Walking down Uttar Marg at Sector-5 in Chandigarh, one comes across a striking house with the contrasting facade of a whitewashed surface interspersed with brick jali and a grey stone wall. This historic building, once the residence of the city’s first chief architect and town planning advisor Pierre Jeanneret, is situated opposite the Sukhna Lake that was so dear to the master architect. Home to several bureaucrats after Jeanneret, the house has been restored and turned into a museum to celebrate the genius of the visionary who created the city along with his cousin Le Corbusier.

Born in 1896 in Geneva, Jeanneret studied at the École des Beaux-Arts there. He came to Paris to study architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He apprenticed under Le Corbusier, and went on to partner with him on several projects, the two eventually formulating their ideology and aesthetic of Modernism together. Chandigarh was one such project for them where Jeanneret ended up finding his home. His ashes were scattered in the waters of Sukhna Lake after his death as per his wish.

Jeanneret designed and lived in this house in Chandigarh from December 1954 to August 1965. The unique exterior of the house with asymmetrically placed windows lead to a refreshing interior with an airy drawing room, a kitchen along with a dining place, an office, and a waiting room on the ground floor. A spiral staircase takes one to the first floor which has three bedrooms, toilets, and a storeroom. The verandas covered by brick jalis provide privacy and cool shade even during the scorching summer months of North India. The stone walls also play a role in keeping the house cool. Each room in the house has windows with a garden view. These along with the latticed brickwork and high ceilings ensure ample light and air inside the house. The kitchen on the first floor also opens to a veranda and goes on to the staff-quarter.

Jeanneret was a master at articulating subtle Modernist aesthetics at a minimum budget; the Yves Clein shade of blue on the office room wall, the geometrically arranged in-built wall shelves, and niches all stand testimony to that. He tried out many of his designs at home before implementing them on a larger scale for the city. The functional planning of this house, especially structures that allow for interplay between natural light and shadow through the day, and the continuity of open-closed spaces, can be noticed in all the major structures he designed for Chandigarh. The exposed brick and stonework, brick jalis, undressed concrete surfaces, contrasting facades, apertures on the walls letting light in, balconies, and porches became signature architectural tropes of Chandigarh.

The restoration process for the house began in 2014. A lot had been altered by the later occupants of the house; for example, the fireplace was hidden behind a wall, the brick jalis had been covered up, and windows were changed to open inwards. The restoration team led by Deepika Gandhi, the Director, pieced together the place by tracing the original strucutre meticulously through old photographs, texts, drawings, letters sourced from the Department of Urban Planning, Chandigarh, and the Le Corbusier Foundation, Paris. They even used bricks from the 1960s to reconstruct the fireplace. The Museum was opened to the public on 22nd March 2017 on Jeanneret’s 121st birth anniversary.

The Museum has been restored keeping Jeanneret’s aesthetic vision and his love for line, shape, and form in mind. Blueprints of buildings designed by him, letters, furniture designs, objects he used are all on display in the Museum. The office room on the ground floor displays the housing projects in Chandigarh which Jeanneret designed. Visitors also get to know about his less-celebrated projects like the MLA hostel and several private buildings in the city. Here one can appreciate the economic range of the various clients he has worked for, while keeping true to his aesthetics. The living room showcases the educational buildings he has worked on, starting from nursery schools to several iconic buildings on the Panjab University campus. A Punjabi note written by Prithviraj Kapoor while he visited the Panjab University library is placed on the fireplace in this room. Translated to English, it reads-

“If you’re seeking light for the eyes, heart, head & soul, then visit this Library. It really felt good to be here today.”

The dining area displays Jeanneret’s correspondence with Jawaharlal Nehru and Le Corbusier, to name a few. One can also see reproductions of Jeanneret’s ingenious furniture designs in this room. The kitchen is used by the Museum staff, while the first floor rooms have been turned into guest rooms. They are to be furnished with pieces designed by Jeanneret.