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MARG AND CHANDIGARH: A Historic Account of Chandigarh’s Design and Development through the Marg Publication

Satheesh, Spoorthi
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4397-0854
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1649859570050143

Abstract Details

2022, MSARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
The city of Chandigarh, planned by Le Corbusier as the new capital for the Indian state of Punjab in 1951, has been subject to debate for decades after its completion on its relevance in post-colonial India. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, envisioned a city that was "free from the existing encumbrances of old towns and old traditions,” a “modern city” that was symbolic of India's independence, “unfettered by the traditions of the past” and an expression of the nation’s faith in the future." However, it is vital to recognize that this vision came about in a new socialist age, where along with other obstacles, the term "modern" and its relevance in the Indian context posed challenges. As a first step into understanding the long-standing conversation on the city, and its relevance to the Indian context, it is necessary to consider and concatenate the thought process behind the city's design, and the challenges that the process incurred. Mulk Raj Anand's Marg Magazine was at the forefront of documenting this transition in Indian architecture in the 20th century. Marg has educated and defended the relevance of contemporary Western architecture and urban planning in India since its inception in 1946, while also publishing studies on pre-colonial Indian art and architecture. What was the relationship between Marg, a historically rich document that acted as a catalyst for Indian Architecture, and the city of Chandigarh? Mulk Raj Anand’s working relationship with Le Corbusier and his involvement in the Chandigarh project reflected in the folds of the publication with the city’s plan, approaches, and architecture making regular appearances in the issues of Marg for around 15 years after its inception. In 1953, 1957, 1961, and again in 1963, individual issues included significant coverage of the city. How did Marg conceive and document the city in these issues? The outcome of this study is a master’s thesis that highlights the importance of Marg’s documentation of Chandigarh city as a product of the onset of modernism in India, post British colonialism. The study will analyze the story of Chandigarh and the challenges the design process incurred on being envisioned as a paradigm for modern architecture in India by analyzing short texts/essays in Marg by those directly, or closely involved in the construction of the city.
Edson Roy Cabalfin, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Aarati Kanekar, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
168 p.
Architecture
Modernsim; India; Chandigarh; Marg Publication; Le Corbusier; Mulk Raj Anand

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Citations

  • Satheesh, S. (2022). MARG AND CHANDIGARH: A Historic Account of Chandigarh’s Design and Development through the Marg Publication [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1649859570050143

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Satheesh, Spoorthi. MARG AND CHANDIGARH: A Historic Account of Chandigarh’s Design and Development through the Marg Publication. 2022. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1649859570050143.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Satheesh, Spoorthi. "MARG AND CHANDIGARH: A Historic Account of Chandigarh’s Design and Development through the Marg Publication." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1649859570050143

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1649859570050143
284
© 2022, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License MARG AND CHANDIGARH: A Historic Account of Chandigarh’s Design and Development through the Marg Publication by Spoorthi Satheesh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.