Original Design and Features

The Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, India is a significant work of modern architecture and houses an important and iconic collection of artwork. Like many of Le Corbusier’s works, the building was designed with climate responsiveness in mind including built features and operational strategies to address its climatic comfort. Understanding that climate responsiveness was part of the Le Corbusier’s intention for the Government Museum and Art Gallery building was fundamental to our study, providing a key to understanding the place.

At the outset of his planning, Le Corbusier did extensive studies of the seasonal weather changes in Chandigarh to understand rainfall, position of the sun, and annual temperature swings, then carefully designed the buildings with climate response in mind. For the museum, natural ventilation and natural daylighting were key aspects of the building design. Raising the first floor on piloti allowed breezes to blow through the ground floor, with a three-story open space, known as the Great Hall, at its center.

Vertical aerators provided airflow directly into the museum and gallery spaces, allowing cross-ventilation to cool the building. Although the exterior walls are mostly blank, there is one large window located on each of the four elevations, while clerestories, which cover the entire roof of the museum, bring in natural light from above. The clerestories contain a series of angled baffles to prevent direct sunlight from entering in the hottest months.

The original exhibit display furniture within the museum is also of high significance. Designed by noted Indian exhibit designer Ratna Fabri, the exhibition furniture includes cases, stands, pedestals, and movable partitions for mounting art on. Fabri’s work complements the modernist building and provides a means to display the wide-ranging parts of the collection.

Constructed of wood, glass, and steel, these display pieces are carefully adapted to the varied works they display and act to create smaller, more intimate environments within Le Corbusier’s lofty interiors in which to view the art. Many newer pieces have been added over the years in the style of the original work, and its sometimes difficult to ascertain exactly which pieces are attributable to Ratna Fabri, but nevertheless, the overall impression is that the display furniture is mostly well coordinated and suits its purpose well. We studied the artwork and the mounts, cases, and panels that displayed the artwork to understand the role these played in protecting the art.