The Biform Disposition of Corbusier’s Vision: Chandigarh as a Site of Coexistence of a Modern City and Traditional Agrarian Settlements Case Example of Burail Urban Village, Chandigarh

Abstract

This paper is to illuminate the process of metamorphosis that the villages-in-the-city undergo as extensions of their rural pasts in the fast-developing Indian urban landscapes. It highlights the concept of urban villages as an oxymoron in the rural-urban dichotomy that several Asian modernist cities are experiencing presently.

The study is narrowed down to the exploration of the role of construction and growth of the city of Chandigarh in the modification of the urban village of Burail. The heterogeneous agglomeration of dynamic interventions of history, governments, prophecies, and people led to the remodeling of the village into a dense 'fortified migrant enclave'. The attempt is to analyse the contrasting social, cultural, economic, and physical transformation of the urban village and the city leading to the present state and form. An analogous perspective is derived through an interpretation of the contrast between the city and the village in terms of building typologies, circulation and density, and the so-called democratic egalitarian urban environment. Finally, the aim of the research is to identify the gaps in the current development plan of the village and open a dialogue to formulate design guidelines for the future development of this so-called 'urban scar' to eventually incorporate it as a vibrant part of the city.