Casablanca Chandigarh: Modern Planning Exhibition at The

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this context provided new, transnational Casablanca Chandigarh: opportunities to exercise their professions, Modern Planning and forums for the exchange of ideas. This double transnational and disciplinary Exhibition at the Canadian perspective structures both the book and the exhibition, albeit in different ways, as Centre for Architecture, Montreal the limitations and opportunities of each medium afford. The core of the publication consists of the in-depth study of these urban projects, alternating between the two, and In the editorial of docomomo Journal 28, names in architecture are given sole credit framed by an international perspective, both published in March 2003 and inaugurat- for their constructions, ignoring the fact that geopolitical and professional. In its pages, the ing her tenure — as editor-in-chief of the architecture is a collaborative endeavor. planning process is examined in detail, along- magazine, Maristella Casciato undertook Here, both Casciato and Avermaete empha- side governance and the design of housing to consider “modernism outside the West” sized the teams Écochard and Le Corbus- and service facilities for each of the cities as and to encourage “new cultures and new ier surrounded themselves with, not only well as their deployment. The organization of histories”, whilst simultaneously enriching colleagues operating in metropolitan centers, the book’s content into fragmented segments the docomomo International network. She but also local architects, engineers, and urban makes it possible to read discontinuously. brought this intellectual endeavor with her to planners. Moreover, the exhibition’s curators The exhibition began with a presentation of the position as Associate Director, Research highlighted the appreciation these designers the new world order in the museum’s central at the Canadian Centre for Architecture showed for local and traditional builders. gallery, which is surrounded by five other (CCA) in Montreal. Working alongside Tom Unwilling to leave his Paris atelier for an rooms, a restrictive arrangement of gallery Avermaete, she co-curated the exhibition: extended period, in 1951, Le Corbusier had space. However, Japanese architects atelier How Architects, Experts, Politicians, International three colleagues jointly appointed “senior Bow-Bow successfully made creative use

53 – 2015/2 Agencies and Citizens Negotiate Modern Planning: architects” in residence. These were E. Max- of the special environment in collaboration Casablanca Chandigarh, presented at CCA well Fry and Jane B. Drew, both British, in with FEED, a graphic design firm based in during the Winter 2013–2014 season. They addition to his former partner, Pierre Jeanner- Montreal. Thanks to the design of ad hoc also co-authored Casablanca Chandigarh: A et, who was to bear sole responsibility after furniture, the color choices and the staging of

docomomo Report on Modernization, the book published the departure of Fry and Drew in 1954, until certain exhibits, visitors could easily follow to coincide with the exhibition. A preamble 1965. Together, the three assembled a group the twin threads of the exhibition, which to these projects lies in the CCA’s acquisition, of twelve or so Indian professionals, each of appeared immediately in the second room of in 2010, of architect Pierre Jeanneret’s per- whom was entrusted with a specific set of the show. Furthermore, the unusual framing sonal archives, mainly pertaining to projects tasks. This strict, although not particularly of the documents showed off even the developed during the period from 1951 to hierarchical, division of labor was to take smallest and most technical objects to best 1965 when he renewed his association with concrete shape in the plan distribution of the effect, and harmonized the heterogeneous his cousin, Le Corbusier, for the planning and Architects’ Office, the Chandigarh headquar- corpus made up of works in various sizes and construction of a new capital for the Indian ters of the ambitious Punjab Capital Project. media: original drawings, reproductions of News Punjab following the Partition (1947). Another singular feature of the exhibition blueprints, photographs, models, publications Both the exhibition and the book scru- lies in how the curators/authors situated and reports. These materials were drawn tinize the history of the two cities that, in the planning of these two cities within the from a number of archival sources, including very different ways, experienced the weight new geopolitical context that emerged from the Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris, the of colonial rule in the 20th century: Casa- World War 2. A strategic equilibrium had Agha Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva, the blanca, still under the French Protectorate, been redefined by the rise to power of the gta Archives/ETH in Zurich, the School of and Chandigarh, born from the ashes of the United States and the USSR, a situation from Architecture in Rabat and the Government British Raj, at the end of colonization. Tom which a number of countries, fiercely jealous Museum and Art Gallery of Chandigarh. Avermaete examined French architect Mi- of their independence, sought to escape by On the walls of the central gallery, three chel Écochard’s plan for urban development forming the Non-Aligned Movement. India large world maps illustrated the new transna- of Morocco’s economic nerve center, which was one. Meanwhile, the League of Nations, tional environment. The first of these summa- faced massive rural migration following that legacy of World War 1, which had failed rized the syncopated dynamics of the decol- World War 2. In 1946, the French govern- to ensure peace in the world, was replaced onization that took place from 1945 to 1970. ment-appointed architect was appointed in June 1945 by the United Nations (UN). The second depicted the scope of activities official in charge of theServices d’Urbanisme The new international institution was much conducted by international aid organizations (urban planning) for the entire region. more than a platform for diplomacy. Many from the Western and Soviet blocs, while the Maristella Casciato, meanwhile, retraced departments were created under its umbrella, third presented the new amplitude and reach the creation of the Punjab’s new capital, including the Technical Assistance Admin- of certain urban planners and architects such whose urban and architectural planning was istration (TAA), conceived to promote the as Michel Écochard, the American Jacob L. entrusted to Le Corbusier in December 1950 economic development of newly indepen- Crane, the German Otto H. Koenigsberger, by Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. dent nations by sending teams of experts to Constantinos A. Doxiadis of Greece, and All too often, whether in the eyes of the consult with their governments. Architects the British Mary Jaqueline Tyrwhitt. On general public or in historical studies, big and urban planners from the North found a table in the center of the room, visitors

86 01 View of Gallery 1, “Transnational Urbanism”. © Franco Panzini. 02 Le Corbusier, The Chandigarh family, © FLC/SPA, April 8, 1952. 53 – 2015/2 could leaf through reports and publications an architect, archeologist and urban planner Album Punjab (Punjab Sketch book), visible from the many consulting missions in the rolled into one, attentive to the morpho- for the first time ever and complemented “Third World”. Through the two openings at logical, cultural, and technical dimensions by a digital version. This sort of diary in the docomomo the back of the room, visitors caught a first of human settlements, be they antique or form of both writing and drawings contains glimpse of two documents invested with tre- contemporary, monumental or haphazard. observations, accounts of exchanges with mendous display and historiographical value: The photographs he took of both the ground administrative officials, passing thoughts TheC IAM grids elaborated by the India and and sky bear witness to his interest in local and ideas. It allowed the architect to record Morocco workgroups for CIAM’s 9 th Modern peculiarities, which a team of sociologists and his first impressions and trace the project’s Architecture Congress (CIAM9) held in Aix- ethnologists attached to the project, helped development during the first weeks of work en-Provence during the summer of 1953. him to recognize. on site. Le Corbusier, like Pierre Jeanneret, These grids reveal very different approach- TheC IAM grids, striking for their large size, was struck by the beauty of the landscapes he es. TheC IAM grid for Chandigarh, created by are each installed straddling two of the three encountered. Photographs taken by the latter News a group of young architects at the Architects’ galleries at the back of the museum space. capture the bucolic quality of the setting and Office known as the Association of Indian Their narrative serves as referral into the rusticity of villages, lingering on scenes of Modernists (AIM), was reconstructed for the rooms specifically dedicated to each associat- daily life. TheAlbum Punjab includes observa- exhibition on the basis of snapshots, as the ed city. Starting with the theme “Exploring”, tions on the urban fabric of Bogota, where the original document no longer exists. The grid under which umbrella the various means used concept of “sectors” was first implemented. adheres strictly to the format and categories to apprehend unique site conditions were But in Chandigarh, the plan has more green established at the urging of Le Corbusier by exhibited, the exhibition unfolds on to two and is more organic; its conception embraces ASCORAL, based on the Athens Charter. The additional themes, “Planning,” and “Design- the natural landscape, a backbone following grid produced by GAMMA, the Moroccan ing the Civic Fabric”. The former offered an the verdant valley that cuts across the plains, group, however, deviates from the model. opportunity to get acquainted with the teams and coming to a head at the Capitol Complex, It is more analytical than normative, more and urban development projects, whereas the designed to stand out against the foothills of concrete than prospective. Photographs of latter presented specific plans for housing and the Himalayas. the existing country and people outnumber facilities. Less visually compelling, but by no means sketches and plans. Its aim was to make sense The exhibition offered a unique oppor- less effective, the Master Plan for Casablanca of an anarchic built environment, the shanty tunity to appreciate, in its full-scale, the also dates from 1951. A mosaic of blue prints, towns that had sprung up in Casablanca’s Chandigarh master plan, later reproduced in it depicts the old city, surrounded with the suburbs, and to explain the principles under- l’Oeuvre Complète. The plan was drawn up in newly planned neighborhoods and their lying organization of the new neighborhoods Paris, shortly after Le Corbusier and Pierre transportation infrastructure, all based on that were to replace them. This approach is a Jeanneret’s first stay of about two months in the renowned Écochard 8×8 meter grid. The result of the methods adopted by the urban Chandigarh, during the winter of 1951. Sever- grid provided both technical and functional planning department, the Services d’Urban- al rough sketches made on-site were exhibited integration, and its standardization deter- isme, under the aegis of Écochard, who was alongside the plan, as well as Le Corbusier’s mines both the shape of the city and that of

04 Detail of the Chandigarh Grid with the listing of the four key words of the Athens 05 View of the Gallery 4, “Designing the Civic Fabric of the New Casablanca”. In Charter. © Franco Panzini. the centre of the room, the model of the “beehive building” in the cité verticale at Carrières Centrales, signed by Georges Candilis, Shadrach Woods and Vladimir Bodiansky. On the wall, photos by Yto Barrada. © Franco Panzini.

06 Aerial view of a neighborhood center in Casablanca, c. 1950. © Archive École 07 Punjab Capital Project (PCP), Master plan for the new capital at Chandigarh Nationale d’Architecture, Rabat. after the design submitted by Le Corbusier, © FLC/SPA, April 1951

88 08 View of the Gallery 6, “Designing Chandigarh’s Civic Fabric”. In the center of the room, models of housing typologies designed by Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew, and Maxwell Fry. On the wall, photos by Takashi Homma. © Franco Panzini. 53 – 2015/2 its buildings. The public spaces are defined by The contemporary photographs shot on site Are the differences, large or small, between subtraction, while construction is achieved by the French-Moroccan artist Yto Barrada these cities at completion and their contem- through addition, horizontal in the case of in Casablanca and the Japanese photogra- porary shapes important to their standing as docomomo private houses, and vertical for the collec- pher Takashi Homma in Chandigarh are an heritage sites? tive dwellings interspersed throughout the essential complement to both the book and neighborhoods. the exhibition. Large-scale prints occupy one France Vanlaethem Particularly attractive exhibits include entire wall of the exhibition gallery, under the Chair of docomomo Québec the original model for the “beehive building” title “Designing Chandigarh’s Civic Fabric”. in the cité verticale (vertical city) at Car- These views bring to light contrasting con- References rières Centrales, signed by Georges Candilis, temporary urban realities accentuated by the CASCIATO, Maristella, AVERMAETE, Tom, Casablanca Chandigarh. A Report on Modernization, Montreal, Shadrach Woods and Vladimir Bodiansky, unique perspective of each artist. Homma’s CCA, Zurich, Park Books, 2014. and that for housing types in the cité verticale shots are more conventional, showcasing CCA, Exhibitions: How architects, experts, politicians, News at Sidi Othman, designed by Swiss architects the architecture, its residential spaces and its international agencies and citizens negotiate modern planning: Casablanca Chandigarh, 26 André Studer and Jean Hentsch. details. Barrada, on the other hand, shows November 2013 to 20 April 2014, Main galleries: Casablanca’s suburbs were planned for “le us an empty city, where human presence is http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/1984-how-archi- plus grand nombre” (the greatest number), as hinted at by modifications added to the built tects-experts-politicians-international-agencies largely similar neighborhood clusters. Chan- environment. Her work shows us the ponder- CCA, Public Programs education & events: Casablanca Chandigarh: digarh, on the other hand, carries the social ous public spaces with their planted beds, the http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/education-events/2426-casa- hierarchy of an administrative center, and façades of residential buildings in washed-out blanca-chandigarh-public-programs provides public facilities serving the entire colors, rendered identical by the enclosure of CCA, Research: “We’re going to learn much more from Chandigarh”. An interview with Rahul Mehrotra: state such as the university, the research their hanging courtyards and bristling with http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/study-centre/2325-we-re-go- hospital, and the bus station. Documentation satellite dishes. She closes on the silhouette of ing-to-learn-much-more-from-chandigarh on this aspect makes it possible to grasp for Carrières Centrales, rising above the city. CCA, Collection: A first look at the Pierre Jeanneret archive: the first time in real detail the scope of Pierre As the last segment of the exhibition, http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/collection/1268-a-first-look- Jeanneret’s participation in building the city, these documents invited visitors to question at-the-pierre-jeanneret-archive which is much less famous than Le Corbusi- the current cultural value of these modern er’s monumental contributions. To illustrate neighborhoods, independent of the undeni- his achievement, specifically in designing able historical significance that Casciato and residential premises, six models of various Avermaete successfully demonstrate. Pre- housing projects, from the home of the chief serving architectural integrity in Chandigarh, justice to the modest row houses of ordinary substantially altering the built environment people, were displayed in gallery six. These in Casablanca, are these contrasting patterns models were constructed as part of a class of appropriation indicative of the success or taught at the University of Bologna in 2012. failure of their models?