Brasilia - Chandigarh - Living with Modernity

Brasilia - Chandigarh - Living with Modernity

In 1960, Brasília was celebrated as the realization of an urban planning vision based on designs by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. At the same time, the sectoral city of Chandigarh was materializing according to plans by Le Corbusier. The “test tube city” emerged out of modern Western planning euphoria, marked by utopian ambition, and was exported across the globe. In both cities, foreign architecture commingled with indigenous culture, forming new and independent identities.

This publication explores how modernism has been appropriated in both cities, and how their inhabitants deal with its legacy in their everyday lives. Commonalities and differences are identified through images by the photographer Iwan Baan, taking stock of contemporary life in both cities.

Now available in a new compact format due to the continuing interest in this book more than ten years after its initial release.

About the author

Iwan Baan (*1975) is a Dutch photographer based between Amsterdam and the U.S., known primarily for images that narrate the life and interactions that occur within architecture. His artistic approach has given matters of architecture an approachable and accessible voice, focusing on the perspectives of the everyday individuals who give meaning and context to the architecture and spaces that surround us. In 2012, he received the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for his work on the Torre David in Caracas, Venezuela, gaining him further international acclaim. Architects turn to Baan to give their work a sense of place. Baan’s first major retrospective of his globally renowned oeuvre is on show at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein from 21 October 2023 – 3 March 2024.