Postwar & Welfare-Modernist (1945–1975)

Chandigarh

1951–1965 · India · South Asia · National modernization and capital-city building · Planned by Le Corbusier, Mayer, Jeanneret, Fry, Drew
The original Chandigarh master-plan scheme drawing — 'Plan of New Capital Punjab' (Drawing No. 2/6, 1953) — showing Le Corbusier's gridiron of numbered sectors, the Capitol Complex at the head, and th
The original Chandigarh master-plan scheme drawing — 'Plan of New Capital Punjab' (Drawing No. 2/6, 1953) — showing Le Corbusier's gridiron of numbered sectors, the Capitol Complex at the head, and th · cc0

Core idea

Sectoral grid; hierarchy of V1–V7 streets

Why it matters

Modernist capital; planning pedagogy icon

Description

Le Corbusier's Chandigarh (1951–65), capital of the Indian Punjab, realized his urban theories at city scale: a grid of self-contained 'sectors,' a hierarchy of seven road types (the 7Vs), separated functions, and a monumental concrete Capitol Complex of government buildings.

Significance

Chandigarh is the only city largely built to Le Corbusier's principles and the most complete realization of modernist planning. Postcolonial India's flagship of modernity, it remains a global pilgrimage site and a touchstone in debates over modernist urbanism.

What shaped it

Plans it influenced

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.