Double-sided teak file rack by Pierre Jeanneret, model PJ-R-27-A, from the Chandigarh furniture program, circa 1960. A low rectangular case is divided into six open compartments, creating a measured composition of horizontal shelves and vertical partitions.
The furniture developed by Jeanneret for Chandigarh extended to the practical organization of the city’s institutions and residences. Storage was treated with the same architectural clarity as seating and tables: timber frames, repeated compartments and straightforward fittings made the function of each piece visible. Made in the context of post-independence India’s new city, these furnishings brought modernist ideas into a vocabulary of local woodworking and everyday materials. Their identity lies in the relationship between the enclosing case, its openings and the objects it was intended to hold.
Three vertical bays are each subdivided by a shelf, with the divisions staggered across the case. The open construction allows the compartments to be approached from either face. Broad timber end panels contain the arrangement and continue down to the floor, giving the rack its supporting structure without the addition of separate ornamental legs.
The long upper surface acts as a continuous plane above the alternating openings. This contrast between a solid outline and an open interior is central to the design: papers, files and books could be separated while remaining readily accessible. The photographed woodwork retains tonal differences and traces of use around the edges and shelf surfaces, adding depth to the otherwise restrained form.
The vintage teak retains variations in grain, color and surface wear, with softened edges and individual traces of use visible in the photographs. These details give the woodwork its material character and preserve the sense of a furnishing made for daily life in institutional or residential interiors.
For the related PJ-R-27-A file-rack design, see Sotheby’s Design cataloguing and Éric Touchaleaume and Gérald Moreau, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret: L’Aventure indienne, 2010, page 596.
Dimensions: approximately 48 inches wide, 13 inches deep, 30 inches high.
Provenance: private collection, Chandigarh, India, as recorded by Studio Balestra.
Accompanied by a Studio Balestra Certificate of Authenticity.
