Sector-10
Chandigarh
Chandigarh Architecture Museum, commonly known as the City Museum, is one of the three museums situated in the museum complex of Sector 10, Chandigarh. The famous architect, Sh. S.D. Sharma, was trained directly by the team of French architect, Le Corbusier, and used the forms created by Le Corbusier for an exhibition pavilion in Switzerland as the inspiration for the building. The present architecture is modernist and utilitarian, keeping in line with the other two neighbouring museums. The museum spreads vertically over four levels.
The gallery succeeding the reception area on the first level is about the history and early planning of the city of Chandigarh. It displays some of the original letters and correspondence between architects and the administrators. Mathew Nowiski, who was originally chosen along with Albert Mayor for the planning and the building of Chandigarh, tragically died in an unfortunate plane crash on August 31, 1950, while commuting between the US and Chandigarh. An excerpt from one of his letters is framed and displayed in the gallery.
The second level displays the exhibits based on the theme and concepts of Le Corbusier. French artist Jean Lurçat, who initiated the revival of tapestry once remarked that one fibre of wool is much more precious and potent than the piece of a paper used in painting. Picasso and many other artists of his generation were inspired by Lurçat’s enthusiasm and took up designing tapestry as a form of creative expression. Le Corbusier also designed tapestries, one of which decorates the walls on the second and third levels of City Museum.
The exhibits on the third level are based on the theme 'Chandigarh Today and Tomorrow'. The model of the hyperbolic-paraboloid dome of the Chandigarh Assembly is displayed along with models of the secretariat and tastefully designed utilitarian furniture by Pierre Jeanerette. A long graph-like-panel is also on display, carrying various details such as physical geography, human geography, ethics, etc. The Open Hand monument, symbolic of peace and unity, is also replicated in a model and showcased in the gallery.
The City Museum is representative of the spirit of the first planned city of independent India and continues to inspire modern and urban experiments.
30.7489118, 76.7874675
Pictured here is an information board displaying the various details about different levels of the building and other such related information.
The entrance ushers the visitor into the sub-ground gallery where the blueprints, information panels, and photographs of the conception of the city of Chandigarh are displayed.
The vision of the city of Chandigarh in words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, has been displayed near the entrance of the museum.
Pictured here is a board which shows the photographs of some notable personalities who helped in shaping the present-day city of Chandigarh.
The miniature model of the old office of the Chief Architect of the Capital project is tastefully displayed in a glass case.
Co-architect and cousin of Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret was also a furniture designer. The furniture designed by him is appreciated for its ethnic and modernist touch. Many of his designed furniture pieces are displayed in the museum.
The model of the hyperbolic-paraboloid dome of the Chandigarh Assembly is displayed, and the model of the secretariat nearby is kept with the tastefully designed utilitarian furniture by Pierre Jeanerette.
A long graph-like-panel is also displayed, carrying various details such as physical geography, human geography, ethics, and aesthetics, etc.
The Open Hand monument, symbolic of peace and unity is also replicated in a model and showcased in the gallery.
There is no entry fee for children below the age of 7.