Chandigarh Unbuilt winners reinterpret Le Corbusier's Museum of Knowledge

Participants in Archasm's Chandigarh Unbuilt competition shared their own vision of the Museum of Knowledge (MoK), a component of Le Corbusier's proposed Capitol Complex in Chandigarh, India.

Launched this past summer, the single-stage ideas competition sought the most outstanding interpretations for the iconic Le Corbu monument that were fit for the 21st century. In creating their proposals, participants had to consider the purpose of a knowlege/connaisance museum for present-day Chandigarh.

Read on for more.

The competition attracted 308 registered participants from around the world, and the jury was tasked with selecting the winners from the top 50 proposals. According to competition organizers Archasm, they didn't know how people would respond to reinterpreting such a historic structure — but they were surely pleased with the variety of approaches. In the end, the competition jury picked three top-prize winners and 10 honorable mentions.

Have a look at the top three winning submissions and jury comments below.

FIRST PRIZE: He Dongming, Tong Hubo, Li Dean (China)

Jury comments:

'The design responds with life and maturity to the celebrated Corbusian masterpieces. The introversion of people-collecting spaces counter argues the value of the plaza in the  Indian  context.  The articulation of the horizontal on the outside and the vertical on the inside is well resolved. It is a genuine and honest engagement with Le Corbusier.'   — Madhav Raman

'The projects displays a certain minimalism from the outside that fits into the masterplan of the Capitol complex for its simplicity, as well as with the buildings of Le Corbusier. From the inside, it creates a world in itself that brings natural light into the plaza.  The program is resolved into a free plan arranged around a courtyard. The boldness of the project has been appreciated by the jury.'  — Stephane Paumier

2ND PRIZE: Huzefa Rangwala, Jasem Pirani, Namrata Tidke (India)

'A completely subterranean intervention was a great idea to bring in public interaction and still not disturb the strong architectural and urban character of the capitol. — Harsimran Singh

'This project was chosen for its landscape approach and the decision to take the project to a purely subterranean level. The notion of a void and hidden space at the centre of the powerful monuments around it serves the context well. Though the diagram was strong, the project particularly the low-level plan, could have been better resolved.  — Melissa Smith

3RD PRIZE: Marcello Galiotto, Alessandra Rampazzo (Italy)

'This entry controversially speaks of the fallibility of Le Corbusier; a difficult proposition  in context of his greatest creation. It is vested in the spirit of iconoclasm that birthed  modernism in the first place. — Madhav Raman

'This project was chosen for its conceptual clarity and the intelli gent tone in which it critiqued Le Corbusier as it created a foil for the extreme of his thinking. The tone of the project was particularly appreciated and the reclamatory measures that were taken to un-sever the city from its head, at least visually. The design could have benefitted from a more detailed approach to the design of the garden, which as an original Chandigarh element would have provided opportunities for nuanced critique. This project generated the highest level of debate in the discussion.' — Melissa Smith

You can find the Honorable Mentions here.