‘Chandigarh has become Mecca for architects from across the globe’

Prof Grande said that while Chandigarh is a part of India,“it belongs to the world. It is a part of our design textbooks and we are only to keen to experience the city that has now become the mecca for architects from across the globe”.

Like his contemporaries,Prof Grande is skeptical about Chandigarh remaining the same in the coming years.

“The future generations might not be able to enjoy this beautiful work of Le Corbusier. The greens and the architecture of the city is spectacular and is a vision to remember. But the only way to retain it this ways is to term it as a Heritage City,” chipped in Professor Adalberto Dias and Tiago Correia.

Prof Joa Serodio too nodded in agreement. “If taken up by as a UNESCO World Heritage Site,it will also attract a lot of tourists which in turn will help the economy of India,” said Serodio,who feels the city is coming out of the books and is now creeping into conversations of architects worldwide.

“The hype of Chandigarh in any architect’s mind can be compared only to Brazil. But while Brazil has more of European traces,here is the complete blend of the traditional and the modern. So much so that you can see influences of Chandigarh in Portugal architecture,” smiles Pedro Braganca,a student.

Having toured the city,the infrastructure,traffic points,use of space and its living is what appealed to them the most. “The way buildings that we have seen only in our text books till now come to life is a dream come true to see. And we don’t want these buildings to be altered for they are,after all,among the last works of the Swiss architect,” said Prof Grande,who agrees that changes have to be made with time.

“But,then,they can be made in many forms. A little sensitivity can go a long way in retaining the essence of the building,” he signs off.