Modernism & Institutional Space

Chandigarh represents postcolonial India’s most ambitious experiment in modernist state-building. Designed by Le Corbusier, with contributions from Pierre Jeanneret, the city is a case study in planning as ideology — sectors as administrative rationality, monumental axes as state symbolism.

Students study sector grids, Capitol Complex monumentalism, and institutional architecture as expressions of sovereignty and technocratic governance. Counterpoints are provided through the works of Charles Correa and Balkrishna Doshi, whose regional modernism critiques imported models.

Delhi provides comparative exposure to contemporary institutional architecture and heritage debates around 20th-century modernism.

Students will:

Analyze modernist planning as political ideology (Lefebvre, Scott).
Interpret sector planning as social engineering.
Compare Corbusian universalism with Indian critical regionalism.
Evaluate conservation challenges of modernist heritage.
Produce a Sector Planning Analysis Dossier or Institutional Design Audit.

Urban Planning

Political Theory

Architectural History

Design

Urban Studies

Chandigarh Capitol Complex

Sector Neighborhoods

Delhi Institutional Districts

Day	Location	Academic Engagement	Learning Emphasis
1	Chandigarh	Seminar: Modernism & postcolonial statecraft	Ideological grounding
2	Chandigarh	Sector mapping workshop; spatial analysis	Rational planning systems
3	Chandigarh	Capitol Complex documentation; monumental axis study	State symbolism
4	Chandigarh	Housing typology analysis	Social planning
5	Chandigarh	Lecture: Correa, Doshi & critical regionalism	Architectural critique
6	Chandigarh	Public space ethnography	Everyday modernism
7	Chandigarh	Conservation debate studio	Governance
8	Chandigarh	Documentation lab	Evidence capture
9	Chandigarh	Institutional design audit drafting	Applied analysis
10	Delhi	Comparative institutional architecture seminar	Scale shift
11	Delhi	Policy roundtable: Modern heritage preservation	Governance
12	Delhi	Dossier completion studio	Integration
13	Delhi	Presentations; departures	Closure