Antilia is a private residence in the
billionaires row of
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
named after the mythical island
Antillia
Antillia (or Antilia) is a phantom island that was reputed, during the 15th-century age of exploration, to lie in the Atlantic Ocean, far to the west of Portugal and Spain. The island also went by the name of Isle of Seven Cities (''Ilha das Se ...
.
It is the residence of the Indian billionaire
Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), a Fortune Global 500 company and India's most valuable company by market value. Acco ...
and his family, who moved into it in 2012. The skyscraper-mansion is one of the world's largest and most elaborate private homes, at 27 stories, tall, over , and with amenities such as three
helipad
A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft.
While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...
s, a 168-
car garage
An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians.
Types
Automotive garages and repair shops can be divided into following categor ...
, a
ballroom
A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...
, 9 high speed elevators, a 50-seat theatre,
terrace gardens
Richmond Hill in Richmond, London, is a hill that begins gently in its townside (north and north-east) through the former fields, orchards and vineyard to a point just within Richmond Park, the deer park emparked and enclosed by Charles I. ...
,
swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
, spa, health centre, a temple, and a snow room that spits out snowflakes from the walls.
The architectural design of Antilia has been fashioned along the lines of the lotus and the sun. The top six floors of the building have been set aside as the private full-floor residential area. It is also designed to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake.
, it is considered the world's most expensive private residence, costing between US$1 and 2 billion to build.
Plot
The land on which Antilia was built housed an orphanage called Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Yateemkhana belonging to a charity run by the Wakf board. The orphanage had been founded in 1895 by
Currimbhoy Ebrahim, a wealthy shipowner.
In 2002, the trust requested permission to sell this land, and the charity commissioner gave the required permission three months later.
The charity sold the land allocated for the purpose of education of underprivileged Khoja children to Antilia Commercial Private Limited, a commercial entity controlled by Mukesh Ambani, in July 2002 for . The prevailing market value of the land at the time was at least .
The sale was in direct contravention of § 51 of the
Wakf Act which requires that any such sale of land should be done after the permission of the Maharashtra State Board of Waqfs. The
Waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
minister
Nawab Malik
Nawab Malik ( Marathi:नवाब मलीक), is a politician, who served as the Minority Development, Aukaf, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister of Maharashtra and also the guardian minister of Gondia & Parbhani. He is the ...
opposed this land sale, as did the revenue department of the
Government of Maharashtra
The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term.
Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...
. Thus a stay order was issued on the sale of the land. The Waqf board also initially opposed the deal and filed a
PIL
Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...
in the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
challenging the decision of the trust. The Supreme Court, while dismissing the petition, asked the Waqf board to approach the
Bombay High Court
The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...
. However, the stay on the deal was subsequently vacated after the Waqf board withdrew its objection.
In June 2011, the Union government asked the Maharashtra government to consider referring the matter to the
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...
.
A
PIL
Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...
was filed a decade later by Abdul Matin, against the orphanage and the Charity commissioners permission. As of 2018, the case was being heard by a special bench of the court.
Design and construction
![Ambani Family at reception of Deepika and Ranveer 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Ambani_Family_at_reception_of_Deepika_and_Ranveer_2018.jpg)
The building was designed by two US architecture firms
Perkins & Will
Perkins&Will is a global design practice founded in 1935. Since 1986, the group has been a subsidiary of Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah (Arabic: دار الهندسة). Phil Harrison has been the firm's CEO since 2006.
History
The firm was establ ...
,
based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, and
Hirsch Bedner Associates, based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. They were consulted after
Nita Dalal Ambani was impressed by the contemporary Asian interiors at the
Mandarin Oriental, New York
Mandarin Oriental, New York is a five-star hotel located in Manhattan's Deutsche Bank Center at Columbus Circle in New York City, managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. A part of the multi-use Time Warner Center development, the hotel opened ...
, also designed by them.
The building plan was approved by the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in 2003, and construction started in 2006 with
Leighton Asia
Leighton Asia is an Asia-Pacific construction contractor, a part of the CIMIC Group, an Australian project development and contracting group. Leighton Asia is currently headquartered in Hong Kong, and has been operating in the continent for mor ...
initially taking charge, and completed by B. E. Billimoria & Company Ltd. The architects altered floor plans and design concepts as the construction of the building progressed.
The home has 27 floors with extra-high ceilings. (Other buildings of equivalent height may have as many as 60 floors.) The home was also designed to survive an earthquake of
magnitude 8. It is considered by some to be the tallest single-family house in the world, but others disqualify the Antilia because it includes space for a staff of 600.
The interior design uses the shapes of the lotus and the sun. These two features are repeated throughout the building using crystals, marble, and
mother-of-pearl. However, no two floors use the same materials or plan, the idea of the design is of consistency, but no repetition.
The building has one
helipad
A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft.
While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...
, however, it is not operational. The helipads have to be certified air-worthy by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and have yet to get approval from the central defence and environment ministries.
The
house warming was done in November 2010, but Ambani did not immediately move in for fear of "bad luck". In June 2011, almost 50 renowned pandits were invited to conduct
pujas and address
vastu
''Vastu shastra'' ( hi, वास्तु शास्त्र, ' – literally "science of architecture") is a traditional Indian system of architecture based on ancient texts that describe principles of design, layout, measurements, groun ...
issues in the building, after which the Ambanis took up residence in September 2011.
Cost and valuation
Prior to construction, the worth of the plot and unbuilt house were estimated to be more than US$1.2 billion. During planning, the house was expected to be the world's largest and most expensive home, with a cost of about US$2 billion.
, it is considered the world's most expensive private residence.
Incidents
On 10 July 2017, a fire broke out on the ninth floor, and it was extinguished within a few minutes. Six fire tenders reached the building within 10 minutes of getting the call. However, the fire was extinguished by Antilia staff before the fire brigade team arrived, using a small line of fixed firefighting systems and fire extinguishers. The fire was confined to the 4G antenna and plastic framing of the vertical garden.
On February 25, 2021, a car containing 20
explosive gelatin sticks and a threatening letter targeting the Ambanis, was
found near Antilia. The car was parked about 400 metres from the building on
Carmichael Road Carmichael may refer to:
* Carmichael (surname)
Other
* Clan Carmichael, Scottish clan
* Carmichael, California, United States
* Carmichael coal mine, a proposed mine in Central Queensland, Australia
* Carmichael (crater), a lunar crater
* Carmicha ...
bordering Altamount Road. A security officer at Antilia placed a call to the police control room regarding the suspicious vehicle, and the police rushed to the spot, joined by the bomb detection and disposal squad. After the sniffer dogs detected explosives, the bomb squad removed the gelatin sticks, which were found to be not assembled, and had no battery or detonator. The probe was led by the Mumbai's crime intelligence unit head
Sachin Vaze. The case was handed to the National Investigative Agency, which found out that Vaze was himself involved in this incident, and he was arrested.
Public reception
Tata Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
former chairman
Ratan Tata
Ratan Naval Tata, GBE (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons. He was also the chairman of the Tata Group from 1990 to 2012, serving also as interim chairman from October 2016 through February 2017. ...
said Antilia is an example of rich Indians' lack of empathy for the poor.
Tata said, "The person who lives in there should be concerned about what he sees around him and asking how he can make a difference. If he cannot, then it's sad because this country needs people to allocate some of their enormous wealth to finding ways of mitigating the hardship that people have.
It makes me wonder why someone would do that. That's what revolutions are made of."
See also
*
List of tallest buildings in Mumbai
Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of India, has the highest number of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings in India. More than 200 skyscrapers and 4,000 high-rise buildings have already been constructed in the city of Mumbai. (A s ...
References
Notes
Citations
External links
Most Expensive Home in the World has 27 Floors and Slum Views– slideshow by the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''
Antilia is the world’s most expensive house for $1 billion– ''Luxurylaunches''
It's sad Mukesh Ambani lives in such opulence: Ratan TataMukesh Ambani's residence Antilia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antilia (building)
Houses completed in 2010
Residential skyscrapers in Mumbai
Postmodern architecture in India
Towers completed in 2010
2010 establishments in Maharashtra