Located in overcrowded Mumbai, this 27-storey tower completed in October 2010, is said to be worth 1 billion USD, and it is hard to miss. Known as the Antilia, it is the residence of 54-year-old business magnate Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries (specialising in petroleum, retail, textiles, telecommunications and biotechnology), and also the wealthiest man in India. Forbes has listed Ambani as the fourth richest man in the world and his ambitions have gone as far as to own the Mumbai Indians, the Premier League cricket team.
Rising 150 metres above ground level, Antilia is managed by a staff of 600, and home to Ambani’s wife, and his 3 children. The term Antilia refers to a legendary island on the Atlantic ocean, west of Portugal and Spain, and where the myth of the Seven Cities of Gold emerged in the 16th century. Antilia is located on a 4,532 square metre plot of land at Altamont Road in South Mumbai. Here, prices have risen above 10,000 USD per square metre.
What is most conspicuous about this colossal structure is not only its height, allowing panoramic access to vast city and ocean views, or the seamless hanging gardens traversing several floors, which is a renewable energy source absorbing sunlight, but the fact that its surface area surpasses that of as many as seven White Houses put together. Designed by Chicago-based Perkins & Will, this edifice is comprised of asymmetrical blocks, much like stacks of steel and glass, and is more akin to an art installation than a private dwelling. Make no mistake, the floors are constructed in different sizes and designed with different materials intentionally, according to the Indian tradition of Vastu, which similar to feng shui, dictates the placement of objects and spatial organization for the proper circulation of energy. It takes about nine elevators to navigate the entire space, which includes a health club, dance studio, swimming pool, a lavish ballroom encased in crystal and solid gold chandeliers, a mini-film theatre seating 50, not to mention helicopter pads on the roof, or the 6-level garage with a capacity for as many as 160 cars.
Ostentation here is definitely an understatement. Irregularly formed as it is, the Antilia will be a landmark even among generations to come, as it was constructed in order to withstand earthquakes of up to 8 in the richter scale. Steadfast it is, indeed.
