From the Chandigarh College of Architecture, three painted wrought iron and teak stools were sold for 15,600 US dollars. Also auctioned were three teak armchairs. A pair of teak stools, a cedar and teak bed, a pair of teak chairs, etc., belonging to Panjab University also fetched good prices.
What, however, is a sad news for the city is that all these were sold at a pittance. Many items had been discarded as waste. According to rough estimates, alt 80 per cent of the furniture and other relics of the time have been sold. Some of the original drawings made by Le Corbusier are also missing from the city.
Waking up to what had happened, the UT Administration had constituted a committee to preserve what has been left. The committee is now trying to locate furniture and artefacts associated with Le Corbusier and Jeanneret. Some chairs designed by them have been preserved at the City Museum in Sector 10. There is also a proposal by UNESCO to give heritage status to the designs of Le Corbusier, which are present in the city.