Open Hand Monument
| Open Hand Monument | |
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The Open Hand Monument in Chandigarh, India
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 Open Hand Monument
Location of Open Hand Monument in Chandigarh
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| Artist | Le Corbusier |
| Year | 1964 |
| Dimensions | 26 m (85 ft) |
| Location | Chandigarh |
| 30°45′32″N 76°48′26″E / 30.758974°N 76.807348°ECoordinates: 30°45′32″N 76°48′26″E / 30.758974°N 76.807348°E | |
The Open Hand Monument is a symbolic structure designed by the architect Le Corbusier and located in the Capitol Complex of the Indian city and union territory of Chandigarh. It is the emblem or symbol of the Government of Chandigarh and symbolizes "the hand to give and the hand to take; peace and prosperity, and the unity of mankind". The largest example of Le Corbusier's many Open Hand sculptures, it stands 26 metres (85 ft) high. The metal structure with vanes is 14 metres (46 ft) high, weighs 50 short tons (100,000 lb), and was designed to rotate in the wind.
The Open Hand (La Main Ouverte) in Chandigarh is a frequent theme in Le Corbusier's architecture, a symbol for him of "peace and reconciliation. It is open to give and open to receive". Le Corbusier also stated that it was a recurring idea that conveyed the "Second Machine Age".
The Open Hand is located in Sector 1 in the Capitol Complex of Chandigarh, on the backdrop of the Himalayan Shivalik hill range.
Le Corbusier thought of the Open Hand Monument first in 1948, "spontaneously, or more exactly, as a result of reflections and spiritual struggles arising from feelings of anguish and disharmony which separate mankind and so often create enemies". His passion for the hand had an important role in his career beginning from the age of seventeen-and-a-half, when he picked up a brick, a gesture which led to millions of bricks being laid in later years.Jane Drew felt that the symbol of Le Corbusier's philosophy should be made evident to the people of Chandigarh. Le Corbusier then perceived it as a sculptural monument to be erected in Chandigarh, the city he is credited with planning, designing, and implementing. One of his associates, Jerzy Soltan, a member of his atelier, had deliberated with him as to the type of hand to be made – whether an open hand or a fist holding a fighting device.
The Open Hand became a public project rather than a private symbol when Le Corbusier planned it for the city of Chandigarh, where his associate and cousin Pierre Jeanneret was then working as chief architect and town planning advisor to the Government of Punjab, and was supervising the construction of Chandigarh. In case his preference for Chandigarh to erect the sculpture was not accepted, he had thought of an alternate location: the top of the Bhakra Dam, the 220 metres (720 ft) high dam in Nangal in Punjab. He had planned to erect the Open Hand against the scenic background of the Himalayas. He called the location he had selected the "Pit of Contemplation" (Fosse de la Consideration). The design was a huge elevated object (a wind vane), which was an "inspirational symbol of humanity unarmed, fearless, and spiritually receptive".
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