The Sky is the Limit....

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 27^thtallest 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.