… I would not build this.

image via Archinect

But India’s richest man, multi-billionaire Mukesh Ambani, did.   He shares this 37,000 square foot “home” with his wife, three children and his mother.  Oh, and a staff of 600!

Now, the obvious gripes would be about the buildings “aesthetic”, or the incredibly wasteful use of space, or just the lavishness of so much money used for one family when so many go hungry within sight of this building.  But rich people will always spend ridiculous sums of money on themselves, and lavish homes eventually become public property, because there are only so many people on earth that have the income to maintain them.

My gripe has to do with why someone, in a country with such a rich heritage of art, culture and craft, wouldn’t employ thousands of local craftsman to create a work of lasting architectural beauty, instead of this generically ugly high rise. Think of the boon to the local economy, the patronage of the arts, the gift to the country’s future that this home could have been.

What do you think?  If you spent a billion dollars on a “house”, where would you put the money?