Archinect - News

MoMA's next exhibition will explore the role architecture played in shaping post-colonial South Asia

2021-11-11T16:53:00-05:00

MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design has announced a forthcoming new exhibition that will examine the way in which the modern architecture of former colonial enterprises helped shape the post-independence era of self-determination politics in latter South Asia.

Woman carrying cement at the Capitol Complex, Chandigarh, India, in front of the Secretariat (1951–58) designed by Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1887–1965). 1956. Photograph: Ernst Scheidegger.

Comprised of over 200 photos, architectural models, and other media taken from institutions in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, the exhibition highlights key projects from some of the region’s most prominent designers, including Mahendra Raj and 2018 Pritzker laureate Balkrishna Doshi.

Chittagong University, Chittagong, East Pakistan (Bangladesh). 1965–71. Vastukalabid (est. 1964). Muzharul Islam (1923–2021). Master plan. Ink and pencil on paper. Muzharul Islam Archives.

The exhibition was organized by MoMA...

Le Corbusier's Chandigarh to be removed from Swiss 10-Franc bills

2017-10-12T13:59:00-04:00

Swiss francs, like most world currencies, have long featured notable faces from the past. But now, each beautiful note is designed around an abstract theme related to Switzerland. For the 10-franc note, instead of the retired portrait of the controversial genius Le Corbusier, the theme focuses on Switzerland’s organizational talent – expressed by time.

Le Corbusier and his plan for Chandigarh won't be featured on the new 10-Franc bill anymore. The new bill is inspired by Switzerland’s "organizational talent" and punctuality; it represents a pair of hands conducting time, the country's longest railway tunnels, and a map of the country and of its railway network. The Corbusier 10-Franc bill was introduced and in circulation since 1995; it has been highly controversial in Switzerland due to his affinities with fascism and the Vichy government.

A pair of hands conducting the time with a baton on the new 10-Franc bill from 2017.

Two rail tracks connecting in the world's longest railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, part of the world's densest railway network reducing the time for traversing the Alps in Central Switzerland.

A history of ideal cities

2015-12-11T18:40:00-05:00

The question is especially important now, given the world’s rapidly increasing population and the accelerating drift of people from countryside to cities. Should we tinker or somehow revamp existing cities to cope, or should we build new places to dwell?

Jonathan Glancey looks back through history, at attempts to create the ideal town. Given the many failed attempts, can architects succeed in shaping a truly habitable ideal city? He believes the answer is yes.

An awkward interview with Le Corbusier

2014-09-11T13:36:00-04:00

As we were getting off the plane he asked me what I was doing that evening: “Catching a train, I am afraid,” I said. “ Pity. You are fat and I like my women fat. We could have spent a pleasant night together.” He said this quite casually. [...] So gigantic was Corb’s egotism that he probably considered it enough of an honour for a humble mortal to provide a genius like him with a night’s relaxation.

Le Corbusier's Chandigarh "vulgarized"

2014-04-21T14:39:00-04:00

[...] architectural historian William J R Curtis has set off the alarm bells by warning about the looming threat of destruction on Chandigarh's architectural heritage, terming the damage to buildings as "vulgarization" and "massacre." According to Curtis, there is a clear and present danger to the legacy of city creator Le Corbusier and that the restoration measures are needed to be taken now.

Curtis believes that astronomical rise in land prices has posed the greatest threat to heritage in an increasingly materialistic society where there is a "price for everything and value of nothing."