LC3 Fauteuil Grand Confort, Grand Modèle, Trois Seats
Designed by Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret), Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Periand
Tag: Pierre Jeanneret
Selling Out Chandigarh (04) – Upcoming at Wright
Dining chairs from Punjab University Student Residences, Chandigarh, set of eight, by Pierre Jeanneret at Wright, December 17, 2020. Estimate: $20,000–30,000
sofa from Punjab University, Chandigarh by Pierre Jeanneret at Wright : estimate: $20,000–30,000
Pierre Jeanneret, pair of lounge chairs from Punjab University, Chandigarh at Wright. Estimate $20,000–30,000
[Chandigarh] is the biggest example in India of experimental architecture…It hits you on the head and makes you think. I like the creative approach, not being tied down by what has been done by our forefathers but thinking in new terms…in the ultimate analysis, a thing which fits in with social functions is beautiful.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Former Prime Minister of India
For me it is a design desaster: Concrete in a tropical climate doesn’t fit well. It was supposed to be a new city and local government seat of Punjap, but not used as it was supposed or ment to be…and soon derelicted and in the past 10=12 years raided by design raiders.
In one of my eaerlier posts of this series I referred to a Mondo Blogo post and there I found this artist’s comment about raiding French former colonies for sought after Pierre Paulin design:
Scissor Chairs by Pierre Jeanneret
Scissor Chairs by Pierre Jeanneret
Auctioned by Wright in Oktober, 2014.
The Scissor by Pierre Jeanneret Chairs fetched $3,500 while the estimate was $3,000–5,000.
Chandigarh house of Pierre Jeanneret (1)
Chandigarh house of Pierre Jeanneret (1)
In the process of researching material for the Chandigarh category I stumbled upon this Jeanneret Chair
Via Mondo
Selling Out Chandigarh (03) – One Person’s Trash is another Person’s Treasure
Above dilapidated Chandigarh chairs. Below restored ones
One Person’s Trash is another Person’s Treasure
Indian officials had looked 50 years or so to the rather raw furniture designed by Pierre Jeanneret who, in collaboration with his cousin Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Janneret), had designed the city of Chandigarh. So what happens with old furniture? You try to sell it or you throw it away as trash. Until a clever Frenchman, Eric Touchaleaume, came along who assessed the true value of the furniture and started to buy dilapidated furniture from the local auctions and take it from the various junkyards. He restored the furniture in top condition. He wrote a book about it. Organized various prestigious galleries to showcase his finds and offered the furniture for sale by prestigious auction houses. And there and then it became apparent that Chandigarh was losing an important collection of original design and architecture and started people claiming that he was looting and robbing Chandigarh…other people would call it clever marketing…
More Links
- Mondo Blogo Who used this subtitle and wrote a lengthy article about the controversy.
- Patrick Seguin Gallery in Paris has a collection of restored Chandigarh chairs.
- Chandigarh Design has a collection of photos of the dilapidated furniture from whom I borrowed some. I have a feeling it is the webshop of the French entrepreneur who decided to buy the lots.
- My Introduction to this series.
Post Alia
When you take a close look at the dilapidated Chandigarh chairs and the mint condition ones you will agree with me that although raw, the design has been exceptionally sturdy. The chairs have survived 50 years of uninterested use and can be beautifully restored.