At the time of the partition of India in 1947, the state of Punjab was divided in two parts and its capital, Lahore, was attached to Pakistan, leaving the Indian part without governmental city. In 1950, Le Corbusier is responsible for drawing plans for the new capital of the Indian part, Chandigarh "the country of the goddess Chandi", located at the foot of the Himalayas. The work began in 1951, constituting for the architect the only opportunity to apply to a city its concepts of urban-ism. In 1966, the construction of the city is not yet completed, but it already has 120,000 inhabitants. The camera follows the workers, women, men, old men and children, on the building sites and shows how the Indian population has adapted this new and modern city, eventually giving it a life of its own. Commentary, for its part, leads us into more general political, philosophical and poetic reflections.
(Laura Legast and Marthe Porret)