Corbusier is considered to be the pioneer of the modern movement and his works been an inspiration for decades. The creation of Chandigarh and other works in India revealed a newer facet of his talent, where his modern philosophies were integrated with a climatic response. The designs have been found to be deeply rooted in Indian sensibilities while offering novelty to the country’s architecture. Apart from the quest for new architecture, dealing with a new climate was learnt through understanding of Indian climate, studying the traditional Indian architecture and developing a scientific approach. These led to the development of some very strong architectural elements such as the brise soleil, parasol and shaded arcade along with integration of microclimatic elements such as water bodies and vegetation with design.  The dissertation essentially tries to test the effectiveness of the strategies adopted by Corbusier through fieldwork as well as relevant analytic work. Finally some suggestions and guidelines are made for the re-adaptation and variations of these elements into design today.

The research deals with the impact of urban form and vegetation on the microclimate and consequently, outdoor thermal comfort and energy consumption for the residential sector in New Delhi (28° 35′ N, 77° 12′ E). A representative form for the region- The Urban Street Canyon is studied and the variables evaluated are orientation, aspect ratio (H/W), façade projections and the addition of vegetation. Performance indicators for assessment are established through literature review, namely, air temperature, mean radiant temperature and wall surface temperature. The investigation is carried out using fieldwork measurements as a starting point and then in detail, through analytic work. The three dimensional numerical model ENVI-Met (v.3.1), which simulates the microclimatic changes in the urban environment in a high spatial and temporal resolution is used as the tool for analysis.

Symmetrical urban canyons oriented N-S and E-W with aspect ratios ranging from 0.5 to 4 were tested on a typical summer day in June. Air temperature proved to be sensitive to variation in aspect ratio, decreasing with an increase in aspect ratio, the maximum difference being of the order of 1K. Mean radiant temperatures experienced by a person showed a direct link to the exposure to solar radiation, with shading resulting in a lowering in temperature by 15-35K. Wall surface temperatures were strongly affected by the aspect ratio in the case of N-S streets, while the E-W orientation limited the effectiveness of the walls in shading the canyon surfaces as the sun movement is parallel to the street.

Shading by two types of tree canopies – light and dense was tested. A dense tree canopy covering the entire street lowered air temperatures by about 2K. Both canopies showed benefit for lowering mean radiant temperatures and wall surface temperature, especially for E-W streets where the duration and area of exposure is high.