Pierre Jeanneret and Edward Armitage: tracing design inspiration in Chandigarh

Stepping by way of a sublime, pointed arch onto the pattern-painted concrete of the dusty colonnade, I immediately felt a way of familiarity and belonging. Two weeks into my Indian journey, I had lastly discovered the precise spot in Ludhiana, Punjab, the place my grandfather photographed his iconic lamp prototype in 1953. In that second, I additionally realised I used to be standing exterior the very room the place he had lived with my grandmother, then simply 22 years outdated, on the ground the place my father had crawled as a child so many many years in the past.

Pierre Jeanneret and Edward Armitage: tracing design inspiration in Chandigarh

I felt a startled sense of pleasure, standing in such a big location throughout the grounds of the hospital that he designed. The {photograph} of the lamp had been an important artifact for me during the last 15 years – nearly as vital as the unique prototype, which had sat in my grandmother Marthe’s front room for over 70 years since their return from India. Someway, the way in which my grandfather, Edward, captured the lamp – framed by these colonnades – showcased the simplicity of its type and his design intent with unwavering readability.

The subsequent morning, I awoke within the hospital guesthouse, additionally designed by my grandfather, shortly downed a espresso, and hurried out of the medical doctors’ residential compound, a completely assembled ground lamp slung over my shoulder. The low rising solar pierced by way of the tropical vegetation round me, and as I strode by way of the bustling morning visitors with locals eyeing my unusual silhouette, I knew I didn’t have a lot time.

I ran the final 50m to the colonnade, adrenaline coursing by way of me as I hurriedly unpacked my digicam and arrange the shot. The lengthy shadows forged by the morning mild fell properly perpendicular to the colonnade’s columns, simply as they’d the morning my grandfather took his {photograph}. As I adjusted my lens and pressed the shutter, I felt a wave of satisfaction. My mission was full – it was a full-circle second.

Though one of many main objectives of my journey to India was to recreate my grandfather’s {photograph}, my deeper ambition was to uncover what had impressed him in creating such a particular design. My grandmother at all times believed he had drawn inspiration from the wildlife surrounding him. The glossy, conical shade may have been derived from a tropical plant, whereas the V-shaped legs echoed the horns of the holy cows roaming the Indian streets.

Nevertheless, I had one other principle: the V form may have been influenced by Pierre Jeanneret’s famend furnishings designs, which function an equivalent leg type. To analyze, I deliberate one other journey to India – this time to Jeanneret’s home in Chandigarh. Again within the Fifties, my grandfather a number of instances made the 60-mile journey from Ludhiana to Chandigarh, the place he maintained friendships with Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, who had been appointed to design the brand new metropolis alongside Jeanneret and his cousin, Le Corbusier.

To step again in time and think about the legendary modernist metropolis by way of my grandfather’s lens, I made a decision to carry his century-old digicam. Engraved along with his initials, EJA, the beloved Kodak was a key device for Edward. He carried it in all places, meticulously documenting the world round him: structure, design, household, work, and inspiration. Whereas in India, he developed images to create annotated albums and despatched letters with updates to family and friends.

5 months later, my luggage had been packed to the brim with lamp elements, cameras, and tools as I set off as soon as once more from the UK to India. Whereas Jeanneret’s home in Chandigarh was the last word vacation spot, my first cease was Le Corbusier’s ATMA constructing in Ahmedabad. Right here, I joined a Wallpaper* shoot with Nilufar Gallery, that includes the ‘Noveconi’ chandelier [Joe Armitage’s design, inspired by Edward’s ‘Armitage’ lamp].

Over three days, we arrange and shot the lamps throughout the unimaginable concrete construction of the ATMA constructing, guided by photographer Devashish Gaur and assisted by Professor Vijay Singh along with his college students from the Chandigarh School of Structure. Entry to this outstanding location had been kindly organized by the Sarabhai household, distinguished textile designers and industrialists within the area.

After wrapping up the Ahmedabad shoot, the crew and I departed for Chandigarh. Jeanneret’s home is situated in Sector 5 – a leafy neighbourhood close to Le Corbusier’s monumental Capitol Complicated and Sukhna Lake. The home is a playful composition of concrete, brick, and stone, set in a beneficiant lawned backyard. A tall, curved stone wall on the north face options an eye-shaped window searching from one of many bedrooms.

We spent two days photographing the atmospheric interiors of the home. As I positioned Jeanneret’s iconic chairs beside my grandfather’s lamp, I imagined how Edward may need noticed the chair leg throughout one among his visits and been impressed to interpret its type right into a lamp. I documented the scenes along with his digicam, hoping the vintage contraption would seize this inspirational second on movie regardless of not getting used for many years. As soon as the shoot was full, we packed up and I returned house.

A while later within the UK, I visited Rajan Bijlani at house to see his extraordinary assortment of Jeanneret furnishings and the exhibition ‘Syncretic Voices’, which he co-curated with Michael Jefferson. Seated in unique items from Chandigarh, we studied a ebook of Rajan’s, which detailed the chronology of Jeanneret’s V-shaped chair designs, first created in 1955.

As I scanned the dates, I felt a sudden sense of disbelief and hurriedly retrieved the unique photograph of Edward’s lamp. We examined the handwritten notice beneath it – Ludhiana April 1953 – and reached the identical conclusion concurrently: what if it had occurred the opposite approach round? Might Jeanneret have been influenced by my grandfather’s design?

Weeks later, the movie from Edward’s outdated digicam returned from the darkroom. Among the many images was a serendipitous double publicity; my grandfather’s lamp stood on Jeanneret’s garden, as seen by way of the eye-shaped bed room window. A becoming metaphor, maybe, for this intriguing new principle of design inspiration.