February 01, 2013

Social Space - Antilia (The Ambani Skyscraper)



Mr Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani is India's richest man (as of 2012) and second richest one of Asia. 
He's the chairman and CEO of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the foremost company of the Indian energy and materials conglomerate Reliance Group. He's married and has three children. His annual salary is estimated of 150 million rupee, his asset is said to be around 21 billion US dollars.

In 2012, Mr Ambani commissioned the Chicago based architects Perkins & Will to design his personal residence, the "Antilia" building, in Dadar, South Mumbai. The Australia-based company Leighton Holdings did the construction. It was also designed to survive an 8-Richter scale earthquake.

It consists of

27 floors (equivalent to 60 floors tower)
400 000 square feet of living space
9 elevators
3 helipads
6 floors of parking area
rising gardens
1 ballroom
1 cinema

There is also a full-time staff of 600 maintains supposed to work in the building. Planing and concepting the residence, the Indian method of Feng Shui, "Vastu Shastra", was considered as well.

Mumbai's population has doubled in 25 years (now 13 million), some say 50'000 people are crammed into each square kilometre. Extreme poverty and violence is right next door to opulent, westernized business centres.

Nevertheless, till today, Mr Ambani and his family refuse to move into their new exorbitant, luxury home. Officially, they fear a curse or bad luck if they do so, because the Vastu Shastra isn't appropriate and the neighborhood not safe enough as well.