Most architects and design buffs harbour the dream to get to Chandigarh but it does not naturally fall into a standard Indian holiday itinerary – you have to head in the opposite direction from the normal attractions such as Rajasthan, Varanasi or Goa. However it is only a few hours by a regular and decent train from Delhi. You can leave Chandigarh by plane and head off to nearly every part of India on a direct flight.

It is one of very few cities in the world that carries the vision of a single architect. Le Corbusier was not the original choice. That was the American architect Albert Mayer along with his colleague Matthew Nowicki, who had been stationed in India during the second world war and had met Jawaharlal Nehru in 1945. Not long after they had devised the master plan, Nowicki died in a plane crash and Mayer left the project.

With the advice of Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry, two English modernists, Le Corbusier was drafted in as the lead, with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, and these four architects formed the main team. Concrete was also seen as an easy and inexpensive material to work with in India so it was a good match.

The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016 and it’s worth noting that it is ranked as the happiest city in India. Whether you view the architecture of Chandigarh through the prism of decolonisation, as an embodiment of modernism or a design that ran roughshod over centuries of Indian tradition, it is an extraordinary achievement and an essential visit for anybody with even a passing interest in the history of architecture and design.

And, up at Amaya

Well you could not get further away from Chandigarh in spirit if you tried. Established as a hill station during the British Raj, some 80 kms from Shimla, and home to one of the first established breweries in India – that of course was the work of a Scotsman – it is now the site of the resort designed by Studio Mumbai in 20 acres of terraced forest. Everything has been created by hand without a drop of cement “rooted in local culture but radically contemporary”.

For Amaya, Bijoy looked at the villages around Kasauli, studying the materials and techniques employed to make its oldest structures. The idea, he says, was to “take a mountain typology that has existed for time immemorial and bring it up to speed. It’s not a nostalgic representation of the past, but a way of distilling it to fit into the now.” Amaya’s every element, from its dry-stack stone walls to its copper roofing, embodies the spirit of these mountains and people, and yet—it is unlike anything that has been built before. Amaya draws more than aesthetic inspiration from its surrounding villages, it also embodies their harmonious way of living.

Viewport Studio from London (my old company) was recruited to work on furniture selection, bespoke furniture design and interior layouts.

Add to this mix, Amaya’s food concept of sustainability in consumption: as much as possible is grown on the terraces in which the resort is built. In their own words: ‘Amaya Lab’s stem to seed philosophy aligns with the broader movement towards sustainability and mindful consumption. By utilising every part of the ingredient we reduce our environmental footprint and foster a deeper connection to the food we eat.’ And by the way it is insanely delicious.