The Daily Telegraph has a rivetting article about one of the world's wealthiest men and his new pied-à-terre.
Mukesh Ambani, his wife and three children have moved into the building which is named Antilia, after a mythical Island. It contains a health club with a gym and dance studio, at least one studio, a ballroom, guestrooms and a range of lounges and a 50 seater cinema.
The 53 year-old tycoon is not only the richest man in India but the fourth richest man in the world. In total there is reported to be 37,000 square metres of space, which is more than the Palace of Versailles.
To keep it running smoothly requires 600 staff.
Ugly, isn't it? If I were so filthy rich I think I'd prefer to buy Versailles!
Looks like it's been made from the left-overs of other tower blocks in Bombay. Typical Indians. He should have called in the British - Lutyens and his ilk would have done a decent job. See Lanchester's Umaid Bhawan Palace, finished in 1943 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jodhpur_palace.jpg I
ReplyDeleteMy dear chap, it certainly wasn't intended as a derrogatory comment. India is a great and glorious country, one that has created some of the world's most renowned surgeons, computer programmers, economists - the list goes on. It is responsible for some of the world's great cuisine and most celebrated literature. I have been to many parts of India, and its people are warm and hospitable to a fault. But I would no sooner have an Indian build me a house, than I would have a Pole make me a curry. We all must accept that there are some things we are good at, and some things we should just leave to the experts.
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