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Blocks 21 and 22 in Chandigarh

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Blocks 21 and 22 in Chandigarh TRANSFORMAÇÕES TIPOLÓGICAS: QUADRAS 21 E 22 DE CHANDIGARH TYPOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS: BLOCKS 21 AND 22 IN CHANDIGARH Cláudia Estrela Porto Translation portuguese-english: Helena Oliveira TEXTO 12 ARQ 1 Chandigarh, maio de 1952 – Plano definitivo de urbanização da primeira etapa de realização, que compreende habitações e serviços para 150.000 habitantes e o Capitólio.1 1 Chandigarh, May 1952 – Final Plan of Phase I of conclusion, comprehending housing and services for 150.000 inhabitants and the Capitol.1 66 HISTÓRICO HISTORICAL BACKGROUND A Índia se tornou independente do domínio britânico em India gained independence from British rule on August 15, 15 de agosto de 1947 com Jawarharlal Nehru como primeiro- 1947, with Jawarharlal Nehru as her Prime Minister, after deca- TEXTO 12 ministro, após décadas de resistência nativa liderada por des of native resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi and of tension Mahatma Gandhi, mas também de tensão entre a maioria between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority. Muslim-majority ARQ hindu e a minoria muçulmana. Áreas de maioria muçulmana areas were then delimited to form a separate and independent foram então delimitadas para formar um Paquistão indepen- Pakistan, including the Northwestern sector of the state of Punjab dente: o setor noroeste do estado do Punjab (chamado Sind) (called Sind) and the Eastern sector of the state of Bengal. Bengal e o setor oriental do estado de Bengala. Punjab e Bengala and Punjab were thus split in half. Western Bengal (India) kept ficaram divididos ao meio. Bengala ocidental (Índia) reteve Calcutta, the new colonial city; Lahore, Punjab’s old Mongol Calcutá, a nova cidade colonial; Lahore, a antiga capital capital, had to be handed to Pakistan. The process was far mongol do Punjab, teve de ser entregue ao Paquistão. O from peaceful and showed the urgency of the foundation of processo não foi pacífico e mostrou a urgência da fundação a new capital for the state of Punjab, later called Chandigarh de uma nova capital para o Punjab, chamada mais tarde de (City Beautiful), in honor of the Hindu divinity Chandi. Nehru Chandigarh (Cidade bonita) em homenagem à divindade hindu Chandi. Nehru desejava que ela fosse “o templo de wished it were “the Temple of a new India... unfettered by the 2 uma nova Índia... livre das tradições do passado”.2 traditions of the past”. Apesar do forte interesse de Nehru no projeto, o traçado Despite Nehru’s strong interest in the project, the final design final deC handigarh foi obra do destino. Em 15 de janeiro de of Chandigarh was a work of fate. On January 15, 1950, Albert 1950, o arquiteto urbanista nova-iorquino Albert Mayer, que Mayer, an architect and planner from New York, who lived in residira na Índia durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, assina India during World War II, signs the contract to prepare the o contrato para desenhar o Plano Piloto da nova capital. Master Plan for the new Capital. He invites the Polish Architect Convida para se juntar a ele o arquiteto de origem polonesa, Maciej Matthew Nowicki to join him. Eleven days later, India Maciej Matthew Nowicki. Onze dias depois, a Índia se torna becomes an Independent Republic and a new constitution co- uma República Independente com uma nova constituição. Em mes into effect. On July 8, the city plan – whose curvilinear grid 8 de julho, o plano urbanístico, cuja grelha ondulada reflete reflects Nowicki’s fascination by natural geometry – is officially o fascínio de Nowicki pela geometria natural, é oficialmente presented. But on August 13, Nowicki, returning from New Delhi apresentado. Mas em 13 de agosto, retornando de Nova to New York, dies in an air accident. Strongly affected, Mayer Delhi para New York, Nowicki, morre num acidente de avião. withdraws from the project. Abalado, Mayer se retira do projeto. Afterwards, P. N. Thapar and P. L. Varma, Punjab’s adminis- A seguir, P. N. Thapar e de P. L. Varma, respectivamente trator and engineer respectively, travel to Europe with the purpose administrador e engenheiro-chefe do Punjab, viajam para a of selecting a new consultant architect. Le Corbusier accepts the Europa com o intuito de selecionar um novo arquiteto consultor. commission and signs the contract on December 19, 1950. His Le Corbusier aceita o encargo e assina o contrato em 19 de team included his cousin and former associate Pierre Jeanneret, dezembro de 1950. Seu time vai incluir Pierre Jeanneret, primo as well as a young couple of British architects, Edwin Maxwell e antigo sócio, bem como um jovem casal britânico, Edwin Fry and Jane Beverly Drew. Those three will be the enterprise’s Maxwell Fry e Jane Beverly Drew. Os três serão os arquitetos senior architects. seniors do empreendimento. The tasks were well set since the beginning. Le Corbusier Desde o início, as funções foram bem definidas. Le Cor- would have total control of the planning of the main buildings of busier teria o controle total do traçado urbanístico da nova capital e projetaria os palácios do Capitólio – a Suprema the new Capital. He would design the Capitol Complex – High Corte de Justiça (1951-55), o Secretariado que engloba sete Court (1951-55), the Secretariat building that includes seven ministérios (1951-58), o Palácio da Assembléia (1951-62), Ministries (1951-58), the Assembly (1951-62), the Governor’s o Palácio do Governador (abandonado, após o estudo de Palace (abandoned after the study of three versions) – and a few três versões sucessivas) – e alguns monumentos, como a Mão monuments, such as the Open Hand (1955-84). Helped by nine Aberta (1955-1984). Ajudados por nove profissionais locais,3 local professionals.3 Jeanneret, Fry and Drew would design, in Jeanneret, Fry e Drew projetariam, in loco, a maior parte das loco, most of the housing, schools, public buildings, hospitals, casas, escolas, prédios públicos, hospitais e equipamentos and urban equipments, while simultaneously supervising the exe- urbanos, supervisionando ao mesmo tempo a execução dos cution of the projects Le Corbusier developed in his Paris studio. projetos que Le Corbusier desenvolveria no seu ateliê em Fry and Drew, hired for three years, would return to London in 67 Paris. Fry e Drew, contratados por três anos, retornariam a 1954, but Jeanneret would remain in Chandigarh for fifteen Londres em 1954, mas Jeanneret permaneceria em Chandi- years, managing the studio of architecture as chief architect. garh por quinze anos, dirigindo o ateliê de arquitetura como TEXTO 12 arquiteto-chefe. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHANDIGARH’S MASTER ARQ PLAN CARACTERÍSTICAS GERAIS DO PLANO PILOTO DE On April 18, 1951, after six weeks in India, through blueprint CHANDIGARH 4318, Le Corbusier presents the full development of Chandigarh’s Em 18 de abril de 1951, após seis semanas na Índia, Master Plan. The construction starts immediately and, on October por meio do desenho 4318, Le Corbusier apresenta o desen- 7, 1953, Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, inaugurates volvimento completo do Plano Piloto de Chandigarh. A cons- the city. The project foresaw the building of 30 sectors in the first trução começa imediatamente e, em 7 de outubro de 1953, phase, including the Capitol complex and sheltering 150.000 Rajendra Prasad, o primeiro presidente indiano, inaugura a people. A second expansion, totalizing 47 sectors, would ac- cidade. O projeto estipulava na primeira etapa a construção commodate 500.000 people. By the initial government program, de 30 setores, incluindo o complexo do Capitólio e alojando the city integrated thirteen housing categories to shelter several 150.000 habitantes. Uma segunda expansão totalizaria 47 setores, acolhendo 500.000 pessoas. Pelo programa inicial social segments, from the governor to the construction worker. de governo, a cidade integraria 13 categorias de habitações The project was innovative from the point of view of city para alojar vários segmentos sociais, do governador ao peão planning. Although Le Corbusier’s concept was based on Mayer- de obra. Nowicki’s layout and his plan kept the principle of neighborhood O projeto inovava do ponto de vista urbanístico. Embora a unit proposed by Mayer, the curvilinear grid was turned into an proposta de Le Corbusier fosse baseada no layout de Mayer- approximately rectangular grid oriented NW-SE and NE-SW. Nowicki, e seu plano conservasse o princípio de unidade de Called “7V”,4 the circulation system comprises seven types of vizinhança proposto por Mayer, a grelha curva vira uma gelha roads organized in a graded system according to speed and aproximadamente retangular orientada NO-SE e NE-SO. Ape- the junctions they allowed, from V1 (the intercity highway, in the lidado “7V”,4 o sistema de circulação compreende sete vias outskirts) until V7 (pedestrian or bicycle pathways). V2 roads, diferentes hierarquizadas segundo a velocidade e as ligações the main urban axes, define the arterial grid of 2.400x2.400m. que permitem, da V1 (a auto-estrada interurbana, periférica) High speed traffic roads V3 shape the city grid, defining até as V7 (ruas exclusivamente de pedestres ou bicicletas). 800x1.200m sectors. V4 are the commercial streets that cut Os eixos urbanos principais V2 definem a malha arterial de through the sectors running grosso modo NW-SE. V5 are the 2.400x2.400m. As vias de tráfego rápido V3 configuram a local streets that intercept V4 on two points by sector and distri- grelha da cidade, definindo os setores de 800x1.200m. As bute light traffic in its interior. Residential lanes V6 branch from V4, ruas comerciais, cortam os setores correndo, grosso modo, V5 to give access to the houses. V7 run inside the green bands NO-SE. As V5, ruas locais, interceptam a V4 em dois pontos oriented grosso modo NE-SW. por setor e distribuem o tráfego leve interno. As ruas V6 se Therefore, a commercial street and a green band traverse ramificam das V5, para dar acesso às casas.
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