"Nobody really reads books," Niami says, "so I'm just going to fill the shelves with white books, for looks." Stepping past the nightclub's outdoor lounge area where circular banquettes will seem to float next to a two-story waterfall, he says: "I really think that this house is going to do a lot for L.A. Anybody who lives in the area is going to be proud to be near it." — DETAILS
Go ahead and hate!
About half of the tennis court had to be built on pilings to account for the land's contours. This niche will have a covered viewing area and a fire pit.
The infinity pool for the guesthouse, which, when built, will be 5,000 square feet itself.
The motor court and the main house's entrance hall; a fire display will greet guests as they step inside.
The gigamansion's main guard gate (there will be a separate area, with monitors, for keeping an eye on the whole estate).
The property will be surrounded on three sides by a moat and other water features, which will make the whole thing appear to be floating.
The "sky deck," as Niami refers to it, will have a putting green, a bar, a lounge area, and covered loggias.
26 Comments
Barf.
I've seen this thing. Zaha must be real proud that her father is dominating the west side development market with his outrages eccentric "let me find shit from other countries and shove in a house" designs. Like father like daughter. When will ZAHA ever build something that isn't reminiscent or along similar lines as this project? elitism is elitism, even if it's caked as a parametric design.
There's a plot of land in Beverly Hills that I'm always keeping an eye on and drive by, It's called The Vineyard and it's selling at a billion dollars. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/beverly-hills-1-billion-vineyard-819299
you'd have to a be a pretty stupid rich person to spend $5k a sqft on a wood framed house. Mohamed Hadid? googling
not to be confused with the reality star, born in Nazareth,Isreal nonetheless https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Hadid
Aram i imagine you were being funny, but there are 2 Mphamed Hadid's and based on what I am reading, Zahas father was/is much different....for all you anti-capitalist who despise anything Zaha does, from wiki - ". In 1946, Hadid became Vice-President of the National Democratic Party. The party, essentially the social democratic wing of the Ahali group, championed agrarian reform, workers' rights and state control of Iraq's nascent oil industry."
M. Hadid's major influences Harold Laski (whut? Patrik Schumacher did you know this about your bosses father?).....btw it looks like anonymous edited this wiki page 19 hours ago.
last but ot least. there is no Death section on thw wiki page so he would be 108 years old now.....all sounds phishy
The developer is "brusque, blunt, and palpably cologned"
"It only had a five-car garage, and everybody complained"
Around 2008, he met Fenton, who clued him in on the burgeoning market of spec homes priced at $10 million to $15 million —a range that sounded astronomical at the time. "I said, 'Who buys a house for that?'" Niami recalls. He soon found out: cash-rich foreigners and entrepreneurs whose wealth is immune to such little-people problems as subprime-mortgage crises and stock-market swings. "For the $5 million houses, the buyers still needed loans," he says. "But when you moved up to $10 or $15 million, it was guys who didn't have to rely on the bank."
This project is preposterous. I'd love to party there and check out the views, but this is obscene. And the article is almost as ridiculous. These people are so divorced from reality, when reality actually sets in they are going to be shocked.
These people are so insulated from the real world that it simply does not exist for them.
They will NEVER experience reality until they die (hurry up already).
...In the Bay Area, the target buyers will be tech titans likely to use the houses as their main residences. Would it make Niami feel better to know that the owners of his mammoth masterworks will actually be living in them? "No," he says. "It doesn't make a difference as long as they pay the money."
At least he's honest...
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/18/wealth_therapists_for_the_one_percent_is_a_thing.html
maintaining the opulence is an industry that will employ dozens.
Would it be possible to get the ego megalomaniacs to start building hospitals or museums that bear their name instead of mansions so big that they could never visit each room in a year. Can we get a museum arm's race or concert halls or something, maybe the media need to shame these pigs into doing something else with their money.
even the renderings have no people in them
Aram, the THR story you linked about the Vineyard is fascinating, thank you.
I find the statement in this infomercial of a write-up, that this development will do a lot for LA very offensive and patronizing the city's image and real concerns. If anything is going to do anything for LA, it will be the people getting more aware by the picture of the tent I posted under the half billion dollar home ( a bit of a wishful result on the developer's spin).
Ninja I'm glad you read into the sarcasm. I do struggle everyday dealing with the fact I'll never get a chance to see Zaha on an episode of the real housewives of BH. ;)
I still do want to throw this question out there for anyone.
What's the difference between building a $500,000,000 spec house in BH
Or Building the the tallest skyscraper in Dubi.. Lets take it one step further and bring Zaha back to this, what's the difference between a socially irresponsible developer that lacks design sensibility and Zaha building Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar?
Did Qatar really need another soccer Stadium?
or did she not take in consideration the desert environment in which she was building in.
Maybe somehow the slave like conditions for laborers in Qatar since the 70s passed her by when she signed up for the project.
These projects are about one thing and one thing only. The difference is the developer doesn't hide behind fancy words and a robe.
Isn't is unethical for an architect to be involved in something this obscene?
Orhan anytime. What I've noticed with developers and real estate agents especially around the Beverly Crest/ Mulholland drive area is that they use these inflated projects strategically to their benefit.
So they build a $500,000,000 spec house or bulldoze the top of a hill for a 1 billion dollar price tag for land. Will they sell at these prices? Maybe or maybe not. They become anchor points for the surrounding area.
What defiantly will happen is that these projects will generate business. People will start to sell properties to developers, people will start to buy depending on a greater net profit.
Developers and Real estate agents make their profit and move on.
What's interesting as an Architect or just a person that's interested in Urban development is the way that our landscape changes its face and focus over time because of these moves.
If only uncle milton's made a BH human Real Estate/ Developers version of his ANT farm toy, Architects would have the upper hand. Who am I kidding, we would just sit there all day trying to find the deeper meaning in all of it.
Zaha's dad was an interesting man - http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-muhammad-hadid-1110896.html qoute from article - "as far as it is possible for a big capitalist to be clean and idealist, Hadid is clean and idealist"......... ....missed the end date on the wiki, most things checking out with wiki page
Aram- architects care and then they're assholes when they take commisions from people who look at spreadsheet with intent on boosting their self-esterm issues. to change something though you should take these absurd commisions and get to know these elite
they are only there a few weeks out of the year? who wants to break in for a pool party?
What the fuck!
For all the shitty houses designed by lousy drafter, this one single structure is more a waste than an entire housing tract.
Half a Billion dollars on a single home? People with this much money should be spending it to help people like hiring people, paying employees bigger salaries/wages or constructing affordable housing but these people with more money than they can rationalize having is condemning the world and humanity into destruction.
With half a million dollars and they would be able to hire 10,000 people at $50,000 a year.
Some people have too fucking much money.
this house isnt exactly Rockefeller Center (to balkins point) see history on the Rock's construction. the depression. 50,000 people employed
Rockefeller center also had some degree of civic virtue and importance, this is just a private playground for people with invitations only. The tree comma club
As much as I hate this garbage, I want to put "hand on heart" and ask how many of us would refuse this commission (Remember the fees is easily 10-15 million).
sod,
Yes.... good point. That would make me a healthy chunk of change in my bank account. Even at half the figures you were giving.
how many of us would refuse this commission
<raises hand>
Honestly,
It is something I might refuse doing but I would be dishonest if I said that I was absolutely without conflict. A part of me would find the money commission to be rather attractive but the other side of me about sustainable design would find this to be irrational and beyond any senses of reason for a home. A part of my practice values for homes is about a place where people can live. Sadly, in this culture where a lot of people don't have any care about livability because they have no home life because they spend all their time at work 7 DAYS a week. They almost never have time to come home except to take a bath and go to sleep.
Maybe homes for our culture should be an outhouse with a cot.
However, on the other hand I like to encourage home to be a place to live as a family not just storage for a bunch of shit.
Then you have these rich f---ers with too much money that they build these god damn oversized structures which would remain unoccupied for over 300 days of 365 (366) days of the year which is equivalent to over 10 houses and cost like 100 house.
If they really live as a family, then a place that is sensible in scale that they aren't wasting all that wood and lumber and concrete and steel for nothing. I can not call it sustainable or environmentally sound building design practice to design such houses when they remain unoccupied or highly under-utilized. We need to be rational and sound when it comes to designing a place to LIVE not edifices. We could be housing a number of homeless or providing at the very least, provide that kind of money towards actually building affordable housing not spending money on studies which government has wasted for decades.
Those with the money, your rich because you didn't fairly pay people. You paid minimal and kept doing that instead of civil duty to the public. Remember, you aren't suppose to make yourself rich. You are suppose to make the world better for everyone and while you improve your own life, you contribute back to the world because we made you, its your turn to put back money to the people so the cycle of economy can actually work or you'll end of seeing the economy grind to a halt and your business grind to a halt.
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