CHANDIGARH, Jan 8: Pierre Jeanneret was the silent architect, when his cousin Le Corbusier hogged the limelight, he created some of the remarkable features of the city, like the Panjab University campus. So, as the city gears up for the conclave of architects to celebrate the idea of Chandigarh, the UT Administration organised an exhibition of photographs by city artists and architects highlighting the contribution of Jeanneret, who stayed on in the city as the Chief Architect of Punjab and whose ashes were immersed in Sukhna Lake as per his last wishes."Living Chandigarh-50'', the display at the Government Museum, begins with his photograph clicked by his junior, Jeet Malhotra, who became the chief architect later on. And two translites which recreate the beauty of the city usher one in. But, unfortunately, barring a few frames, the rest are either flat reproductions of the objects which look better in real or are far-removed from the theme. Dev Inder has captured the beauty of Chandigarh that makes one addicted to the city in his typical application of the light and shade method.Navneet Saxena's frames bring alive the manifestation of Corbusier's artistic skills at the assembly building. There are a couple of other frames like the beautifully crafted brick houses by Namita Singh and D. P. Rayat's holistic view of the piazza.But the theme was missing in many, for when did Nek Chand, whose photograph by Yog Joy forms part of the collection, become an architectural creation?
