The UT Administration has planned to set up a fully digital museum in Block B at the Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19 here. It has submitted a comprehensive plan to the Union Ministry of Tourism under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme with the aim of further strengthening Chandigarh’s identity as a globally recognised city of architecture and urban planning.
Once the proposal is approved, the centre will offer visitors immersive experiences through virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), holographic and interactive displays, and digital archives. The centre will present the architectural journey of Le Corbusier, with a room dedicated to his contribution to Chandigarh and another to his contribution to the world. It will have a workstation for scholars, a library, a reading area, a lounge and a reception. The souvenir shop at the centre will be revamped.
According to officials, the proposal was prepared to make the museum more interactive by introducing VR tours and AR displays. Officials believe that digitisation will significantly enhance visitor engagement. New features will allow visitors to virtually explore Chandigarh’s planning history and better understand the vision of Le Corbusier and his colleagues.
The centre has a special place in Chandigarh’s history. Built as a temporary office in 1951, the building served as the planning headquarters where Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier and his team prepared the master plan for Chandigarh after Partition, when a new capital for Punjab was being developed. International architects, including Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, worked alongside Indian architects from this very building to shape the city’s unique urban design.
The structure itself is considered an architectural landmark. Designed to regulate temperature naturally, much like the Tower of Shadows at the Capitol Complex, the building also has a modular design, allowing its components to be dismantled and reassembled elsewhere.
The museum houses original planning documents, architectural drawings, furniture, tapestries and exhibits related to Chandigarh’s planning, the Capitol Complex and the city’s architectural evolution. Visitors can also view rare photographs, correspondence exchanged by Le Corbusier and his associates, as well as archaeological artefacts recovered during excavations in Chandigarh.
Among the notable exhibits are relics unearthed during excavations near the present-day Central State Library in Sector 17 in 1969. Archaeologists recovered redware and blackware pottery, terracotta objects, copper bangles, toy cart wheels, stone balls, skeletons, copper arrowheads and beads, providing evidence of an ancient settlement linked to the Harappan Civilisation.
The Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme ended on March 31 this year. However, the scheme was revived through the efforts of Dr Syed Abid Rashid Shah, Secretary Tourism, UT, enabling the Administration to submit the proposal for setting up a digital museum at the Le Corbusier Centre.
