Ashok
Korgaonkar...The Sky is the Limit !
The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt
As young kids we nurture many dreams—some want
to be firemen, pilots,actors, doctors. The
list is endless.Living in a tiny one-room flat
in a congested city one often dreams of
living
in a spacious
residential complex nestling in
the clouds.As a young man with a lower middle
class upbringing in a Worli chawl in the early
60s and 70s, Ashok Korgaonkar would gaze
wistfully at the city’s changing skyline,
fascinated with the new skyscrapers which had begun to
mushroom. Perhaps even dreaming of living in them, which spurred him to study architecture
at the
Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture.
Despite opposition from conservative family
members, he stood his ground, pursuing his
course and paying his fees with small odd jobs.
Today, he is a celebrity—the Mumbai-born,
Dubai-based architect is the founder-MD of
Archgroup Consultants, and has entered the
Guinness Book of Records as the creator of the
world’s tallest hotel---the JW Marriott Marquis
in Dubai.
A candid tete-a-tete with the man who made his
dreams come true……..
Way back in the 60s
&70’s it must have been tough to raise money for your fees. How did
you manage?
Yes, those were difficult times.. one will agree that a person
will always value his achievements and success when it is earned the hard way.
For the first year of my academic studies I had to depend on my parents. By the
time I completed my first year, I was well versed with drafting, tracing and model
making. I started taking small assignments which used to cover my fees and
other expenses to some extent. I also used to help many of my senior students
to complete there sessional work.
After my second year of architecture,with increased self
confidence due to the model making works, I started taking up interior fit- out
contracts. All these things had to be managed along with my regular studies and
my sessional works.Inspite of this, I always made it to the top 5 ,completed my
architecture in first class and ranked second in Maharashtra in the year 1980.
Did you face a lot of opposition from the family?
I was the first person in my family to opt for architectural
studies—a profession which in those days was not affordable for a member
from a lower income group family .We were barely able to make ends meet. All my
other siblings having opted for the traditional science and engineering I faced some hurdles but I
managed to persuade my folks .
In the 80s when you moved to Dubai, what was
the scenario?
After completing architecture,
me and my wife Arti(who was my classmate), wasted no time and took up a
job in Bahrain. First and foremost aim for working in the Gulf was to immediately start earning
after we started our married life. For someone who had lived in the chawls of Mumbai,the Gulf was a pleasant
surprise. It was a completely different lifestyle --the strikingly obvious
experience was neat and clean roads, disciplined traffic, and most importantly,
law abiding citizens.
During 80’s even Dubai was not developed as much as 20 per cent
of what it is today. It was a city with a population of approximately 1
million; it was not a spread out city but had only few commercial pockets being
targeted for development. Those were the days when day to day life was very
easy in terms of moving around the city, less traffic, quiet communities etc which is contrary to what it
is today with people from around 190 countries and a population of 7 million .
How about developmental changes over the last few decades?
I would say it was developing at a reasonable rate--- nothing
like the mad rush somewhere in 2001 when the city saw rapid progress. Post 2001
to 2008 was a complete turn –around: the desert was changed to a oasis,a model
city which every developing country in the world has appreciated. (The United
States Post even went to an extent to say that what Dubai has achieved in the
last 10 years, New York city took 150
years, which in itself put Dubai on the world map of being one of the fastest
developing cities). His Highness Sheikh Mohamed said “Recession gave us the
time to take a breather, stop and analyze” Dubai invested heavily in developing
the infrastructure when the property prices hit rock bottom and in the last few
years of recession Dubai has developed world class flyovers, metro and airports
etc.I have seen one thing consistently happening in Dubai for last 31 years and
that is CHANGE… in lifestyle, in communities and, at professional levels.
The initial years must have been difficult... Did you & your
wife work for architects there and what kind of projects did you handle?
We started our working careers in Bahrain moving to Dubai 2
years later in 1982,where we worked in a consultancy firm called as Al Wasl Al
Jadeed Consultants for 10 years from 1982 till 1992.During those 10 years I
worked on many interesting projects such as Interstate Taxi and Bus terminus,
quite a few Mosques which was again entirely a different experience,large scale
community parks,and Dubai cricket stadium a project which was shelved half way
through due to some unknown reasons.Along with these projects I also
worked on community villas and
residential and commercial buildings
Designing for the
Emirates must have been a major turning point...Do tell us about your
experiences.
Way back in 1992 when
we started our professional practice in Dubai: we had designed and completed
few projects though, not on a very large scale. Then we received an invitation
to participate in a design competition organized by none other than Emirates
Airlines for one of their projects-- a Desert Resort
Unfortunately, we did
not bag the project. But, the top management
of Emirates had noticed our talent and ability to create designs
extraordinarily. That’s how we bagged the first ever project with Emirates in
1999--the Al Aqaa Beach Resort, a 200 -room five- star hotel. This was the
stepping stone to our success and with no looking back we embarked on our
journey.
Since then till 2005 we completed many prestigious projects for
Emirates Airlines and the Chairman of Emirates Airlines His Highness Sheikh Ahmed
Bin Saeed Al Maktoum. To name the ones which has earned wide recognition are
Emirates Head-quarters, Grosvenor House Business Hotel and apartments, The West
Inn, Dubai (Five star Hotel),Green Lakes Towers etc.
Subsequently you also
designed offices, malls and hotels... how did the JW
project happen?
Emirates
Airlines wanted a hotel that would
reflect the soaring ambitions of the airline and the city, by creating
an iconic tall structure with a futuristic design . When they decided to develop Marriott Marquis Hotel, without
any second thoughts, work was awarded to us and this time there was no
competition or any bidding from other consultants.
What are the high
points and what was the biggest challenge you faced
while designing
the JW?
The
form of the towers is inspired by the trunk of the Date Palm, a symbol highly
evocative of the Arabian culture and heritage.
Building is designed in the style of Expressionist Architecture. The
project experienced shortage of concrete, manpower resources and scarcity of
skilled labor but with collaborative approach of the stakeholders,we were able
to minimize the impact. Due to recession there was a Cap for cash flow per
month for the project.The contractors had to complete the work in the
stipulated time with a limited billing per month. This also required resource
management which was managed by the Archgroup Project Management and design
team.
The Guinness mention is undoubtedly a major honor...what do you
feel about it?
To be honored with such
unparalleled distinction is truly satisfying: a special mention of my team which worked tirelessly. This is now 27thtallest
tower in world and a Guinness record for the tallest hotel in the world, it
can’t get any bigger than this
What are your major
upcoming projects in UAE(specifically Dubai)?
Currently we have a mixed bag of projects ranging from
commercial, hotels, and villas, residential, educational and industrial
developments. Few to name them are Headquarter Tower for Landmark group (Owner:
Mickey Jagtiani), Hotel Extension for Le Meridian, Gate community villas for
Dubai Silicon oasis, Aviation College for Emirates, Flight Training Facility
for Emirates and residential towers for a private client.
We
started our operations in India in Nov.
2008 and now we have offices in Mumbai and Pune. We have completed budget hotels
in Pune,Banglore,and Delhi and currently working on budget hotels in Chennai
and Goa for Premier Inn Hotels ,UK based group.
Finally....Mumbai's
skyline (which fuelled your dreams) in the 70s and 80s is a far cry from what
you see today? Do you feel that development has been haphazard? What according
to you can alleviate the city's housing woes?
Mumbai
is a rapidly growing city and demand for space is increasing day by day but the
scope for horizontal growth of city remains restricted as it is an island city. There is obviously
no other option but to grow vertically.
High rise buildings are needed to meet demand but along with that we also require
supporting infrastructure for smooth functioning of these high rise
developments. I see many high rise buildings for middle income group spaced at merely 6mts distance from each
other, depriving habitants of the very
basic necessities such as natural light and ventilation. Water for many high
rises is supplied by alternative source of water such as well water from
tankers. This shows our infrastructure is still lacking basic utilities such as water and power and
is way behind what is required actually.Post construction proper façade
maintenance is a must else they become obvious
eyesores.
