Paris in October last year.
As per the proposal mooted by the UT Urban Planning Department, study and research on all aspects of the nominated property should be encouraged by providing access to both the property and the previous research and literature already available. And, a dedicated heritage cell should facilitate dissemination of knowledge and provide avenues for further research. “With a view to facilitate the research on heritage buildings here, the UT Administration is considering to collaborate with various national and international institutions. The UT Urban Planning Department has already asked the Chandigarh College of Architecture to explore various options in this regard,” said a senior official of the UT Administration while talking to The Pioneer.
It is also proposed that short and long term research projects in partnership with national and international schools of architecture, France based Fondation le Corbusier and other leading historians and scholars should be initiated and promoted by the Chandigarh College of Architecture and UT Administration. le Corbusier Foundation in Paris is a devoted organisation working in conservation, acknowledgment, knowledge and dissemination of Swiss Architect le Corbusier’s work across the globe. le Corbusier architectural works covers four continents and 11 countries across the world.
The UT official added that the UT Urban Planning Department has earlier recommended that the Chandigarh based le Corbusier Centre should got affiliated to le Corbusier Foundation in Paris for expanding its database to facilitate higher research. The le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19 here was established to commemorate and preserve the work and legacy of Corbusier. The Swiss-French architect had used the office while conceptualising the city almost six decades ago and now this old office in Sector-19 houses le Corbusier Centre.