Album Punjab, 1951
An exemplary experiment in modern city building
This reprint of the notebook Album Punjab Simla. Chandigarh, Mars 1951 kept by Le Corbusier from his two-week visit in the area that would become Chandigarh, the new capital city of the Indian state of Punjab, presents his written or sketched memos and personal reflections as well as notes and schematic solutions elaborated during meetings. The Album Punjab constitutes a primary source for reconstructing the topics addressed by the small team of architects and governmental officials who in only a few days developed the outlines of the Chandigarh plan.The spiralbound notebook facsimile is accompanied by a paperback volume featuring previously unpublished photographs taken by Le Corbusier’s cousin Pierre Jeanneret during this early expedition. Jeanneret documented the landscape and people that the architects encountered upon their arrival – a scenario destined to totally change with the birth of the great city. A detailed commentary by architectural historian Maristella Casciato is also included. It reflects on the variety of topics assem- bled in the notebook and traces the story of these days in which the new capital city was planned.