Adorning Mumbai’s skyline on the 10th most expensive street in the world, Lodha Altamount is an architectural marvel. Its dark glass façade and sleek design is a rare combination for any residential tower in India. Hadi Teherani, the maestro behind this masterpiece says, “Every architect refers to a new course of design based on the environment. In this respect to prevail within a metropolis, it was necessary to create a contrast.” Known for designing iconic buildings in Germany including the famous Dockland office in Hamburg and the Kranhaus in Cologne, he has also left his mark on the landscape of Abu Dhabi with the Zayed University. According to Teherani, space is an important factor while defining luxury. With one residence per floor and a host of bespoke luxury services, Lodha Altamount is the epitome of unrestricted luxury.
A unique structure, with a complete dark glass façade, the tower has a unique top, “the crown”, characterized by two geometric pointy tops giving an expression of “less is more”, a sense of completion. An expression that Lodha Altamount is for the exclusive few and cannot be extended any further. “It has a head and feet and is finished. So for us to hold back was our way to stand out”, says Teherani.
Teherani’s role model in the field of architecture is Bauhaus, whose products once designed for day to day life are now icons in themselves, like the lounge chair by Le Corbusier. Visionaries in their design ideas, they aimed to give people light, air and space, and to free them from elements that were poorly designed and uncomfortable like big Stucco ceilings. For them, architecture and product design were always very fluent concepts. Le Corbusier, for instance, designed fantastic buildings as well as whole cities, but on the other hand also designed furniture. Gropius had even designed a car once and furniture, too. This school of thinking has influenced Teherani, and once you have all those “tools”, with this way of thinking you get very far. With this “toolbox” of modern design, you can create anything and influence society.
Teherani’s vision of creating a calm design in the backdrop of a bustling skyline, is now a reality with Lodha Altamount majestically perched at the topmost point on Altamount Road in Mumbai.
