Secretariat building, chandigarh

THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING IS ONE OF THE HORIZONTALLY LONGEST BUILDING EVER BUILT WHICH IS USED BY THE GOVT. BODIES. EVER SINCE THE BUILDIG WAS BUILT, IT HAS CHANGED VERY MUCH BECAUSE OF VARIOUS ASPECTS. IF YOU EVER GET A PERMISSION TO VISIT THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING TERRACE, YOU CAN GET A BEAUTIFUL VIEW OF THE THE CAPITOL COMPLEX AS WELL AS THE CHANDIGARH CITY.

1. SECRETARIAT BUILDING , chandigarh Sagar panchal

2. SECRETARIAT BUILDING Location : chandigarh . Project year :1953. Architecture style: M odern Architecture. Architects: Le Corbusier Architects. The very large building 254 m long and 42 m high houses the ministerial chamber and al ministerial agencies. It marks the edge of Capitol Complex on the left side. The building is composed of six eight storied blocks separated by expansion joints and bears close resemblance to the Marseilles apartment block, one of Corbusier’s earlier projects.

3. SITE PLAN

4. CONCEPTUAL SKETCHES BRAISE-SOLEIL AS A SHADING DEVICE ELEVATION AND SECTION DRAWINGS OF THE BUILDING WHERE IT SHOWS GLASS WINOWS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE BUILDING TOGETHER WITH AIR CONDITIONING UNIT.

5. PLANS OF THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING The secretariat building has a linear planning. The elevation looks exactly the same from both the faces because of its planning. It is the horizontally the longest planned building in the Chandigar h city.

6. SECTIONS

7. CIRCULATION THE CIRCULATION OF OVER 6,000 EMPLOYEES IS AIDED BY A SYSTEM OF ELEVATORS . APPROACH TO THE BUILDING IS THROUGH ROADWAYS BELOW GROUND LEVEL TO A LARGE PARKING AREA  IN FRONT OF THE CENTRAL BLOCK, AND A FLOOR IS LEFT OPEN AT THIS LEVEL TO FORM AN ENTRANCE HALLA SPIRAL STAIRCASE BLOCK 1 AND 2 RISES DIRECTLY FROM THR GROUND. BLOCK 3,4 AND PART OF 5 FACE ON THE EXCAVATED AREA OF THE PARKING LOT AND HAVE THE LOWER STOREY OPEN BETWEEN PILOTIS . FOR THE REST PART OF BLOCK 5 AND WHOLE OF 6 THE LEVEL GOES TILL PLAZA HEIGHT, AND LOWER PORTION OF THESE BLOCKS ARE LEFT OPEN TO A HEIGHT OF TWO STORYES FOR SUPPLEMENTARY COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE BUILDING , EACH OF SIX BLOCKS IS EQUIPPED WITH INTERIOR STAIRWAYS AND LIMITED ELEVATOR SERVICE HORIZONTAL CIRCULATION IS BY MEANS OF A CENTRAL CORRIDORS

8. SPECIFICATIONS THE FIRST DESIGN FOR THE SECRETARIAT PRESENTS THE BUILDING AS A TALL, THIN SLAB CARRYING A SURFACE BRISE SOLEIL DIVIDED BY A CENTRAL HORIZONTAL BAND. THE DESIGN WHICH WAS ACCEPTED ESTABLISHED THE BUILDING FORM AS A LONG, HORIZONTAL CONCRETE SLAB. THE SECRETARIAT, LONGEST BUILDING IN CHANDIGARH, 254M LONG, 42 M HIGH FORMS THE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER, WITH MINISTERIAL OFFICES GROUPED IN THE CENTER AND OFFICES FOR EMPLOYEES ARRANGED ON EITHER SIDE. THE BUILDING WAS COMPLETED IN 1958. THE BUILDING IS COMPOSED OF SIX EIGHT STOREY BLOCKS SEPERATED BY EXPANSION JOINTS. THE CENTRAL PAVELION, BLOCK 4, CONTAINS THE OFFICES OF THE MINISTERS. THE TOP OF THE BUILDING IS DEVELOPED AS A ROOF GARDEN CONTAINING THE SERVICE BLOCKS AND CAFETARIA FOR THE EMPLOYEES. THE PLASTIC EMPHASIS IS GIVEN TO THE BUILDING BY FREE STANDING EXTERIOR RAMP WALL. FOR SUPPLEMENTRY COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE BUILDING , EACH OF THE SIX BLOCK IS EQUIPPED WITH INTERIOR STAIRWAYS AND LIMITED ELEVATOR SERVICE. HORIZONTAL SERVICE IS BY MEANS OF CENTRAL CORRIDORS. FOR MINISTER’S BLOCK THE BAY SIZE IS INCREASED AND THE COLLEGE IS THICKENED.

9. SPECIFICATIONS THE HEIGHT OF THE BASIC OFFICE STYLE WAS DETERMINED BY THE MODULAR TO BE 3.66 M UNDER THE TRANSOMS; WITH A DOUBLING OF PROPORTIONS IN MINISTERIAL CHAMBERS IN THE CENTER OF BUILDING IS AN EXCAVATION ONE STORY DEEP WHERE THE MAIN ENTRANCE IS PLACED. CLIMATE CONTROL IN THIDS BUILDING, WITH ITS ENORMOUS BANDS OF GLAZING , IS ACHIEVED BY THE PROVISION OF ADJUSTABLE AERATORS SET BEHIND WIRE MESH. THE UNDULATORY GLASS PANELS ARE WEL PROTECTED AGAINST THE SUN AND RAIN BY A GRILL OF BRISE SOLEIL ON THE TWO MAIN FACADES. CORBUSIER’S SYSTEM OF LOUVERS TO PROTECT WINDOWS FROM INCLEMENT WEATHER HAS NOT PROVIDED TO BE VERY EFFICIENT. DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, THEY ABSORB THE SUN’S HEAT AND TRANSMITS IT TO THE INTERIOR. AS A RESULT OF SHORTAGE OF SPACE , EVERY CONCEIVABLE AREAS ON THE BALCONIES HAS BEEN CONVERTED INTO OFFICES. THE FIXED CONCRETE BRISE SOLEIL APPEARED VISUALLY NOT AS AN APPLIED SCREEN BUT AS A PART OF BUILDING FABRIC ITSELF AND PATTERN OF SUN BREAKERS WAS ALTERED TO EMPHASIZE THE VARING USES WITHIN THE BUILDING.

10. SPECIFICATIONS THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING AVOIDS OVERSHADOWING THE CAPITOL AS A WHOLE WITH ITS BULK SIZE. INSTEAD, IT PLAYS A UNIFYING ROLE IN THE COMPLEX, WHICH IS SYMBOLIC OF ITS ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION. THE SECRETARIAT WAS AMONG THE FIRST BUILDINGS DESIGNED AS A “HEALTHY BUILDING” WITH CAREFUL ATTENTION PAID TO NATURAL LIGHTING, VENTILATION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFICIENCY. OVER 800 FEET LONG, THE EXTENSIVE FACADE OF THE BUILDING GIVES A SCULPTURAL AESTHETIC WITH EXPOSED CONCRETE RAMPS, PUNCTURED WITH SMALL SQUARE WINDOWS DICTATING THE FRONT AND REAR VIEWSTHE BUILDING IS COMPOSED OF SIX EIGHT-STORY BLOCK DIVIDED BY EXPANSION JOINTS AND MEASURES OVER 800 FEET LONG, BOOKENDED BY TWO SCULPTURAL RAMPS PROVIDING VERTICAL CIRCULATION THROUGHOUT THE FACILITIES’ LEVELS.. TO MAXIMIZE NATURAL LIGHTING AND INCREASE CROSS-VENTILATION, A LONG AND NARROW PLAN WAS IMPLEMENTED BY CORBUSIER , THIS APPROACH ALSO HELPED DELINEATE BOTH THE ACTUAL AND THE IMPLIED BORDERS OF THE CAPITOL COMPLEX AS A WHOLE

11. BUILDING DESIGN AND MATERIAL IT IS A REINFORCED FRAMED STRUCTURE, SEPERATED BY FIVE EXPANSION JOINT INTO SIX DISTINCT BAYS. FIVE OF THE BAYS ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL WHERE AS THE ONE CONTAINING. THE DOUBLE HEIGHT OFFICES OF MINISTERS, HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A BACKGROUND BENEFITING THE DIGNITY OF THE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE. CORBUSIER MARKS THE MINISTER’S SECTION WITH BRISE SOLEIL COMPOSITION. CORBUSIER ALSO USED THIS UNIFORM FAÇADE STRUCTURE OF FLOOR SLABS WITH EXTERNAL SUPPORT AND DETACHED BALCONY WALLS IN CENTRAL BUILDING IN THE CITY. THE BUILDING IS ORIENTED TO OBTAIN THE MAXIMUM BENEFIT OF THE WIND DIRECTION FOR EFFECTIVE CROSS VENTILATION AND PROVIDE AN UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF THE SHIVALIK HILL AS WELL OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF THE CITY .

12. LANDSCAPE THE TOP OF THE BUILDING IS DEVELOPED AS A ROOF GARDEN CONTAINING THE SERVICE BLOCKS AND CAFETERIA FOR EMPLOYEES LE CORBUISER PLANNED A GARDEN FOR THE CAPITOL BUILDING KNOWN AS RAJENDRA PARK WHICH IS ALSO USED BY THE EMPLOYEES OF SECRETARIAT BUILDING. ORIGINALLY, DUE TO THE TRIMIX FLOORING IN THE WHOLE CAPITOL COMPLEX, THE SCOPE OF LANDSCAPING HAS REDUCED TO AN EXTENT..