The Saint the Chair & the Cit, 2019

A portrait of Pierre Jeanneret by Pierrick Mouton, 53″20

After the partition of India in 1947, the former British province of Punjab was split between East Punjab, in India, and West Punjab, in Pakistan. A new capital city was thus required to replace Lahore, which had become part of Pakistan. Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, dreamt to build a utopian new capital. Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret were commissioned to work on this new city’s master plan. Named after Hindu goddess Chandi: Chandigarh was born. Developed jointly by Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, the city of Chandigarh was despite all expectations, greatly shaped by the spirit of the latter. Jeanneret moved to India in 1951, where he remained for fifteen years.

This is the story of a wise man, the unsung hero of Chandigarh, working in the shadow of a master. A tribute to discretion and commitment. This is the story of Pierre Jeanneret in the light of those who have known him personally

With the participation of

Sangeeta Bagga, director of Chandigarh College of architecture Kiran joshi, Professor, Chandigarh College of architecture Shivdatt Sharma, architect and collaborator of Le corbusier Deepika Ghandi, Director at Le corbuiser center

Jeet Malhotra, Architect
Bagha Surinder, Architect and urbanist
Pr Maristella Casciato, Historian and curator
Mr Manmohan Lal SARIN, Lawyer and neighboor of Pierre Jeanneret
Sound recording: Pierrick Mouton
Mixing & mastering: Gaspard Collin
Voice over: Charlie Jeffrey
Original music: Jim Grandcamp
with special thanks to Alliance française (Chandigarh) and Institut français (New Delhi)