Heights of Confusion
By: Navin (May 7th, 2008)
Today morning’s newspaper declared with great awe about the achievement of one man, whose glamorous life and inheritance is anybody’s envy. Modern India’s greatest entrepreneur, son of Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh is all set to complete his flashy 27 storey house, costing $2b, world’s largest and costliest home! When this house gets completed it will be 550 feet high, with 400000 square feet of interior space. The Forbes report titled ‘Inside the World’s first billion dollar home’ says “The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the 70 million dollar triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air.”
Reading further, the report says that the house will be unlike any other livable hotel or home where the layout, measurements and material used will be custom made and not replicated on any floor. At the request of Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn’t be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so that spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition. Antilla, the ambani residence whose shape is based on Vaastu, atop six stories of parking lots, it’s living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80 per cent of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea…
Man’s tryst with high rises can be dated back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis, where people said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
Even today this craze for high rises, rests in man’s desire for reaching the heavenlies, to feel how it is to be up there and make a name for himself. Every tower is a great tribute to man’s innovations and desire to succeed despite every barrier. Across the world there are thousands of buildings which stand tall, seemingly touching the skies and crying out the invincibility of the post modern era.
There is also a great fight among nations, builders and interested groups to get the honor of being associated to the tallest building. Burj Dubai is a skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest man-made structure on Earth, the projected final height of Burj Dubai is officially being kept a secret due to competition from other buildings under construction or proposed. More than the need to build these structures there is this huge fight to claim the accolades arising out of these structures. Due to the disagreements over how to measure and classify structures, engineers have created various definitions for categories of buildings and other structures. One measure includes the absolute height of a building, another includes only spires and other permanent architectural features, but not antennas. The tradition of including the spire on top of a building and not including the antenna dates back to the rivalry between the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall street. A modern-day example is that the antenna on top of the Sears tower is not considered part of its architectural height, while the spires on top of the Petronas towers are counted.
The book of Genesis went on to say “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower they were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel – because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
When man grew in intellect and succeeded in all his ways, there was this great absence of respect for God’s creation, his laws and God himself! When they said to each other to build a tower which would reach the heavens, they were also saying, “We have become equal with God”. We grow disobedient to the very rules that govern nature. That is why God confused their languages and scattered them over the whole earth.
That same confusion reigns today in our cities, not just in our languages, but our ability to plan for our cities, understanding the needs of mankind and the dire need to be in sync with God’s plans. Have you read that around seven million people are projected to be displaced due to, among other factors, submersion of parts of Mumbai , if global temperatures were to rise by a mere 2 °C (3.6 °F)?! A new study on the global effects of climate change has established that net sea level rise along the Arabian Sea coast has been 1-2 mm per year over the past several decades, with Mumbai indicating a rise of roughly one-tenth of a metre over the last 100 years. Hope this was taken into account when building Antilla, with a panoramic view of the Arabian Sea??
The highest net sea level rise has been recorded at Kochi (1.75 mm per year) followed by Aden in the Persian Gulf (1.37 mm), then Mumbai (1.2 mm) and finally Karachi (1.06 mm). The floods that hit Mumbai in 2005 still fresh in our minds, paralyzing an unsuspecting sea of people, who were stuck for days before they reached their homes, gives us a glimpse in to the future which has been impacted badly by man’s mindless and endless quest for wealth, fame and pleasure. A recent newspaper report said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation spent 27 crores to repair 13200 potholes in Mumbai, the ones that are waiting repairs is countless! What a paradox, on one side are structures so high and beyond our imagination and just below them, a confused and confusing city, dwelling among potholes! But probably these facts never cross our mind nor do they impact us beyond a certain time.
Worldwide, the melting of the ice caps and surge in ocean temperatures due to atmospheric warming has resulted in rising sea levels and land erosion. A recent awareness programme on the TV showed an ageing man, and behind him a melting glacier and rising waters and saying that by the time this became a reality, he will not be around, but we and our children will surely be there. It only puts mankind’s desire in the right light. A desire, which has always focussed at achieving short term goals with scant respect for God or His creation. Man is at war with the rules that govern nature and all the voices point towards disaster.
Last Sunday, I was listening to this song sung by small children which said
The wise man built his house upon a rock
And the rains came tumbling downThe foolish man built his house upon the sand.
And the rains came tumbling downThe rains came down and the floods went up
And the house upon the rock stood firm.The rains came down and the floods went up
And the house upon the sand fell flat
The song is the rhythmic way of reciting Jesus Christ’s parable where He was telling the people that as they would build their houses upon the strong foundation, so also they should build their life on the Rock (Jesus Christ himself) understanding what are God’s laws and the rules on which he hangs the earth and all creation in thin air. The rain is life’s final frontier, “judgment”, wherein every man’s ways and his works will get tested and tried. Man’s ego, pride, wealth and honour will be washed away in that rain and a life not based on God’s decree too will fall flat. In other words, whether you are “Attilla the Hun” or high on the “Antilla”, if your life and work don’t measure upto the standards of the Maker and Judge, what will be left is an eery silence, when our eyes meet His eyes!
Tags: Burj Dubai, Dynamic Architecture, Forbes, Mukesh Ambani, Tallest Buildings, world's most expensive
July 18th, 2008 at 11:50 am