Art and architecture are getting divorced despite the fact, there exists thin line to differentiate between art and architecture. If Art is labelled as,’ expression of human creative skill/imagination in visual form, Architecture ,is defined as art and science of creating buildings based on utility ,strength and beauty. If a great piece of art is an object of joy and pleasure, a well designed and constructed building brings joy and happiness for the owner, community and user .As a creative science Art has leveraged architecture in numerous ways giving architecture a new theme, meaning and vocabulary. Chandigarh, a role model in the field of architecture and urban planning, designed by Mon Le-Corbusier and his team of great architects, have made extensive use of art as integral part of the designing various buildings including buildings in Capitol Complex, High Court, Assembly, College of Art and Architecture etc to promote their aesthetics and beauty. If architecture is called the body, art rightly assumes the role of soul. Majority of problems facing the profession of architecture has genesis in growing mismatch between art and architecture. The existing ideology of architectural education and practice needs to be, revisited

1. Defining Role of Art in Promoting Chandigarh Architecture
 Jit Kumar Gupta
 Chitrangda Sharma
Preamble
In the parlance of human history, art and architecture are known to have high
degree of convergence and inter-relationship to promote various forms of visual arts
and quality built environment besides creating iconic urban spaces. There has
existed in the history thin line to define and differentiate between art and
architecture. If art has been labelled as,’ expression of human creative skill and
imagination in the visual form, producing works to be appreciated for their beauty
and emotional power; Architecture ,as applied science, has its genesis in creating
buildings known for their form, usefulness ,strength and beauty. If a great piece of
art is an object of joy and pleasure, a well designed and constructed building is not
only useful for owner but also brings joy and happiness for the community and
people who use it. Looking at the entire context of art and architecture, Don Rice, an
American entertainer says,’ There are three forms of visual art- painting is an art to
look at; sculpture is an art you can walk around and architecture is an art you can
walk through.’ Prime differentiator of art and architecture is, that Architecture is
known to have a practical aspect which art does not have. Architecture is primarily
driven by context, economy, site, climate, material, form, technology, light and
structural language whereas art has only visual and emotional connotations. Despite
distinct barriers, art has been prime mover of architecture. All great master pieces in
architecture built in the past, owe their creation to great artists. Art has been seen to
be prime mover of architecture, as all eminent architects had great understanding
and appreciation of art, which is clearly reflected in the buildings designed by them.
Good artists are known to be good architects. Art as a creative science has
leveraged architecture in numerous ways giving architecture a new theme, meaning
and vocabulary. Chandigarh, a role model in the field of architecture and urban
planning, designed by Mon Le-Corbusier and his team of great architects, have
made extensive use of art as integral part of the designing various buildings

2. including buildings in Capitol Complex, High Court, Assembly, College of Art and
Architecture etc to promote their aesthetics and beauty. Paper looks through, define
and detail out the elements of art used in few selected buildings to make them state
of art and universal buildings, locally and globally. Paper also detail out the various
forms of art used, their context and the way they have impacted the architecture of
the building where they are used..
Introduction
Desire to make habitat, visually and physically, beautiful has always been dominant
and part of the human instinct, giving a distinct meaning to the built spaces created
in the process. Accordingly, all kinds of arts, available at the human command, have
been used and deployed to create state of art buildings. If art has been labelled as,’
expression of human creative skill and imagination in the visual form, producing
works to be appreciated for their beauty and emotional power; Architecture , has its
genesis in creating buildings known for their form, usefulness, strength and beauty.
Looking at the entire context of art and architecture, Architecture is primarily driven
by context, form, function and climate whereas art has only visual and emotional
connotations. Despite these barriers art, Architecture, sculpture, and painting once
shared common canvas. Indeed, they were admirably intertwined at various points in
history-in the ancient cultures of East and West, and in the European Gothic,
Renaissance, and Baroque periods. It is only during relatively recent times in human
civilization that the separation of art and architecture has taken place.
Modernist movement and Art
The modernist movement, in the recent past, led to divorce between art and
architecture because of the belief that anything which did not qualify on the altar of
structural necessity or material functionalism was considered irrelevant and was
accordingly rejected. This movement considered, shape of buildings and relationship
between solids and voids created in the building envelop, as the piece of art work,
necessitating the elimination of any artistic expression applied to the buildings.
Separation of art and architecture has its origin and genesis when architectural
discipline started its journey of aligning itself with the fields of science and
technology. In this process, functionality, rationalism and humanizing qualities were

3. considered irrelevant and unnecessary and accordingly discarded. In addition,
advent and domination of buildings as a commodity to be traded by real estate
agents also led to leaving little room for expressionism and making art an integral
part of the buildings. This led to elimination of paintings and sculptures from
buildings. With principle of standardization and multiplication guiding the designing
and construction of buildings, it became rare to find architecture, art, and sculpture
united in the built form. This lack of art in architecture contributed to the large scale
visual poverty and impersonality experienced in most 20th century cities around the
world. The inability of mainstream modernist architecture to establish a more
humanized environment gave rise to the postmodern movement. The eclecticism of
this movement attempted to counter the alienating abstractness of modernist
architecture, among others by means of reintegrating imagery, ornament, colour and
various visual art and craft practices into the architectural design. Starting of formal
system of education also led to divorce and widening the gap between art and
architecture, because in formal education art and architecture were never considered
on the same platform and supportive of each other. Interest in art needs to be
encouraged among students of architecture, right from the beginning of their
academic pursuit, by making it a critical component of course curricula. In addition,
students of art should also be made to understand the context of application of art in
architecture. In fact it will be critical if the courses in art and architecture are run
within the same institution under the same roof with high degree of shared learning
and teaching. This mechanism would go a long way in not only promoting synergy
between two profession but would also help in creating professionals which would
improve the quality and context of built space.
Chandigarh Experiment
Chandigarh, considered a successful experiment in architecture and city planning,
has its genesis in the contribution made by team of architects led by Le-Corbusier ,
who were brought to India in 1951, to define and script the destination of the capital
city of Chandigarh, unfettered by the traditions of the past, after old capital city
Lahore was lost to Pakistan during partition of India in 1947.

4. Artist, painter, architect, city planner, sculptor, furniture designer, writer, thinker,
publisher, amateur photographer and filmmaker, Le Corbusier, multifaceted
personality of twentieth century, with almost forty books and hundreds of published
essays to his credit backed by four-decade of turbulent professional career in
reshaping cities from South America to India, designing seventy five iconic buildings
in a dozen countries, working on over four hundred architectural projects, gave a
new architectural vocabulary to the city built environment with the support and use
of art, making it integral part of design. Corbusier use of colours and visual imagery
was delightful with its enamels, bas-reliefs, tapestries and painted walls. Le-
Corbusier, who represented a movement to integrate art and architecture once said:
“You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses
and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my
heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: ‘This is beautiful.’- That is Architecture.
In his effort to make buildings iconic in Chandigarh, Corbusier used various forms of
art in the interior and on the exterior of buildings, considering the context, ambience
and quality of spaces to be created. Capitol remains the major operational area
where Corbusier used and showcased his understanding, expertise, knowledge and
mastery of use of various forms of art to create and support new architectural
vocabulary.
Capitol
The Capitol Complex of Chandigarh, one among 17 buildings of the Swiss-French
architect Le Corbusier added to the World Heritage List in 2016, is an architectural
wonder, incongruous to the era in which it was created. Conceptualized and built in
the 1950s by Le Corbusier, it is a sprawling area that houses three buildings – the
Legislative Assembly (or the Palace of Assembly), the Secretariat and the High
Court. Seeming to spring from the pages of a popular Ayn Rand novel, the buildings
are just the right amalgamation of eclectic and old-world grandeur that simply take
one’s breath away.( Jane Pauline Hamilton).
Capitol considered the, crowning glory, most valuable and adorable part of the
capital city, comprises of key buildings forming pillars of democracy in terms of

5. Secretariat, Assembly, High Court and Governor's Palace. These buildings were
designed on individual basis to be placed in a huge park without any physical
connect, based on the principles of urban design to form an urban complex.
However, during the course of design, Corbusier realized that considering the huge
size of park and large distances separating the Assembly and the High Court, there
is a need to connect these buildings both visually and physically. This led to planning
and designing of number of monuments including Open Hand, Martyr's Memorial,
Geometric hill, Tower of Shades, 24 Solar hours and the Course of Sun between
Solstices , to be placed in the vast space besides playing with forms, using bright
colours, having a enameled door, creating water bodies for reflecting the glory of
buildings, to give a new theme and vocabulary to the spaces. In the words of Watts,
’At the Capitol, art and architecture come together as one unified conception, each
complementing the other. This is not surprising, for Corbusier was like a latter-day
20th century's Leonardo da Vinci and not only merely an architect-urbanist. He was a
painter, sculptor, writer, philosopher and a poet too’.
In designing the Legislative Assembly and the High Court, Corbusier used his
expertise as a sculptor giving unique shape to the making of these architecture
marvels . It was the artist in Corbusier that propelled him to plan, design and place
the great sculpture in the shape of The Open Hand, in the heart of the Capital
Complex to define the city agenda and message of ,’Open to receive and Open to
give’.
Placing the capitol at the top of the city with beautiful Shivalik range of hills forming
the majestic backdrop, was intended to synthesise the manmade environment with
the nature’s glory in terms of colours, landscape, skylines etc. The complex was
meant to create the illusion of the whole space of the Complex being adequately
filled with built masses of “the monuments” and the edifices”. The material chosen for
the construction of buildings in the complex was rugged concrete, left unfinished,
with the imprint of the wood used to cast it clearly visible on its surface, to connect
the buildings with the range of hills and to give the building an arguably more robust
character. Concrete commanded its own texture, strength, colour, aesthetics,
appeal and utility with value addition made through specifically designed shuttering
patterns, bas-reliefs and motifs. For giving vernacular theme to architecture of

6. buildings and creating linkages with the Indian civilization, flora, fauna and eco-
system, Corbusier used the motif ranging from seals, animals including bulls,
cows, birds, fishes drawn from ancient Indian civilization as integral part of the
building interiors and exteriors.
Use of bold and primary colours in the buildings is seen as another special feature
of Capitol, through which Corbu tried to integrate art with architecture. Colours
provide a distinct character not only to complex but also the buildings which housed
them. The genesis of using bold colours in buildings has its roots in the theory
Polycromie Architecturale developed by Corbusier, based on the analogy to musical
harmonies. As per Giuseppina Scavuzzo, "These colours bear a strong relation to
Nature; and introduce a new kind of link between inside and outside, using colour as
a space-defining element.” The colours have been applied strategically by Corbusier
in order to provide distinct character and visibility to the buildings. In case of Court of
Justice, these bold colours adore the three great pylons with pastel shades of green,
yellow and pink salmon facing the assembly building, whereas in the case of
Assembly, colours mark the great entrance to the building, specially created for the
head of the state to enter the building on the special occasions.
Palace of Assembly
Palace of Assembly remains the iconic building of the capital complex due to its
peculiar form, unique shape and out of box design, largely propelled by the artistic
instinct of the Le-Corbusier. Conceived as a free standing structure, hyperbolic in
form, enclosed within a rectilinear shell, spanned by entrance portico and band of
offices on sides, Assembly building has been designed on the pattern of a
sculpture.The building houses two distinct chambers comprising of large assembly
chamber (Punjab assembly), and smaller council chamber (Haryana assembly).
Large chamber lies under a massive hyperbolic tower, extending above the roofline
with height extending 124ft at its highest point, and a diameter of 128ft at its base.
The hyperbolic shell has an average thickness of 15 cm, constant throughout the
surface for ensuring low cost and a minimising weight. Smaller chamber,
conceptualised in a rectilinear frame, features a pyramidal roof. Two chambers are
linked by a great foyer. The large chamber has its genesis in the cooling towers of

7. thermal plants, Corbusier saw while flying over Ahmadabad. However, the tower
housing large chamber does not terminate in a horizontal but in an oblique section,
chamfered deliberately by Corbusier ,considering his fascination with the Indian
bulls. It has a metallic framework (aluminum) to promote Interplay of natural lighting,
artificial lighting, ventilation and acoustic . However, glory of the assembly is defined
by the colours, furniture, tapestries and images which Corbusier used with great
precision, to define the interiors and entrance to the building. Each work of art
comprises of Corbusier signature -like arrangement of colours with symbols and
motifs in contrasting shades. This includes an enamelled door painted by Corbusier
himself, which appears at the entrance of the Assembly
The rugged shade of the exposed reinforced concrete used for construction coupled
with bright primary colours, shapes and forms punctuated with skylight and window
cut-outs of different shapes makes the building unique and colourful besides
promoting ventilation and the illusion of height. The assembly chamber, with a
seating capacity of 252 persons, is a study in colour, form and space with the
hyperbolic parabolic dome set within the three layers of pastel shades of green,
yellow and pink punctuated by sound-absorbing acoustic tiles and cloud-like
shapes. The art in the interior of the large chamber has been structured in three
distinct layers, each defining a specified theme, meaning and objective. First layer,
meant to provide perfect acoustics required for the rational functioning of the
assembly, is occupied by the sound-absorbing acoustic tiles laid over a red painted
wall . The second layer, painted in pastel yellow, superimposed by numerous
patches in different shapes giving an impression of floating clouds over the sky
spanning the narrowing diameter of the dome and finally merging into the skylight,
forming the third layer.The richness and brightness of colours continues with yellow
carpets defining the floor and green upholstered chairs, specially designed by
Corbusier team for seating the legislators.
Assembly door
One of the greatest and finest pieces of art, defining the assembly building, is the
huge centrally pivoted enameled door placed on the south-east side facing the high
court. The twenty five feet square door is the personal gift of the Le Corbusier to the
people of Punjab. Accordingly, it was designed; painted and got enameled by him in

8. France before it was transported to Chandigarh for installation. Door is placed in the
assembly portico and opened only on ceremonial days. Enamelled panels on both
sides, depict Corbusier famous signs and symbols including sun, bull, eagle, trees
etc. Painting on the door has genesis in Corbusier pre-occupation with man's
relationship with the cosmos. It depicts and defines the intimate relationship between
lithosphere, hydrosphere and bio-sphere which dictates the total life on the planet
earth and the role of sun and the atmosphere which shape the built environment and
human living. Accordingly, outer face of the door has been designed and painted in
two distinct parts. The upper part symbolizes the cosmos, painted in bright red and
yellow sky , depicting the twenty four hour and three sixty five day solar movement
defining solar /lunar cycle forming day & night and the different seasons. The lower
half, painted largely in green replete with bright yellow colour, depicts the
lithosphere and the bio-sphere , populated with human beings, plants, animals,
birds, mammals , microbes and natural formations including rivers etc . Corbusier
made sure to allocate one panel dedicated specially to the team which was
assigned the task of designing and making the city a reality. The team is shown
symbolically in the form of animals and birds ,san any human figure , in order to
make it integral part of painting. The door was installed on April 15, 1964 in the
Assembly building, in a special dedication ceremony when Corbusier specifically
came to attend , barely a year before his death. Assembly door is a living tribute to
Corbusier skill in the field of synthesizing art and architecture.
TAPESTRIES
Another form of art that was used extensively, intelligently and innovatively by Le-
Corbusier in the buildings of the capital complex, was the art of weaving pictures and
images into textiles used for covering walls and floors. This form of art called
Tapestries, exhibited rich colours, textures, great skill and myriad techniques forming
integral part of art history (Tapestries for Chandigarh). Out of 12 Tapestries used by
Corbusier, three adore the walls of the Assembly buildings whereas rest nine pieces
were use in the courtrooms of Palace of Justice. The success of the tapestries in
High Court led to installation of three tapestries in the Assembly building. These
tapestries were larger than those installed in the High Court, except the one installed
in the courtroom of Chief justice. Tapestries installed in the two chambers measured

9. 155 sqm each, whereas tapestry behind the ramp in the entrance in the basement
measured 135 sqm. Installed in the year 1962,these tapestries varied from the one
installed in the High court because of their brighter colour, woven as single
seamless pieces. Choice and use of bright colours by Corbusier in tapestries in
Assembly building was to create a harmony between interior and exterior of the
building based on colour pattern for the ceremonial enamel door. However, their
design principles remained the same. All painting of Corbusier revolved around man
and its relation with cosmos. Corbusier wanted the all human settlements and built
environment created in this world should be based on the trinity of Sun, Space and
Verdure, in order to make this world sustainable and promoter and supporter of
human living. Accordingly, this trinity encompassed the entire solar system, bio-
sphere and the numerous eco-systems which regulate this world. Thus symbols,
motifs including clouds, water, rivers, stars, reptiles, animals, birds, flora and fauna
found prominent place in the Corbusier art and paintings which adored the buildings
of Capitol. These tapestries gave a new aura to the interiors, making them more
bright and colourful against the dull colour and rugged texture of the concrete used
for construction.

10. In the interior these abstract shapes have acoustical absorbers beneath them.
Palace of Justice
High Court is the other important building adoring the capitol where Corbusier used
his instinct of gelling art with architecture. In the composition of the capitol complex,
the High Court occupied a critical position because of its location. it was supposed
to be a standalone building and was designed to create a balance on one side of
the grouping, opposing and balancing the great mass of the secretariat combined
with the sculptural variety of the assembly. To Mayer, the High Court was "really a
great evocative work of sculpture, not in fact architecture."
Le Corbusier once described design of the High Court as "a great architectural
venture using very poor materials and a labour force quite unused to modern
building techniques, with the tremendous obstacle of the sun and the necessity of
satisfying Indian ideas and needs, rather than to impose Western ethics and

11. aesthetics. The problem is accentuated by the ruling factor of the sun and rain, under
which a new Indian way of life was to be created’.
The architecture vocabulary of the High Court building can be defined in terms of
rectilinear frame, capped by rhythmic arcade created by a parasol-like roof, with
main facade towards the piazza, having eight courtrooms identically expressed on
the main facade and separated from the larger high court, by a monumental
columned entrance rising the height of the building. Necessity of shading the
entire structure from the sun, resulted in making the roof double with upper roof
cantilevered out over the office block in the manner of a parasol shading the lower
roof. The space between the two roofs was to enable air to move and keep the
building cool. Evolution of the design of High Court by Corbusier led to the transition
of building from a lightly framed pavilion, horizontal in dimension to a vertical
expanding space. In the process, building moved towards an expression, which
became increasingly massive, plastic, and abstract where excessive horizontality
was countered by an increasing verticality. This made, what were originally narrow
columns in the main entrance hall, three massive flattened piers leading inward and
rising sixty feet from the ground to meet the heavy outward thrust of the roof
,creating a visual drama to emerge as the focus of the building. Piers also
personified as a grand entrance with its awesome scale to manifest the majesty of
the law to all who entered the building.. Overall unity in the building façade was
forged through the concrete screen. Orientation of the high court was made such
that the main facade faced northwest, to avoid direct sunlight until late in the day,
long after the hours during which court is normally in session.
When first completed, the gunnite-coated entrance piers of High Court were painted
white for creating harmony with the concrete and to remind visitors of the pristine
glory of the Greek temple columns. However, subsequent dissatisfaction of the
Corbusier with the white colour of the entrance portico led to production of a new
colour scheme in 1958 , which provided for painting the columns and portico walls
in bright contrasting colours. The scheme envisioned a new colour order involving
inside wall to the left of the piers to be painted black, with the adjacent pillar painted
green. The central pier was to be yellow, whereas right-hand pillar painted red, and
the remaining portico wall was to be primary blue. The execution of new colour

12. design was delayed, partly because a new latex-base paint was required, besides
additional funds have to be sanctioned because higher cost of new colour scheme
did not form part of original cost of the building. Completed finally in July, 1962,
new colour scheme substantially altered the character, image and appearance of
the High Court building and made it more iconic.
.
ENTRANCE- THREE COLORFUL PIERS
Tapestry
Considering the fact that exposed concrete surfaces inside the courtrooms produced
a problem in acoustics, providing an appropriate solution became a necessity for
proper functioning of the courts. This led to Corbusier suggesting use of large
tapestries as the appropriate solution to make court room acoustically excellent
besides creating a distinct colourful aura in the otherwise monotonous proceedings
of the courtrooms. Large tapestries were accordingly proposed to cover the interior

13. walls behind the judges' benches. A set of nine large pieces of tapestries were
designed for the courtrooms of the High Court building with largest one for the court
of the Chief Justice ( 144 sq. m.) and smaller ones, one each for eight of smaller
courts ( 64 sq. m. each) .These tapestries were designed and composed by Le
Corbusier individually . Each tapestry had a different design, but the underlying
principles of design remained common. They shared the common medium and
fabric, which was largely wool mix , on which they were created and followed the
pattern used in making traditional ‘durries’ in the villages of Punjab. Called as,
"nomadic murals," Corbusier created Tapestries using Modular as a scale with
common theme involving rectangular patches of colours in the background, adopted
from Polycromie Architecturale, adorned with manmade and natural symbols and
forces guiding mankind and eco-system ( Watts). The colours used were bright and
majority of colour used was Red followed by Yellow, White and Blue which
represented action, light, serenity and sky. In addition, large number of motifs and
symbols were also made part of tapestry designs which included cosmos, natural
and manmade objects including sun, sky, stars, clouds, lightening, meandering river,
balance in justice, wheels, human footprints in terms of hands and feet, reptiles, flora
and fauna etc.
Looking at the other buildings and monuments in the capitol and the city, one can
see the intricate and liberal use of art as integral part of architecture. Open hand
monument, façade of the secretariat building, College of Architecture and Fine Arts ,
Chandigarh Museum, Gandhi Bhawan etc are few examples which amply integrate
art and architecture to create quality built environment.
Conclusion
Looking at the entire context, it can be visualized that art and architecture has high
degree of co-relationship which needs to be understood, appreciated, valued and
promoted to make profession of Architecture more meaningful for the society and
community. Profession of Architecture can never do justice to nature and human
living unless it has the support and involvement of art. If architecture is called the
body, art rightly assumes the role of soul. Looking at buildings created by all master
architects, one can see the application of art as an integral part of design. Majority of

14. problems facing the profession of architecture has genesis in growing mismatch
between art and architecture. The existing approach and ideology of architectural
education and practice needs to be, objectively and critically, revisited in order to find
appropriate solutions for making value addition to the profession.
Bibliography
 http://www.theartstory.org/artist
corbusier- artworks.htm#pnt_1- The Art Story- Le-corbusier-- Modern
Architecture, The International Style, Purism, Brutalis
 http://www.cindrebay.com/blog/palace-assembly-chandigarh-beautiful-
collision-art-architecture--The Palace of Assembly, Chandigarh: Beautiful
Collision of Art and Architecture
 Colourful enigmas of Corbusier’s Capitol--Rajnish Wattas- published article-
The Tribune
 Le- Corbusier Tapestries for Chandigarh- High Court and Legislative
Assembly- Chandigarh Perspective, Chandigarh
 http://highcourtchd.gov.in/sub_pages/left_menu/publish/articles/articles_pdf/hi
ghcourtartucturaldesigne.pdf- High Court's Architectural Design
*Ar. Jit Kumar Gupta
Founder- Director
College of Architecture
IET Bhaddal , Punjab
Email-jit.kumar1944@gmail.com
** Chitrangda Sharma
Assistant Professor
Chandigarh College of Architecture
Chandigarh