In 1951, French architect Le Corbusier was tasked with planning a city, after the capital of the rich Indian state of Punjab was under war splits. A small site was chosen keeping in mind the climate, location, and military capabilities of this region. It was a planned and concerted effort needed by the Frenchman and his team, something that India’s cityscapes had not seen before. ‘City Beautiful’ was the nickname given to this city after years of modern and postmodern thinking, architecture, and hard work finally came to fruition.

Taking inspiration from the city that it resides in, Elante SOCIAL is occupied with greenery on all sides with an intricate criss-cross of levels, laden with terrazzo marble flooring. For a community that loves to hit the road for a late-night drive, Chandigarh’s second SOCIAL is conveniently located at the city’s biggest mall and is open till late night.

Adhering to SOCIAL’s mantra of recycling and up-cycling with minimal intervention, we utilised frugal materials and gave it high-end spin. Corrugated sheets get a new lease of life with colour blocking juxtaposed with textured plywood panelling, that forms the perfect backdrop for the guerilla illustrations that portray the essence of Punjab. With agriculture being such a major part of the way of life in the state, the levels or ‘steps’ of the outpost mimic the ‘terrace farming’ technique that the land is famous for.

In 2015, the BBC cited the city as one of the few planned projects that succeeded in terms of combining monumental architecture, cultural growth, and modernisation. In 2020, Elante SOCIAL hopes to be the fulcrum that carries on Chandigarh’s legacy of being modern yet rooted, familial yet individualistic.

With the hugely popular Sector 7 SOCIAL in the city, Elante SOCIAL is where people will go #PhirSeSOCIAL