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Thursday, May 24, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Billion Dollar Mansion where No One Sleeps
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| photograph: Jhariani, Wikipedia |
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Back in 2010, we wrote about how architects Perkins+Will and interior design firm Hirsch Bender Associates had become extremely shy when it came to talking about their new billion dollar, 550-foot-high mansion, named Antilla, they had just finished in Mumbai for the Ambani family. 168 parking spaces. Three helipads. 400,000 square feet. A billion dollars. You can appreciate their dilemma. |
| photograph: Shashi Bellamkonda, Wikipedia |
The Engineering News-Record is reporting that at the billion-dollar-mansion, it's Nessun Dorma, each night, every night.
According to the principles of Vastu Shastra, a home's eastern side should have enough windows or other openings to let residents receive sufficient morning light. The Ambani home fails on that and other counts, reportedly leading the family to believe that moving in will bring them bad luck and misfortune.And so, while in sunlight hours you will find Ambani's galore populating Antilla, the "21st-century Taj Mahal", at end of day, as sleep beckons, all the Ambani's slip away. That's the story. A family spokesperson demurs.
According to the just-published Forbes list of the world's richest people, Mukesh Ambani is now, at $22 billion, the 19th wealthiest person on the planet. Just two years ago, in 2010, at $29 million, he was fourth. He remains the richest man in India, where the per capita annual income is $1219. In India, the Gini coefficient, where a larger number indicates greater income inequality, was 36.8 in 2004. In the United States, in 2007, it was 45.0.
It's said that, as recently as the 1970's, the Ambani lived in a two-bedroom apartment.
Some views of the new Logan Center for the Arts - architects Williams & Tsien at Art Institute Panel Thursday
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Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, architects of the new Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, will be part of a panel discussion on University of Chicago Architecture taking place this Thursday, May 24th, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Rubloff Auditorium at the Art Institute of Chicago. Also participating will be architects James Carpenter and Ana Beha. The event, sponsored by the Art Institute's Architecture and Design Society, will be moderated by Steven Wiesenthal, FAIA. Tickets are $15.00 for the general public; $10.00 for members, $5.00 for students. Information and registration here.There are still nearly a dozen items still to come to check out on the May Calendar of Chicago Architectural Events.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Adler & Sullivan's Auditorium gets a view block
We wrote last year about how the construction of Roosevelt's University's new vertical dorm uncovered, however briefly, a part of Adler and Sullivan's Auditorium Building that hadn't been seen in over half a century.
We've been spoiled down through the years by another open view of the Auditorium building from the southwest, courtesy of a surface parking lot that's been there since the days when the raptors were dropping off their dinomobiles.
Under construction is Roosevelt's new 27,000-square-foot Lillian and Larry Goodman Center, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz. The two-level building is essentially a field house to support the university's athletic program. It was jump-started by a $3,000,000 gift from real estate magnate Larry Goodman, founder of the Community Discount store chain. Opening is scheduled in time for the 2012-13 academic year.
It's possible the Goodman Center may actually be the tallest structure ever to occupy the site. The classic Rand McNally view from 1893 shows it as a vacant lot, and a vintage postcard on the Chicago-L website offers a murky view of what appears to be either a single story building, or a sequence of plywood walls papered over with billboards.
The somewhat derelict self-park next door, however. endures.
We've been spoiled down through the years by another open view of the Auditorium building from the southwest, courtesy of a surface parking lot that's been there since the days when the raptors were dropping off their dinomobiles.
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Now that's changing.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Guide to the NATO Summit: Your Country is probably not going to be a player if . . .
1. You're staying at the Acme Hotel.
2. Your security detail is wearing old Andy Frain uniforms they bought on E-Bay
3. Your motorcade consists of three Jimmy John's delivery vehicles and a Zipcar
4. Your complimentary fruit basket is filled with gummi bears
5. In Executive Briefings, your country is listed under the wrong continent.
6. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has scheduled a lecture titled "(your country's name) - Why?"
7. Your country's currency can only be exchanged for Target coupons.
8. The State Department's Chief of Protocol lists your diplomatic title as "Whatever".
9. The broadcast of your big speech is confined to McCormick Place security monitors.
10. You're welcoming committee at O'Hare consisted of three semi-retired Hooter girls and Rod Blagojevich's bail bondsman.
2. Your security detail is wearing old Andy Frain uniforms they bought on E-Bay
3. Your motorcade consists of three Jimmy John's delivery vehicles and a Zipcar
4. Your complimentary fruit basket is filled with gummi bears
5. In Executive Briefings, your country is listed under the wrong continent.
6. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has scheduled a lecture titled "(your country's name) - Why?"
7. Your country's currency can only be exchanged for Target coupons.
8. The State Department's Chief of Protocol lists your diplomatic title as "Whatever".
9. The broadcast of your big speech is confined to McCormick Place security monitors.
10. You're welcoming committee at O'Hare consisted of three semi-retired Hooter girls and Rod Blagojevich's bail bondsman.
Relief for NATO Weekend, at the Lurie Garden
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Buckyballs.
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