adma
Superstar
What was the population of Versailles? (The palace, not the commune.)
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India's richest man builds 60-storey home
- Thread starter adma
- Start date
Mongo
Senior Member
What I can't figure out is why anybody would need 600 servants. How many maids, cooks, chauffers, butlers, gardeners, etc. are needed to take care of six people?
I imagine that most of these people will end up doing most of their work for other servants -- cooks preparing meals for the other servants, for example -- or in maintaining the building itself.
Plus the 101 concubines.
Bill
I imagine that most of these people will end up doing most of their work for other servants -- cooks preparing meals for the other servants, for example -- or in maintaining the building itself.
Plus the 101 concubines.
Bill
rbt
Senior Member
This is an individual, not a corporation. Legal council, investment advisers, accounting, etc. are all going to be on-location and considered servants. They're also going to be very well paid and supported servants (read as having their own chauffeurs, support staff, etc.).
junctionist
Senior Member
It would be interesting to see that abandoned in a few decades.
wyliepoon
Senior Member
^ With India's huge population and urban migration, I don't foresee abandonment for this building. The worst I can see is squatters taking over the building and turning it into a vertical slum.
urbandreamer
recession proof
I like the idea! Having fantasized about doing something similar myself I'd probably go for at least 100 floors--for myself and the mistresses
I'd probably go for at least 100 floors--for myself and the mistressesEpi
Active Member
C'mon guys, I think lots of people have dreamed of doing this over the years. This guy is actually going through with it, good for him!
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Nice to see the rich doing their bit to fight sprawl by building vertically.
shumoon
New Member
London in the 17th Century had several "mansions" that were very narrow and went up several stories. Space was at a premium, so they built upwards. Later on, these mansions became apartment buildings for several families. I forsee the same life cycle for this Bombay tower.
Bombay has been a crowded, dense city since the days of British rule. Given the example of London, it should not surprise anyone that Bombay's elite would elect to build upwards as well.
Bombay has been a crowded, dense city since the days of British rule. Given the example of London, it should not surprise anyone that Bombay's elite would elect to build upwards as well.
scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
For the third time, this building will be home to many families - over 600 people will live here from day 1.
wyliepoon
Senior Member
Architectural Record
Link to article
Perkins + Will Debunks Antilia Myths
October 18, 2007
by Neelam Mathews with additional reporting by James Murdock
Construction is underway, albeit with some delays, on one of India’s highest profile and most opulent projects—the Antilia, a 490-foot-tall corporate meeting facility and private residence in Mumbai. Chicago-based Perkins + Will designed the 24-story tower for business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, whose family will occupy roughly 35,000 square feet in its top floors.
It seems fitting that for a building named after a mythical island, rumors have swirled about the exact program of Antilia since a local newspaper first published renderings of it earlier this year. Ambani, who is chairman of the petro-giant Reliance Industries, has a net worth estimated at more than $21 billion. Some accounts falsely reported that the tower will rise 60 stories and that the Ambani family would occupy all of it.
“There’s been a lot of crazy things floating around,†says Ralph Johnson, Perkins + Will firm-wide design principal, “but there’s actually a lot of positive things to talk about because it’s an interesting building.â€
Among its interesting elements, Antilia will feature a band of vertical and horizontal gardens that demarcates the tower’s different program elements. A garden level will separate the ground-floor parking and conference center from residential space above, for instance, and the outer walls on certain levels will be sheltered by trellises supporting panels that contain hydroponically grown plants.
In addition to signaling different space uses and providing privacy, these “vertical gardens†will help shade the building and reduce the urban heat island effect. “You can use the whole wall almost like a tree and increase the green area of the site by five or 10 times over what it would be if you just did a green roof,†Johnson observers. “It’s a prototype for buildings of the future.â€
Antilia’s roots also draw on the traditional Indian concept of Vaastu. Similar to Feng Shui, the practice orients a building in harmony with energy flows. At Antilia, the overall plan is based on the square, which is Vaastu’s basic geometric unit, and a garden level occupies the tower’s midsection, the point where all energies converge according to the Vaastu Purusha Mandala.
Perkins + Will won the commission for Antilia in 2004, besting Foster + Partners, SITE, Wilkinson & Eye, and Ken Yang. The building occupies a one-acre site on Altamount Road, where real estate prices top $1,000 per-square-foot. Construction had reached Antilia’s mid-section garden, but was halted this summer after a land dispute. Although the delay is expected to be temporary, many Indians nevertheless feel that the residence flaunts the country’s socialist sensitivities—and that it is excessive and ostentatious given that more than 65 percent of Mumbai’s 18 million residents live in tenements.
Others, though, find aspects of the skyscraper to admire. Mumbai-based architect Hafeez Contractor praises Antilia’s efficient use of land. “Occupying less space on the ground decongests the area at the ground level so more trees can be planted,†he explains. “Ambani’s choice will make high-rises more acceptable.â€
Link to article
Perkins + Will Debunks Antilia Myths
October 18, 2007
by Neelam Mathews with additional reporting by James Murdock
Construction is underway, albeit with some delays, on one of India’s highest profile and most opulent projects—the Antilia, a 490-foot-tall corporate meeting facility and private residence in Mumbai. Chicago-based Perkins + Will designed the 24-story tower for business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, whose family will occupy roughly 35,000 square feet in its top floors.
It seems fitting that for a building named after a mythical island, rumors have swirled about the exact program of Antilia since a local newspaper first published renderings of it earlier this year. Ambani, who is chairman of the petro-giant Reliance Industries, has a net worth estimated at more than $21 billion. Some accounts falsely reported that the tower will rise 60 stories and that the Ambani family would occupy all of it.
“There’s been a lot of crazy things floating around,†says Ralph Johnson, Perkins + Will firm-wide design principal, “but there’s actually a lot of positive things to talk about because it’s an interesting building.â€
Among its interesting elements, Antilia will feature a band of vertical and horizontal gardens that demarcates the tower’s different program elements. A garden level will separate the ground-floor parking and conference center from residential space above, for instance, and the outer walls on certain levels will be sheltered by trellises supporting panels that contain hydroponically grown plants.
In addition to signaling different space uses and providing privacy, these “vertical gardens†will help shade the building and reduce the urban heat island effect. “You can use the whole wall almost like a tree and increase the green area of the site by five or 10 times over what it would be if you just did a green roof,†Johnson observers. “It’s a prototype for buildings of the future.â€
Antilia’s roots also draw on the traditional Indian concept of Vaastu. Similar to Feng Shui, the practice orients a building in harmony with energy flows. At Antilia, the overall plan is based on the square, which is Vaastu’s basic geometric unit, and a garden level occupies the tower’s midsection, the point where all energies converge according to the Vaastu Purusha Mandala.
Perkins + Will won the commission for Antilia in 2004, besting Foster + Partners, SITE, Wilkinson & Eye, and Ken Yang. The building occupies a one-acre site on Altamount Road, where real estate prices top $1,000 per-square-foot. Construction had reached Antilia’s mid-section garden, but was halted this summer after a land dispute. Although the delay is expected to be temporary, many Indians nevertheless feel that the residence flaunts the country’s socialist sensitivities—and that it is excessive and ostentatious given that more than 65 percent of Mumbai’s 18 million residents live in tenements.
Others, though, find aspects of the skyscraper to admire. Mumbai-based architect Hafeez Contractor praises Antilia’s efficient use of land. “Occupying less space on the ground decongests the area at the ground level so more trees can be planted,†he explains. “Ambani’s choice will make high-rises more acceptable.â€
aiekon
Active Member
World's most expensive home ($2 billion dollars!)
Sourced from Yahoo Finance
Click here for more pictures: http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/home-india-billion-forbeslife-cx_mw_0430realestate_slide_2.html?partner=yahoo
While visiting New York in 2005, Nita Ambani was in the spa at the Mandarin Oriental New York, overlooking Central Park. The contemporary Asian interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.
Nita Ambani was no ordinary tourist. She is married to Mukesh Ambani, head of Mumbai-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, and the fifth richest man in the world. (Lakshmi Mittal, ranked fourth, is an Indian citizen, but a resident of the U.K.)
Forbes estimated Ambani's net worth at $43 billion in March. Reliance Industries was founded by Mukesh's father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1966, and is India's most valuable firm by market capitalization. The couple, who have three children, currently live in a 22-story Mumbai tower that the family has spent years remodeling to meet its needs.
Like many families with the means to do so, the Ambanis wanted to build a custom home. They consulted with architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles, respectively. Plans were then drawn up for what will be the world's largest and most expensive home: a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai with a cost nearing $2 billion, says Thomas Johnson, director of marketing at Hirsch Bedner Associates. The architects and designers are creating as they go, altering floor plans, design elements and concepts as the building is constructed.
The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the $70 million triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air. When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing a four-year process, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space.
The home will cost more than a hotel or high-rise of similar size because of its custom measurements and fittings: A hotel or condominium has a common layout, replicated on every floor, and uses the same materials throughout the building (such as door handles, floors, lamps and window treatments).
The Ambani home, called Antilla, differs in that no two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. At the request of Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.
Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.
Pricey Pad
Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla's living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.
Ambani plans to occasionally use the residence for corporate entertainment, and the family wants the look and feel of the home's interior to be distinctly Indian; 85% of the materials and labor will come from outside the U.S., most of it from India.
Where possible, the designers say, whether it's for the silver railings, crystal chandeliers, woven area rugs or steel support beams, the Ambanis are using Indian companies, contractors, craftsmen and materials firms. Elements of Indian culture juxtapose newer designs. For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin.
On the health level, local plants decorate the outdoor patio near the swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries.
For more temperate days, the family will enjoy a four-story open garden. In profile, the rebar-enforced beams form a "W" shape that supports the upper two-thirds of the building while creating an open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns. Gardens, whether hanging hydroponic plants, or fixed trees, are a critical part of the building's exterior adornment but also serve a purpose: The plants act as an energy-saving device by absorbing sunlight, thus deflecting it from the living spaces and making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An internal core space on the garden level contains entertaining rooms and balconies that clear the tree line and offer views of downtown Mumbai.
The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea.
Sourced from Yahoo Finance
Click here for more pictures: http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/home-india-billion-forbeslife-cx_mw_0430realestate_slide_2.html?partner=yahoo
While visiting New York in 2005, Nita Ambani was in the spa at the Mandarin Oriental New York, overlooking Central Park. The contemporary Asian interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.
Nita Ambani was no ordinary tourist. She is married to Mukesh Ambani, head of Mumbai-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, and the fifth richest man in the world. (Lakshmi Mittal, ranked fourth, is an Indian citizen, but a resident of the U.K.)
Forbes estimated Ambani's net worth at $43 billion in March. Reliance Industries was founded by Mukesh's father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1966, and is India's most valuable firm by market capitalization. The couple, who have three children, currently live in a 22-story Mumbai tower that the family has spent years remodeling to meet its needs.
Like many families with the means to do so, the Ambanis wanted to build a custom home. They consulted with architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles, respectively. Plans were then drawn up for what will be the world's largest and most expensive home: a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai with a cost nearing $2 billion, says Thomas Johnson, director of marketing at Hirsch Bedner Associates. The architects and designers are creating as they go, altering floor plans, design elements and concepts as the building is constructed.
The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the $70 million triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air. When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing a four-year process, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space.
The home will cost more than a hotel or high-rise of similar size because of its custom measurements and fittings: A hotel or condominium has a common layout, replicated on every floor, and uses the same materials throughout the building (such as door handles, floors, lamps and window treatments).
The Ambani home, called Antilla, differs in that no two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. At the request of Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.
Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.
Pricey Pad
Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla's living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.
Ambani plans to occasionally use the residence for corporate entertainment, and the family wants the look and feel of the home's interior to be distinctly Indian; 85% of the materials and labor will come from outside the U.S., most of it from India.
Where possible, the designers say, whether it's for the silver railings, crystal chandeliers, woven area rugs or steel support beams, the Ambanis are using Indian companies, contractors, craftsmen and materials firms. Elements of Indian culture juxtapose newer designs. For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin.
On the health level, local plants decorate the outdoor patio near the swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries.
For more temperate days, the family will enjoy a four-story open garden. In profile, the rebar-enforced beams form a "W" shape that supports the upper two-thirds of the building while creating an open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns. Gardens, whether hanging hydroponic plants, or fixed trees, are a critical part of the building's exterior adornment but also serve a purpose: The plants act as an energy-saving device by absorbing sunlight, thus deflecting it from the living spaces and making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An internal core space on the garden level contains entertaining rooms and balconies that clear the tree line and offer views of downtown Mumbai.
The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea.
G
gabe
Guest
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_offbeat/2010-11-04/911996275639.html
India's richest man, billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani, is building the world’s most expensive home… costing over a billion dollars. It is located in Mumbai, a city where more than one third of the residents live in poverty.
The building, named Antilia, after a mythical island, is spread over 400 thousand square feet on 27 floors. Ambani, his wife, his three children and his mother, along with a full-time staff of about 600 will live there.
But some feel uneasy as the widening economic gap between the rich and the poor could lead to social unrest.
[S. Parasuraman, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences]:
"In a country where a large proportion of people who are poor and vulnerable and where a large number of them are losing access to lands and livelihoods, it is a serious problem. I think it is not about Mr. Ambani, it is about the nature of economic growth that is being attempted at this particular point in time and that creates discontent and that creates enormous implications to the country actually."
53-year-old Ambani is the world’s fourth richest person with a net worth of $29-billion. He made his money from petroleum and petrochemical giant Reliance Industries.
Some residents wish Ambani would use his wealth to help the poor.
[Lalita, Resident]:
"With the same money, if he had done something for the poor, like distributing food, or providing housing to the poor, he would have got so many blessings."
[Pushpa Jagtiyani, Resident]:
"It is the poverty that he should help instead of having the most expensive building or bungalow in the world. Look at the poverty in our country. They don't have water, more than water they don't have toilets, which is very important in life for the majority of the Indians over here. They are living in slums.â€
Experts say there is no other private property of comparable size and prominence in the world.
A third of the world's poor are believed to be in India. About half of Mumbai's 17 million people are homeless, and a vast number live on the streets or in slums.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
India's richest man, billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani, is building the world’s most expensive home… costing over a billion dollars. It is located in Mumbai, a city where more than one third of the residents live in poverty.
The building, named Antilia, after a mythical island, is spread over 400 thousand square feet on 27 floors. Ambani, his wife, his three children and his mother, along with a full-time staff of about 600 will live there.
But some feel uneasy as the widening economic gap between the rich and the poor could lead to social unrest.
[S. Parasuraman, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences]:
"In a country where a large proportion of people who are poor and vulnerable and where a large number of them are losing access to lands and livelihoods, it is a serious problem. I think it is not about Mr. Ambani, it is about the nature of economic growth that is being attempted at this particular point in time and that creates discontent and that creates enormous implications to the country actually."
53-year-old Ambani is the world’s fourth richest person with a net worth of $29-billion. He made his money from petroleum and petrochemical giant Reliance Industries.
Some residents wish Ambani would use his wealth to help the poor.
[Lalita, Resident]:
"With the same money, if he had done something for the poor, like distributing food, or providing housing to the poor, he would have got so many blessings."
[Pushpa Jagtiyani, Resident]:
"It is the poverty that he should help instead of having the most expensive building or bungalow in the world. Look at the poverty in our country. They don't have water, more than water they don't have toilets, which is very important in life for the majority of the Indians over here. They are living in slums.â€
Experts say there is no other private property of comparable size and prominence in the world.
A third of the world's poor are believed to be in India. About half of Mumbai's 17 million people are homeless, and a vast number live on the streets or in slums.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Logan
Active Member
Wow.. it's so interesting to see how much misinformation there is out there. Even from so called "reputable" news organizations.
This project did NOT cost $2 billion to build nor $1 Billion for that matter.
A international construction survey completed in 2009 by Turner & Townsend (economist) wrote on Page 7 below, that the estimated construction cost of Antilla was 2 billion rupees. In Canadian dollars, that's just over $45 million:
source: http://www.costweb.com.au/access/do...ternational Construction Cost Survey 2009.pdf
But because property values in Mumbai have skyrocketed, the project has a "market value" of around $1 billion. BIG difference. Think about it. It's India. Cheapest possible labour around and Ambani owns a steel company. Can you say discount?
$45 million seems way more realistic. But it's funny to see how this has morphed into a 2 BILLION HOME.. LOL.
Now you know.
This project did NOT cost $2 billion to build nor $1 Billion for that matter.
A international construction survey completed in 2009 by Turner & Townsend (economist) wrote on Page 7 below, that the estimated construction cost of Antilla was 2 billion rupees. In Canadian dollars, that's just over $45 million:
source: http://www.costweb.com.au/access/do...ternational Construction Cost Survey 2009.pdf
But because property values in Mumbai have skyrocketed, the project has a "market value" of around $1 billion. BIG difference. Think about it. It's India. Cheapest possible labour around and Ambani owns a steel company. Can you say discount?
$45 million seems way more realistic. But it's funny to see how this has morphed into a 2 BILLION HOME.. LOL.
Now you know.