A teak paddle armchair designed for the Chandigarh University, circa 1950s

Teak slatted back and seat, the right side with a paddle armrest, raised on compass supports, each joined at the base with a stretcher, the stretchers joined by a shelf.

Inscribed in yellow to the top of the backrest 'Civil', the back of the seat inscribed in green 'CET.36'.

Dimensions:

58 W x 67 D x 83 H cm / 22.8 W x 26.4 D x 32.6 H in

After India became independent from the UK, the new Indian government was looking to make a statement to show they were to become a modern democracy. In the 1950’s, renowned architect Le Corbusier was commissioned to create a masterplan for a new modernistic city that would become the new capital of the Punjab state. This city was named Chandigarh. Le Corbusier took the job to design the city's masterplan and asked his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, a trained architect and designer, to assist him. The masterplan included residential sites, office sites, government buildings (the Capitol Complex), industrial sites and so on. Pierre Jeanneret was tasked with designing a distinctive line of furniture for this new city.

Pierre Jeanneret created his vision for the furniture line by combining modernistic western 1950's design with locally available materials and production techniques. Teak proved to be perfect for furniture manufacturing as it is extremely durable, resistant to heat and moist, and it is hardly affected by changes in humidity. The ‘V-legged’ design vision was functional and simple, so it could be made by local craftsmen in their workshops. The Pierre Jeanneret Chandigarh furniture was born. In the 1990s, Chandigarh’s chairs were re-discovered by notorious collectors and designers. Moving away from being functional pieces of everyday furniture, they became luxury design commodities extremely sought after for their unique story and simple design.