Once made for government offices, the Chandigarh chair is now a global design icon—found in celebrity homes and sold at elite auctions.
A City’s Vision, A Chair’s Beginning: How Chandigarh’s Bold Architecture Gave Birth to a Design Classic
It began not with a chair, but with a dream. India was still in the midst of self-discovery following Independence and Partition in the 1950s. Its capital, Lahore, had been taken away to Pakistan, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru felt the chance of a new city that would be the symbol of progress—”unhampered by the traditions of the past.”
Into this fantasy came Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, accompanied by cousin Pierre Jeanneret and a team of Indian and British collaborators. As Corbusier drew the skyline of Chandigarh, Jeanneret looked inward—designed furniture durable enough to withstand the heat, dampness, and thrum of public life. Among his designs was the now-famous V-legged armchair: plain, robust, and simply unpretentious. It was never meant to be flashy.
But it was intended to endure—and to speak, at last, to the world.
Born of a Modernist Moment: Chandigarh Chairs in Post‑Independence
The Chandigarh chair was designed at a time of revolutionary fervor. Post-colonial India was shedding colonial guises and taking on a new lexicon of forms—commemorating democracy, modernity, and freedom. Chandigarh was the location of this utopia: a planned city wherein architecture, furniture, and public life would be wedded together.
Jeanneret’s designs captured that spirit. They were beautiful, serviceable, and deeply Indian—crafted of Indian teak and cane, shaped by craftsmen whose hands held centuries of experience. These chairs were not stuffed. They were part of a revolution. They represented a nation reinventing itself, one chair at a time.
Everyday Use, Overlooked Beauty: Where the Chairs Lived and Why No One Noticed Them
For decades, these chairs were everywhere in Chandigarh. They were to be seen in the Punjab Secretariat corridors, in the ringing High Court corridors, and in Punjab University classrooms. They were drawn up to desks by clerks, leaned back on by professors, and shuffled noisily across tiled floors during meetings.
They were so common, they became invisible. Their clean lines and natural textures merged into the daily routine. Nobody stopped to appreciate them. They were strong, reliable, and silently getting the job done. The possibility that they would someday be prized by collectors in Paris or New York? Unthinkable.
From Utility to Obsolescence: How the Chairs Were Discarded and Forgotten
By the 1990s, Chandigarh’s official buildings were being modernized. New furniture—trendy, less expensive, mass-produced—complemented the old teak-and-cane ones. The Chandigarh chairs were relocated to a storeroom, to gather dust or auctioned off as scrap.
Some were rendered useless by neglect. Others were dismantled for timber. To the bureaucrats clearing out the office spaces, they were nothing but old-fashioned relics—too plain, too pedestrian, one knew they were throwing away fragments of design history. No one suspected they’d be worth lakhs soon.
A Chance Encounter, A Design Revelation: Who Rediscovered the Chairs and Why They Mattered
In the early 2000s, a bunch of French dealers—Éric Touchaleaume, François Laffanour, Philippe Jousse, and Patrick Seguin—traveled to Chandigarh and came across these overlooked chairs in discarded buildings and dusty warehouses.
“We didn’t expect to find design history in a dusty storeroom,” said Laffanour. “But the moment we saw the chairs, we knew they weren’t ordinary.”
They were curious. The scale, the workmanship, the subdued glamour—it all hinted at something greater. Their investigation uncovered Pierre Jeanneret and the city’s remarkable design experiment. These forgotten chairs suddenly had a name, a heritage, and a tale worth sharing.
From Dust to Desire: How Restoration Turned Forgotten Furniture into Global Design Icons
The dealers began restoring the chairs—refurbishing the cane, polishing the teak, and treating each piece as a rediscovered treasure. On exhibition at European galleries, they drew architects, collectors, and design aficionados. Chandigarh chairs made their presence felt in high-profile auctions:
- Bonhams sold 10 pieces in 2020 for ₹2.11 crore
- Phillips sold a High Court sofa set for ₹34.8 lakh
- A pair of armchairs sold for ₹69.6 lakh
What was once taken for granted was now a badge of taste, craftsmanship, and cultural prestige. The world had finally caught up.
Craft Without Credit: The Untold Story of Indian Artisans and the Uneven Rewards of Global Fame
These chairs were built by expert Indian artisans in workshops across Chandigarh, using traditional weaving and joinery techniques. But when they were transformed into luxury collectibles, the craftsmen were hardly noticed.
“We built them to last, not to be famous,” said a former workshop carpenter. “But fame came—and it passed us by.”
While India’s furniture exports grew, the exodus of original Chandigarh pieces meant the country was losing access to its own design heritage. Critics like design historian Nia Thandapani have argued that the narrative shifted from “Chandigarh chairs” to “Jeanneret chairs,” reframing them as European luxury objects rather than Indian cultural assets.
Celebrity Stamp, Cultural Shock: How Kourtney Kardashian’s Purchase Sparked Global Buzz and Local Debate
When 14 authentic Jeanneret chairs were bought by Kourtney Kardashian for her Calabasas home, they were showcased in high-end magazines and on Instagram, immediately giving the chairs a dignified status. The reaction in India was mixed—proud of the craftsmanship but uncomfortable that it was taking a celebrity to realize the chairs’ worth in their own nation.
The Kardashian moment was a cultural echo, an echo of disconnection between local apathy and global devotion. It served as a reminder that legacy sometimes must travel very far indeed before it’s ever perceived.
Lessons in Legacy: What the Chandigarh Chair Teaches Us About Design, Memory, and Cultural Value
The Chandigarh chair is the story about how value shifts—depending on context, timing, and who is narrating. Something that began as utilitarian furniture became an international design phenomenon, but was merely reinterpreted abroad.
It’s a subtle lesson to see closely. In paying respects to the hands that make our world. In preserving cultural memory before it gets lost. The chair does not scream. It reminds me.
The Chandigarh chair tells the tale of how value changes—based on context, timing, and who is narrating. Something that began as utilitarian furniture became an international design phenomenon, but was merely reinterpreted abroad.
Still in Motion: How India in 2025 Is Reimagining the Chandigarh Chair for a New Generation
Now, throughout India, there are artisan workshops, design schools, and heritage websites that are reimagining Jeanneret’s creations with new materials and shapes. Bengaluru to Jaipur shows honor the chair not merely as an object of collection, but as a living component of India’s design history.
Its journey is far from complete—it’s transforming. And this time, it’s being driven from inside
From Chandigarh to the World: Global Demand and Usage in 2025
In 2025, the Chandigarh chair has a global demand that was unthinkable in its early years. Authentic pieces and reproductions of good quality are eagerly looked for by:
- Interior designers and luxury homeowners
- Boutique hotels and concept cafés
- Art galleries and minimalist co-working studios
They’re especially popular in:
- New York, London, Paris
- Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai
- Los Angeles and Copenhagen
No longer confined to Chandigarh’s government offices, the chair has become a universal design statement. A quiet icon of taste, history, and cultural awareness.
Why the Design Still Resonates: Form, Function, and the V-Leg Signature
The enduring beauty of the Chandigarh chair can be attributed to the harmony of simplicity and power. Made of solid teak, its wide armrests and sloping backrest provide comfort without wastefulness. The V-shaped legs, its trademark, are not only aesthetically pleasing but also effectively transfer weight and provide structural strength.
The cane seat, handwoven, provides ventilation in India’s weather, and the joinery is a hint of carpentry tradition that’s been souped up to suit the modernist ideals. It’s a soft-spoken chair, but with an unbeatable presence. A piece that seems to be timeless, because it never follows trends.
From forgotten furniture to global fame—Chandigarh’s chair isn’t just sitting pretty, it’s rewriting design history.
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Author: Anjali Pandey
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