Tower of Shadows, by Le Corbusier (1957).

Chandigarh, India.

© Roberto Conte (2019)

So much character in plain facades.

Concrete Jungle .

Chandigarh, today the shared capital of the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, was Le Corbusier’s brainchild: based on his urban master plan, LC and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret designed the city’s major buildings and furnished them with their own designs. The latter have basically flooded the international design market and established Pierre as a designer in his own right. His chair designs could even be spotted in Kim Kardashian’s home, meticulously restored of course.

The present book couldn’t be farther away from the glitzy world of the Kardashians as it features the iconic designs in dilapidated and badly fixed states: „Chandigarh Furniture“, initially published in 2014 and now available in a second, updated version with Maxitype & Plasma Publishing, collects a selection of furniture from Chandigarh, also beyond Le Corbusier’s and Pierre Jeanneret’s designs. Heavily used and inventively repaired they tell of everyday use and improvisation. At the same time their makeshift nature reflects their status as objects of utility rather than highly priced design objects.

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