Le Corbusier en Inde

Since the 1920s, Le Corbusier is considered one of the greatest architects of his time. But despite the influence of his ideas, this self-taught genius had been denied all the prestigious public projects by the conservative decision makers in France and in the United States. It is Nehru's India, newly independent and post-partition, which offered him the chance of his life: the creation of a new city, Chandigarh, for the Indian Punjab which had lost it's traditional capital Lahore to Pakistan. Thus between 1951 and 1965, in the last part of his life, Le Corbusier built a series of masterpieces in Chandigarh but also in Ahmedabad, the then textile capital of India. In Ahmedabad, in the villas he designed for the industrial elite of the city, the villa Sarabhai and the villa Shodhan, he tested and perfected the architectural elements he would use in Chandigarh where apart from the plan of the city, he also designed the Capitol Complex containing the High court, the Secretariat and the Assembly building.