The Chandigarh Chairs, also known as the Pierre Jeanneret Chair, was first created in Chandigarh, Punjab during the 1950s. At the time, the famed Swiss architect Le Corbusier was designing the Indian city and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret led several large civic projects, including mass housing and Punjab University. Along with Indian junior designers, Urmila Eulie Chowdhury, Jeet Malhotra and Aditya Prakash, Jeanneret constructed furniture for the buildings, including the now infamous Chandigarh Chair.
The strong, sturdy chairs have V-shaped legs built from local teak and Indian rosewood to withstand the humidity and bugs. Cane was utilized on the backs and seats to allow for air circulation on the hot, balmy days. The chairs were cheap to build and mass produced to be used everywhere from the High Court to classrooms. However, as Indian design craved modern and sleek interiors, the chairs were discarded in droves around the city.
Fast forward to the late nighties when Parisian antique dealers and gallerists saw the chairs in Indian markets for mere rupees and started to purchase them. Needless to say, a star was (re)born. The Chandigarh Chairs are now found everywhere from the dining table of the Kardashians to just every interior magazine spread with replicas abound. Since 2011, no furniture can exit India without permission of the authorities and the Ministry of Culture, which has further increased the demand for these chairs. A quick search on 1stDibs reveals a single Chandigarh Chair for a whooping $12,000. Like a classic Bollywood tale, the chair went from humble beginnings to royalty.