Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh

The museum opened on 6 May 1968, backed by M. S. Randhawa, a patron of the arts who was then Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh. It is the central building of the Cultural Complex, which lies beyond the city centre where the two main V2 boulevards cross; in the complex's original programme, the museum was first conceived as a "Museum of Knowledge".

The plan was settled in Le Corbusier's lifetime, but the building was finished only after his death. It belongs to a series of three museums by the architect, with the one in Ahmedabad (1956) and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo (1959).

The cubic building, about 50 m on each side (165 ft), stands on circular and rectangular pilotis that leave the ground floor free for circulation and for outdoor display areas. A ceremonial pivoting door opens onto a foyer decorated with a mural by Satish Gujral, then onto galleries linked by a ramp: this "architectural promenade" carries visitors from level to level almost unnoticed. The plan starts from a theme of Le Corbusier's own, the endless spiral: under top lighting, the levels interlock and are reached by ramps. The galleries are large open volumes of double or triple height, set around the ramp.

The construction combines composite masonry with exposed-concrete pilotis, faced in brick tile. Eight sawtooth light shafts set in the roof bring daylight down to the galleries and keep out the western sun. Concave troughs gather rainwater and send it to sculpted concrete gargoyles at both sides of the building, which empty it into pools at the front and back. An off-centre balcony on the upper level of the south-west facade looks over the site and the Leisure Valley park.

On display are textiles, metal and stone sculpture, decorative arts, miniature painting and contemporary art from India; the holdings include Gandhara sculptures and Pahari and Rajasthani miniatures. A reference library and the director's office occupy the upper level, and the designer Ratna Mathur Fabri was responsible for the furniture and display systems.

The museum is in Sector 10-C and is closed on Mondays and on India's gazetted holidays. Next door, the Chandigarh Architecture Museum occupies a small concrete building, also designed by Le Corbusier.