Much more money than self-awareness.

Ogre · #1 10-30-2010, 03:14 PM

Douchebag builds $1 billion dollar home within sight of the Mumbai slums. It took 7 years to build, has 27 floors, and is as ugly as a bag of assholes.

Doctor · #2 10-30-2010, 04:00 PM

This monstrosity made the front page of the LA Times as well. It looks like 5 or 6 different buildings were pasted together lego-style to created the world's ugliest "home". I'm wondering if he got a drawing from a 5 year old and decided to build it in the real world. Nah - 5 year old's drawing would probably be a lot more coherent looking....

jsgoddess · #3 10-30-2010, 06:03 PM

If you can't see the slums from your 1 billion dollar home, what are you going to look at while you chuckle evilly and rub your hands together? Come on! Think!

Wow, you ain't kiddin' about the fug.

panache45 · #4 10-31-2010, 12:46 AM

Even if it's totally surrounded by slums . . . it's still the ugliest house in the neighborhood.

sevenwood · #5 10-31-2010, 08:58 AM

Maybe he did it just to piss people off. If he did, it seems to be working...

Slithy Tove · #6 10-31-2010, 09:25 AM

"A Communist sees a mansion and says 'nobody should have one!' A capitalist sees a mansion and says 'everyone should have one!'"

we should admire him for inspiring all those slum-dwellers

LavenderBlue · #7 10-31-2010, 09:26 AM

It made the NY Times as well. The building is ugly, tacky and tasteless.

a35362 · #8 11-02-2010, 12:10 PM

This was posted in Lovely Listing for Oct. 20th, 2010.

The Devil's Grandmother · #9 11-02-2010, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ogre

... ugly as a bag of assholes.

I should have belived you, Ogre. Is it ... done? The house looks unfinished.

Shodan · #10 11-02-2010, 01:43 PM

I wonder if it will hold its resale value.

He seems to have ignored the three most important things about real estate - "location, location, FUCKYOUPOORPEOPLEIAMTHERICHESTGUYINASIAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Regards,
Shodan

Ferret Herder · #11 11-02-2010, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slithy Tove

we should admire him for inspiring all those slum-dwellers

Inspire them to what, show up with torches in hand? (For the crime of bad aesthetics or being a prick; your choice.)

ZipperJJ · #12 11-02-2010, 02:04 PM

Holy shit I saw a picture of that house somewhere recently, out of context, and I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought "half completed building? half blown up building?"

Not "mansion". Yeesh!

Yllaria · #13 11-02-2010, 02:24 PM

Meh. It looks functional and it's surrounded by other buildings about the same size. I'm guessing he doesn't feel a need for decoration or for a big yard or for well-connected neighbors.

Finagle · #14 11-02-2010, 03:05 PM

So a billion dollars just flowed into the local economy. Not a bad deal for the locals, plus they have the house to laugh at. Everybody wins.

Colophon · #15 11-02-2010, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finagle

So a billion dollars just flowed into the local economy.

I doubt much of it stayed in the local economy. I gather the house was mostly built by an Australian contractor.

Claude Remains · #16 11-02-2010, 11:36 PM

The trouble with owning that home is that no matter where you sit, you're looking at something you should be doing.

cmyk · #17 11-03-2010, 01:04 AM

Fucking Slumdog Billionaires.

Robot Arm · #18 11-03-2010, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colophon

I doubt much of it stayed in the local economy. I gather the house was mostly built by an Australian contractor.

Did the contractor bring in all his own workers and materials from out of the country? Even if he did, those people would have needed places to stay and food to eat while they were on the project.

You can think of this as a guy showing off his wealth in poor taste, or as a guy who has a billion dollars less than he used to. I'd rather that he spend his money than stuff it in a mattress and guard it like Scrooge McDuck.

Rachellelogram · #19 11-03-2010, 02:04 AM

Too bad he didn't build it in an American slum. The first floor windows would be broken out faster than you can say "sunset."

Seriously, a whole extended family of squatters could live in a random room on the 33rd floor and he'd never find them until the cleaning lady went in to do her annual dusting.

outlierrn · #20 11-03-2010, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robot Arm

I'd rather that he spend his money than stuff it in a mattress and guard it like Scrooge McDuck.

I dunno, I can't imagine 3 heliports can be justified on any other terms than conspicuous waste.

ColdPhoenix · #21 11-03-2010, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robot Arm

Did the contractor bring in all his own workers and materials from out of the country? Even if he did, those people would have needed places to stay and food to eat while they were on the project.

You can think of this as a guy showing off his wealth in poor taste, or as a guy who has a billion dollars less than he used to. I'd rather that he spend his money than stuff it in a mattress and guard it like Scrooge McDuck.

It's my understanding that a lot of the slums in Bombay move around with big construction projects.

Legal slums are built to house the construction workers and their families. Then an illegal slum starts to grow from the legal one, with people selling tea and food for the workers arriving, then people who provide other goods and services arriving. Eventually a small town has formed with the main source of (external) income being the construction workers jobs.

Don't know if that's what happened here (and of course after the project's finished the slums are often pulled down and the people forced to move) but I wouldn't be surprised.

Kobal2 · #22 11-03-2010, 03:25 AM

Weird. The thing is brand new and cost more than Belgium, but it already looks like a twenty year old abandoned project squatted by nihilist crack addicts.

I dunno who the architect is, but he oughta be worked over with a tire iron.

Mighty_Girl · #23 11-03-2010, 09:42 AM

I hope the architect decides to remain anonymous, for his own sake.

That building look like it was airlifted from Chernobyl in its present state.

Sattua · #24 11-03-2010, 10:51 AM

With a health club and all the other assorted stuff in this house... it's got to employ a lot of staff, which is good, and one almost thinks it'd be opened as a club, either to private members or to the public who can afford to go there...

Sattua · #25 11-03-2010, 11:03 AM

Found the Wikipedia entry for the building, which is called Antilia. 600 full-time staff members. That's a lot of people employed. It almost sounds like it must function, partially, as business offices?

TruCelt · #26 11-03-2010, 11:10 AM

Forbes slideshow of the interior: http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/hom...0&boxes=custom

even sven · #27 11-03-2010, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finagle

So a billion dollars just flowed into the local economy. Not a bad deal for the locals, plus they have the house to laugh at. Everybody wins.

Yeah. Cheeky bastards should be happy they even have a slum to live in.

Hypno-Toad · #28 11-03-2010, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rachelellogram

Seriously, a whole extended family of squatters could live in a random room on the 33rd floor and he'd never find them until the cleaning lady went in to do her annual dusting.

Especially since they'd be 6 floors above the roof.

Dewey Finn · #29 11-03-2010, 12:19 PM

If I had that kind of money, I'd try to find an old palace or other large house and hire artisans to restore the place. I prefer older architecture to most modern stuff. (Richard Jenrette is an investor who has done this with a dozen historic houses here in the US.)

Rachellelogram · #30 11-03-2010, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hypno-Toad

Especially since they'd be 6 floors above the roof.

Misplaced pedantry. Good catch, though.

Skald the Rhymer · #31 11-03-2010, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by outlierrn

I dunno, I can't imagine 3 heliports can be justified on any other terms than conspicuous waste.

What if he's Batman?

Slithy Tove · #32 11-03-2010, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by outlierrn

I dunno, I can't imagine 3 heliports can be justified on any other terms than conspicuous waste.

You have to guess which helicopter has the little plastic ball.

Arab oil sheiks are suckers for that one. The heliports pay for themselves in a few weeks

KneadToKnow · #33 11-03-2010, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor

I'm wondering if he got a drawing from a 5 year old and decided to build it in the real world. Nah - 5 year old's drawing would probably be a lot more coherent looking....

It looks not unlike the kinds of crap I used to draw when I was 10, thought I could be a gazillionaire when I grew up, and had no taste, so yeah, that's still entirely possible.

Of course, I don't know if it has the one thing that I always figured I'd have in my ultimate mansion: a reel-to-reel tape system.

jsgoddess · #34 11-03-2010, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rachelellogram

Misplaced pedantry. Good catch, though.

No, no. Yours was misplaced peasantry! Get it! Ha! *crickets*

Okay, I'm leaving.

Boyo Jim · #35 11-03-2010, 08:30 PM

I think the guy wanted his mansion to fit in with the slum. And he succeeded.

Autolycus · #36 11-03-2010, 08:38 PM

A bag of assholes? Wouldn't that just be an empty bag?

Lantern · #37 11-04-2010, 04:30 PM

There was actually a fair amount of outrage over this building in India too. However a couple of points; it's nearly impossible to place a tall building in Bombay out of sight of the slums which are nearly everywhere. This building is one of the most exclusive areas in the city surrounded by lots of other similar buildings. And while the design looks very odd, the point is to create space for some rather fabulous-looking rooftop gardens. IMO it's a very impressive and innovative design; check out this thread at Skyscraper City with pictures of what the final building will look like.

But yeah, Mukesh Ambani would gain a lot more respect if he emulated Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and used his billions to fund a charitable foundation.

Ludovic · #38 11-04-2010, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hypno-Toad

Especially since they'd be 6 floors above the roof.

If anyone can achieve Stage 3 Yogic Flying, it'll be the Indians.

Ogre · #39 11-04-2010, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lantern

There was actually a fair amount of outrage over this building in India too. However a couple of points; it's nearly impossible to place a tall building in Bombay out of sight of the slums which are nearly everywhere. This building is one of the most exclusive areas in the city surrounded by lots of other similar buildings. And while the design looks very odd, the point is to create space for some rather fabulous-looking rooftop gardens. IMO it's a very impressive and innovative design; check out this thread at Skyscraper City with pictures of what the final building will look like.

But yeah, Mukesh Ambani would gain a lot more respect if he emulated Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and used his billions to fund a charitable foundation.

Oof. De gustibus non est disputandum, I guess. I agree with the poster that said it looks like a stack of books covered in moss. No thanks. I have no problems with the roof gardens or the green design, but the building itself is hideous. There's this horrible brutalist vibe to it that reminds me of leaky, aging municipal buildings and tenements (which, I guess, fits in with the slum).

Well, there's that, plus the stunning narcissism on display. Ick.