CASE STUDYCAPITOL COMPLEX

INDO GLOBAL COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE

Submitted by:Saurav Chaudhary (11034)Sidharth Thepra (11056)Section BSemester 9th

B.Architecture

LOCATION CAPITOL COMPLEX

SITE LAYOUT1- Parliament(assembly)2- Secretariat3- Governor Palace4- Justice Court6- The Basins7- Open Hand

THE CAPITOL COMPLEX• Area of great symbolic significance in Chandigarh is CAPITOL

COMPLEX, which in its final form was based on the design of great cross axis.• The site is situated b/w city and shivalik hills and is 100

acres in area.• Master plan is asymmetrical – symbol of democrative nature

of state.• Most important group of buildings constituting the capitol

complex are:1. THE HIGH COURT2. THE ASSEMBLY HALL3. THE SECRETARIAT4. RAJ BHAWAN AS IN GOVERNOR PALACE OR MUSEUM

OF KNOWLEDGE: YET NOT CONSTRUCTED.5. OPEN HAND MONUMENT6. TOWER OF SHADOW

ASSEMBLY BUILDINGOn March, 1961 the present building known as “Vidhan Bhawan” became the permanent home where all legislative proceedings are conducted. It is located opposite the high court across the 400m wide capitol plaza.

THE OPEN HAND MONUMENT• Prominent monument 12.5 x 9.0 m and

weighs ten tones.• Defines northern fringe of capitol

complex shows man made sculptural form against the back drop of shivalik hills.

• “ Open to give and open to receive” also signifies openness of planning of Chandigarh and blessing hand of almighty.

• It rises 27 m from a sunken pavilion with seating arrangement around it.

• Rotates according to the wind movement.

• Surface is covered with polished steel grey metal.

PLANNING OF THE BUILDING

THE GROUND FLOOR PLAN OF THE ASSEMBLY

• The assembly hall has a square plan.

• The assembly chamber is in the form of a hyperbolic shell, surrounded by a ceremonial space.

• This circulation space which is a triple height columned hall is dimly lit.

• Members of assembly use various side entrances to get into impressive but rather dark hall.

• The hall leads to main rooms which follow the British model.

AERIAL VIEW OF THE ASSEMBLY

Offices are arranged on the periphery of the three sides of the approximately square building.

The offices are open plan and can be subdivided.

• The upper and the lower house are inserted into the buildings interior as independent volumes.

• The smaller chamber is lit by a skylight in the shape of a tetrahedron, while the lower house widens at the top in a shape of reminiscent of a cooling tower.

• Cooling towers are not the only influence, the chimney of Jura farmhouse near la Chaux de fonds, Corbusier's birth place, contributed as well.

• The beveled line of this tower is provided with mechanical lighting which provides natural lighting.

THE TETRAHEDRON SKYLIGHT OVER THE SMALLER CHAMBER

ANOTHER SKYLIGHT OVER THE LARGER CHAMBER

• The space is circular, countering the square outline of the building around it.

• Two “ears”, called “ladies galleries” in the ground plan provide banks of seats and are appended as rooms with free forms.

• All ground plan figurations are right angled and the wall slabs of the outer façade described above are placed diagonally. The journalist area is separated from the areas used by members.

WATER CANOPY

THE GREAT PORTICO FACING THE HIGH COURT

THE GOVERNOR’S ENTRANCE DOOR (OUTSIDE)

THE GOVERNOR’S ENTRANCE DOOR (INSIDE)

• A rich range of images that convey multiple meanings are painted on the interior and exterior surfaces of door. All the doors were painted by Corbusier himself, with his own hands, working continuously for 14 days. The 110 square meter door consists of 110 panels, 55 on each side. These were arranged in 5 rows and 11 vertically.

• The main entrance is 25’ square, and contains a pivoting enamel door which was fabricated in France according to a design by Corbusier.

• The assembly chamber itself is hyperbolic with an average thickness of 15 cm, constant throughout its surface resulting in a very low cost and a minimum of weight.

• The form is direct image of spontaneous design. even though the curvature may obey geometrical.

INTERIORS

Interiors

GEOMETRY OF THE BUILDING•  The geometry of parliament is

based on a square of defined size. The dimensions of the parliament relate directly to the measurements that lie behind the site as a whole, two times 800 m, and then arising from this two times 400m, with its proportional derivations. 

• A second larger square of a defined size is assigned to the initial square with its axis at the center. Its right hand outer trace lies on the right hand side of the first square. These primaries setting provide position of the subsequent plan figures. The position of the round section of the building for the chamber can be determined by establishing the outer lines produced by the two squares.

• The placing of the chamber circle arises directly from the two squares. The golden section divisions of the two squares are crucially important. A small strip is produced between these divisions, and its central axis defines the position of the circle horizontally.

• A diagonal of the square combines the squares that establish the outline: the axis of the mediator between the two golden section divisions meets the outer line of the larger square, at the bottom, and from this intersection the diagonal meets the smaller square on its left hand outer line.

• It is possible to add a horizontal line that intersects with the vertical axis of the circle, forming its horizontal axis thus defining the position of the circle exactly.

• Another square of defined size is inscribed within the lines of this new square define the line of the office area on the outer periphery, peripheral zones are created by overlapping with the second square.

•  • Differently shaped access areas

are separated off on the three sides. This ring encloses an inner square zone with a corridor system, thus producing a hall with the body of chamber inserted into it.

• A grid of defined size is inscribed in the inner hall zone; its position depends on the geometry of the circle. The grid consists of 8 by 7 patterns of fields with access ramps placed on the left hand edge. The result is a square grid separated by a ramp zone. Square access zones are developed at corners of the office zones so that each of the three sides is independent. The portico is at the southern edge of the ring.  

HIGH COURT

FUNCTION• The high court was the first structure to be built in the capitol

complex. It was opened in 1956. Corbusier envisaged the building as vaulted structure, monumental in scale set against the backdrop of Shivalik hills.

• Its structure symbolizes three ideas: “THE MAJESTY OF LAW AND THE POWER AND FEAR OF LAW”.

PLANNINGThe building has an l shaped plan and houses eight double

height courtrooms and a triple height high court on the ground floor with offices above each court. The courtrooms are identically expressed on the main façade

and are separated from the high court by a great entrance portico. It contains a row of eight court rooms on ground floor level and

a main courtroom separated from the others by a large entrance hall. A restaurant, a library and other side rooms are accommodated in a rear, lower part of the building.

• The significance of the high court is underscored by its isolation from the rest by a giant portico meant for lawyers and judges.

• Each courtroom is individually assessable to the public from outside.

• On the south eastern side is a public entrance and car park at a lower level.

• In contrast with the deep walls there is a barrier: the ramps as a transverse pedestrian access element it is a dividing element within the depths of space, referring functionally it to access level of courtrooms and finally it is simply a free standing sculpture.

• The continuity of the surface of the esplanade with the entrance portico on north western side sustains the unity of the external and internal spaces.

• The floor of the entrance area is finished with stone which is set in rows of varying widths.

• An emphatic color scheme has been used to enhance visual delight of the building across the plaza three pylons of portico rising 18.3 m from the ground express the majesty of law. They are cemented rendered and painted green yellow and pinkish red respectively.

• The flanking walls are painted black. The predominant character of the building is created by a double effect: the first impression is of a dominant box frame, establishing a rectangular block as a figure.

• The space between the two roofs is left open to enable currents of air to move between the flat roof of the office block and the underside of the parasol roof with slopes towards the center in the form of a row of arches.

• The building rises directly from the earth, the main façade defined by full height concrete brise soleil and the arch forms restricted to the underside of the parasol roof.

ELEVATION

ELEVATION

• The parasol roof which slopes towards the center provides a trough from which rain water gushes out through heavy spouts at either ends. The space between the upper and lower roofs is left open to allow free movement of air, cooling the interiors considerably.

• The orientation of the high court is such that the main façade faces northwest, and thus does not receive direct sunlight until late in the day, long after the hours during which the court is normally in session. The light which enters the court rooms during the morning and early afternoon is essentially reflected glare which is diffused by sun breakers and also by curtains within the chambers. 

• The real façade of thy building, houses most of the offices and has a south eastern exposure, the brise soleil is put to a severe functional test. The rough concrete of the building is treated in a variety of manners. Marks of sheet metal formwork characterize the surface of the external walls. The entrance lobby is paved with whitish flag stones set in rows of varying widths. 

• Because the exposed concrete surfaces inside the court rooms produced a problem in acoustics, it was found necessary to introduce a sounder absorptive surface, and the solution was the creation of a series of large tapestries to cover the interior walls behind the judges benches.

• On the other hand, a tapestry is like a wall made of wool w3hich can be removed , rolled together, and taken away to be hung on another wall that’s why he called them “ MURALNOMAD.”

• The tapestries also served the purpose of satisfactory acoustics. It was a good occasion to blend the architecture of armed concrete (a sounding material) with the craft of wool (a substance absorbing sounds).

• Though these tapestries were created for acoustic refining, yet they enhance the quality of spaces with their polychrome tones and the intellectual presence and poetry of certain symbols.

INTERIOR

LIGHTING• The main façade of the high court is oriented towards the North West, it therefore

does not receive direct sunlight until late in the day, long after the hours during which the high court is normally in session.

• The light which enters the courtroom during the morning and the early afternoon is essentially reflected glare.

• Moreover because of the open character of the stairways ramps and corridors; people cannot move around the building during the rainy seasons without getting drenched. Nevertheless, it is a building with one of the most beautiful facades, with an exceptionally inviting and alluring.

• The following analysis shows that Corbusier designed the ground plan on the basis of ordering principles that refer symbolically to transcendental connections.

• The influence of the insights gained from the modular about golden section as a result of linking single and double squares as in the site plan.

• The entrance hall to the high court consists of Double Square of a defined size. This is the determining initial figure for the analysis of geometry and scale.

Geometry

THE SECRETARIAT

SECRETARIAT BUILDING

FUNCTION• The ten-storey

secretariat building houses the administrative offices of ministers and of all ministerial agencies.

Corbusier was pleased to take the opportunity to plan a building as large as this but this was also too small to fulfill its function properly. Dividing the state into Punjab and Haryana meant that twice the amount of administration was needed. The building now houses three times the number of employees that was planned; some of whom were forced out on to the balconies, which have been converted into offices.

• The largest building within the capitol complex is the secretariat, an administrative complex 254 m long and 41 m high. Corbusier's intension was to build tower modeled on his skyscraper design for Algeria in 1941. 

• The horizontal block consists of six eight-storey sections for different administrative functions. One part is intended for office space for ministers and the governor. With a view to accommodate the ever-changing needs of the government, the floor area is arranged into the required space units by removable partitions, which define and redefine space demarcations. 

• A typical floor plan is a simple pattern of offices that can be subdivided as wished arranged symmetrically on both sides of the corridor. Large open plan offices are formed at each end.

PLANNING

• Blocks 1 & 2 rise directly from the ground. Blocks 3, 4 & part of 5 and all of block 6, the ground level returns to the plaza height, lower portions of these blocks are left open to a height of two storeys.

•  • For supplementary

communication within the building, each of the six blocks is equipped with interior staircase and limited elevator service for most of the floor levels a uniform bay system is employed.

• Horizontal circulation is by a central corridor, the office areas defined by the partitions standing free if the columns the secretariat is topped by a roof garden which has been designed not only to insulate the building against the direct rays of the sun but also to provide an excellent recreational space.

• A cafeteria has been built on the tenth floor to ensure that the smell and fumes from the kitchen do not pollute the interiors of the building. Also it offers the panoramic view of the Shivalik hills and the whole complex. For a quick vertical circulation, the building is equipped with nine lifts and staircases.

• Two great ramps grow out of the building at a rakish angle. Their sidewalls have small openings to permit the entry of light and air. The majority of employees are using these ramps.

• The architect was of the opinion that the system of elevators would be too costly. It will have very little utility, as it will be used in the morning and the evening only. Corbusier also considered the facts that Indians like walking.

• The ramps offer interesting perspectives of landscape and the architectural designs of this complex.

• Corbusier marks the ministers section with a brise soleil composition.

• Corbusier also used this uniform façade structure of floor slabs with external supports and detached balcony walls in central buildings 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 hills as well of the perspectives of the city.

• It is a reinforced concrete frame structure, separated by five expansion joints 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.

• 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 the building is an excavation one storey deep where the main entrance is placed.

• Climate control in this building, with its enormous bands of glazing, is achieved by the provision of adjustable aerators set behind wire mesh. The undulatory glass panels are well 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 effective. During the summer months, they absorb the suns heat and transmit it to the interiors.

• As a result of shortage of space, every conceivable area 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, & the pattern of the sun breakers was altered to emphasize the varying uses within the building.

• The secretariat building seems to be too large, absolutely gigantic, in comparison wit the architecture of the other buildings at the capitol complex. The basic form of the secretariat is predetermined as a long rectangle. The length of the building was largely determined by the quality of space needed.

• Six parts of the rectangle form the individual administrative sections. Their dimensions are predetermined sections 1, 2 and 6 are the same lengths, 3 and 5 are larger units and four has its own special dimensions as part of the accommodation for ministers. A double square, projected over the central axis on to the rectangle, is now derived from the length of the rectangle.

• The construction of the double square from the single square and the resultant pattern of golden section divisions, as already described in the Modular, are transferred to the figure of the rectangle.

RAMP CONNECTING THE CANTEEN WITH THE LOWER STOREY EXTERNALLY

GEOMETRY

THE VIEWING GALLERY AT THE ROOF TOP LEVEL WITH AN INTRERESTING ROOF PROFILE

PICTURE SHOWING THE STRUCTURE AT THE ROOF TOP BEING USED AS SECURITY REST ROOMS

CAPITOL COMPLEX OF BRASILIA

MASTER PLAN OF BRASILIA

INTRODUCTION• Brasília is the capital of Brazil and the seat of

government of the Federal District. The city is located along the Brazilian Highlands on the country's Central-West region.

• It was founded on April 21, 1960, to serve as the new national capital. Brasília had an estimated population of 2,789,761 in 2013, making it the 4th most populous city in Brazil.

• Brasília was planned and developed by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer in 1956 in order to move the capital from Rio de Janeiro to a more central position.

• The city's design divides it into numbered blocks as well as sectors for specified activities, such as the Hotel Sector, the Banking Sector and the Embassy Sector. Brasília was chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its modernist architecture. The city has a unique status in Brazil, as it is an administrative division rather than a legal municipality like other cities in Brazil.

• The centers of all three branches of the federal government of Brazil are in Brasília, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court.

BRASILIA

BRAZIL MAP

From upper left: •National Congress of the Federative Republic of Brazil, • Juscelino Kubitschek bridge, •Monumental Axis, •Palácio da Alvorada and •Cathedral of Brasília.

BRASILIA FEDERAL CAPITOL COMPLEX• Oscar Niemeyer designed the National Congress during the late 1950s and

early 1960s while he served as chief architect for Brazil's new capital city, Brasília. The complex is composed of several buildings.

• The free and vigorous forms of Oscar Niemeyer's works, such as Pampulha (1943) and Canoas House (1954), were already internationally recognized when he visited Europe in 1954.

• Adopting the main principles of modern urbanism, Lucio Costa's plan for Brasilia achieved an appropriate expression of a capital with two axes crossing each other in right angles.

• The Federal Legislative Power in Brazil is exercized by two chambers: the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Members of the Senate are called Senadores (Senators) and members of the Chamber are called Deputados Federais (Federal Deputies). 

• The composition, resembling a plane, is very simple, unified, clear, and elegant. In the curved wings of the north-south axis (road axis), Costa placed the residential areas. The east-west axis (monumental axis) is a sort of dorsal spine that organizes the entire plan. At the east end of the monumental axis, Costa located the governmental center, Three Powers Square, as a focus of the composition

SCULPTURAL ARCHITECTURE• The Brazilian Congress in Brasilia designed by Oscar Niemeyer is an

artistic composition of forms. The juxtaposition of a bowl and a dome atop the plateau of main body of the building create a powerful piece of SCULPTURAL ARCHITECTURE that is as much a monument to Brazilian politics as a building to house it.

• Niemeyer’s composition for the Brazilian Congress consists of a dome to house the Senate and a bowl to house the Chamber of Deputies, both sitting atop a plateau that houses the congressional administration offices.

VISUAL AND FUNCTIONAL RELATION OF FORMS• The low concrete dome is visually and structurally sound, and as a

building form it is precedent throughout history to Roman times – giving the dome a sense of stability.

• The bowl, on the other hand, appears to be balancing on a single point, and one feels that even the slightest nudge would cause the bowl to wobble and teeter on its point – the bowl is a decidedly uncertain form. Niemeyer’s juxtaposition of two similar forms – one inverted – conveys senses of stability and uncertainty, but the composition is well balanced.

• The fact that the bowl and domes have similar forms, albeit inverted, and their proximity to each other assists in conveying the significance of each form

• The bowl and dome of Niemeyer’s Brazilian Congress are individually unspectacular – it is as an artistic composition that the two elements, together, become a powerful piece of sculptural architecture

BRASILIA FEDERAL CAPITOL COMPLEX

SPACES• The spaces between the

bowl and dome in Niemeyer’s composition for the Brazilian Congress were treated with great skill by the architect. An area has been defined by the boundaries of the plateau, and the two forms are proportioned according to these parameters.

• Much of the internal space of the dome is below podium level.

SCALE AND PROPORTION

• Niemeyer has sunk the dome so that only a percentage of the form is visible – so as not to allow the dome to dominate the composition. Niemeyer was attentive to scale and proportions when designing the Brazilian Congress, and as a result he achieved a beautifully balanced sculptural composition.

LANDSCAPING

THREE POWERS SQUARE• The Three Powers Square, or Praça dos Três Poderes in Portuguese, is

named after its surroundings being the three governmental powers of Brazil: the Executive, represented by the presidential office (Palácio do Planalto); the Legislative, represented by the National Congress (Congresso Nacional); and the Judiciary, represented by the Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal).

• The Three Powers Square is a great esplanade for public ceremonies and provides an aesthetic and symbolic space for all the city houses. Following Costa's triangular scheme, Niemeyer placed in each vertex a building representing the three main powers: Planalto Palace (executive), National Congress (legislative), and Supreme Court (judiciary).

• Niemeyer concentrated his major efforts on the creation of this ensemble. Niemeyer conceived these palaces as an entity, conferring formal unity and a general classical monumentality on them.

LOCATION • The center of Brasilia was outlined with a wide corridor of gardens

bordered by two wide avenues that separate the city into two areas like the north and south. The corridor ends at the Plaza of Three Powers, where the Federal Supreme Court, the National Congress with its two twin towers and domes, and the Planalto Palace where the president or executive.

CONCEPT• The Plaza of the Three Powers (Praça dos Três Portuguese

Powers) is a place whose name derives from the meeting of the three governmental powers around it: the Executive, represented by the Planalto Palace, the Legislative, represented by Congress National and the judiciary, represented by the Supreme Federal Court. One of the biggest attractions in Brasilia.

SPACES• The set is arranged around a square which completes the

monumental axis of the city of Brasilia. According to approaching us for the high street and are the first thing that marks the distance from the Congress building. Behind him the square, and each side of the Planalto Palace and the Supreme Court. At the center of the square, just behind the building of the congress is the Museum of the Foundation of Brasilia as the only added element to the whole project from the beginning

PLANALTO PALACE• Construction of the Palácio do

Planalto, whose official name is' Palace of the Despachos' began to be built on July 10.

• As the seat of government, the words "or Planalto" is often used as a metonym for the executive branch of government.

• The idea was to project an image of modernity and simplicity, consisting of a rectangular glass box between two slabs supported by a colonnade perimeter. This definition is still some way to remind us of Greek temple, with its colonnade and central cela.

• The generous flat roof above the line of fences to protect the facades of the direct sun, while the elements that form the perimeter colonnade are Alagoas in a direction perpendicular to the facade creating visual maps that section, giving a sense of privacy in an area which, moreover, is very open and transparent in its interior.

• The Palace is four stories high and covers an area of 36,000 m². Four other adjacent buildings are also part of the complex.

SUPREME COURT • The lines that define the court are very similar to the Planalto

Palace, with an air of modern temple placed on a platform that seems to float above the ground.

• Not surprisingly, both buildings are similar since they were designed in conjunction with the project of the square of the three branches and are placed symmetrically with respect to the axis, not just the plaza, but the entire city of Brasilia.

• These two "temples" face of the square through which the building is the Congress, as happened with the Roman temples located around a plaza shared for their sacrifices.

CONGRESS • From far away, the powerful National

Congress (1958–60) appears, announcing the termination of the axis.

• Niemeyer placed two domes on a vast platform that emphasizes the horizontality of the complex. Based on a play of volumes, the complex was intended to express formally the duality of the two assemblies.

• According to Bruand, the inverted dome, the Chamber of Deputies, symbolizes the more democratic facet of this assembly, whereas the smaller dome, the Senate, appears to be more reclusive.

• Between the domes, two high thin slabs are placed, housing the secretariat. The balance of the final composition is also achieved by contrasts between vertical and horizontal lines, between curves and straight lines, and between the pure forms of platform, twin towers, and domes.

• It was designed in order to preserve the openness of the mall while maintaining its symbolical importance.

COMPARISON OF CHANDIGARH AND BRASILIA

• Brasilia and Chandigarh differ in many respects, on both at global and local levels.

• Brasilia displays two distinctive and clearly identifiable linear morphological units: the Road Axis, along which the rows of residential superblocks are located, and the Monumental Axis, which constitutes the main symbolic space of the Brazilian capital.

• The main buildings of the Federal Administration are situated. These two structural elements intersect at the city centre. They are the most integrated axes in the city.

• Chandigarh, by contrast, presents a uniform street grid that marks out similar sectors measuring approximately 800m x1,200m, housing all kinds of activities – commercial, institutional, residential etc. –

• The Capitol, where the Secretariat, the National Assembly and the High Court are located.

• However, the Capitol is highly segregated from the rest of the city, in both expressive and instrumental terms. It is not visible from any major vantage point and the buildings are situated in the final sections of dead‐end streets

THE CAPITOL COMPLEX CHANDIGARH• It is invisible from the rest of the city being tucked away in a

segregated piece of it -this is in “Sector 1”, outside the grid mentioned above, in the northeast tip of the city.

• Perhaps from a distance, outside the city in the surrounding countryside, one might identify the Secretariat,

• The tallest building of the set. From inside the urban grid, however, the set is invisible, as far as we could make out, driving along many of the streets in between sectors. Wide strips of vegetation surrounding the buildings of the Capitol prevent them being noticed from any point, be it near or far from the site.

• The sector also includes other elements, more classifiable as urban “furniture” or objects rather than buildings, given their sculptural as opposed to their spatial attributes (they have no internal spaces designed for activities)

• An “Open Hand”, a belvedere in a fairly central position • A “Wind House” (a large sculpture purportedly representing

the main principles of modern architecture) and a small artificial hill.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS

• The astounding view of the Ministries Esplanade, with the twin towers of Congress crowning the composition, visually perceptible from three of the four levels of the Platform

• In the Brazilian Capital the monumental group of buildings is seen from many viewpoints from within the city – not only from its immediate surroundings

• It is in the centre of the city, not on its periphery

• It is directly accessible and visible from the Road Platform, at the intersection of the two main macro‐structural elements comprising Brasilia – the Road Axis and the Monumental Axis.

The Capitol viewed from the top floor of the Secretariat (left) and the Three Powers Plaza viewed from the top of an

outbuilding (right)