Ride & Create: Antoine Ricardou - Founder of Paris-based Saint-Lazare

Ride & Create | Antoine Ricardou

Founder of Paris-based Saint-Lazare / A.S.L agency and Montmartre Vélo Club (the MVC Paris), Architect Antoine Ricardou studied fine arts at the School of Architecture of Paris-Val de Seine. His branding, architecture and design company, founded in 2000 in Paris, supports brands in their entirety from graphics to architecture. A devoted cyclist and adventurer, the father of three rode out with us on a rainy morning in Paris to share his thoughts and connections between his creative practice and endurance sports.

Growing up in the Hautes-Pyrénées, near Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Antoine naturally grew up with a love for the outdoors, involved in sports such as climbing and sailing. But he and his family were not particularly interested in the act of cycling. As we pause in the Parisian traffic, he explains.

“The noisy crowds and garish colours and general atmosphere of the sport of cycling did not appeal at the time. However, I started running around the age of 18, becoming obsessed with marathons and pushing my body as hard as possible, to the point that, by my early thirties, I was burnt out.”

Like many young athletes, a background in cardiovascular sports led Antoine to the bike and cycling naturally superseded running for Antoine.

“So, I took up swimming, and then triathlon, and of course needed a bike. Little by little, I abandoned triathlon to focus primarily on cycling. The bike has been a revelation for me, taking me further than any other sport. Now I try to ride at least once a week, especially on weekends, commonly in the Paris region and the countryside of Ile-de-France.”

Antoine takes us away from the traffic and a swift left turn leads us up towards Montmartre. We pause at the corner of the cobbled Rue St. Vincent. A hand-painted sign reads ‘Au Lapin Agile’, Antoine certainly has the air of a nimble and cunning rabbit.

“I’m aware of being in a profession that requires me to live in a big city like Paris, London or New York. With cycling there is the sporting side, of course, but above all, it is to have the opportunity to escape the city to breathe. It's not necessarily just a breath of fresh air, a way to get some fresh air, but it's above all a chance to reflect and observe, a kind of therapy.”

Antoine’s bike outings are, as for many riders living in a city, the highlight of the week, expanding horizons, finding solace. We take another pause to breathe in front of the Parisian panorama at the top of Montmarte, beside Sacré Cœur.

“It’s the time where I can see the capital differently. Cycling is a visual and intellectual oxygenation: allowing me to discover the Parisian hinterland, to see places that the majority do not see.”

Back down the hill at his studio – which feels more like an old school workshop than your average digitally-dependent ‘design space’ – Antoine discusses how he analyses and interprets his work.

“The architect must be able to know as well as possible the brand with which he is going to collaborate, he must immerse himself in it. This requires having a very transversal vision of the brand, he must understand the way in which it surrounds the customer.”

As we admire all the beautifully organised stationery, tools and artefacts, Antoine discusses the importance of details.

“You must have an analytical look at every single detail, knowing how to dissect the minutiae of everyday life, being on the lookout for clues. It takes a very very sharp eye for everything that surrounds us. Finally, there is the chemistry that takes place inside the mind after viewing and analysing – interpreting and transcribing what you have seen as fluently as possible.”

This notion of chemistry brings us back to the catalytic effect cycle sport can have on the creative brain, and process.

“It's not just cycling that brings positive vibrations, but all other cross-country and endurance sports, such as ski touring and trail running. Indeed, such sports are by nature contemplative. In contemplation, there is a kind of satisfaction from practicing sport independently, with the strength and unity of your breathing, body and consciousness. It provides a unique sensation, a momentum, a creation of emotions. The bike increases emotions and sensory awareness tenfold. Pain and pleasure, it’s a real privilege. When I’m pedalling and experiencing this unity, I feel truly privileged, because at that moment in time I’m the only experiencing this place in time and space. Rather than sat in a car, in traffic. I feel like a noble knight on horseback, but my horse is carbon and my armour a lot lighter.”

Antoine believes cycling is a territory of exploration and experimentation for his work.

“The dynamic world of cycling also offers an extraordinary visual and graphic universe, which I bathe in, and this graphic universe is a source of inspiration.”

We then discuss the concept of ideas that arrive whilst on the bike.

“I remember a long outing in the direction of Rambouillet [about 50km from the centre of Paris], in the Haute Vallée de Chevreuse. On a road I often took, I passed old farm sheds that I’d never seen before; then I saw another barn, then another. Suddenly all these barns. This bucolic vision of île-de-France with these wonderful sheds, these farmhouses confirmed to me the legitimacy of building one: The barn Hotel was born like this.

My subsequent trips to île-de-France by bike, on the national and departmental roads, confirmed the idea. The time spent on the bike, observing everything, reassured me and allowed for a concrete analysis, an architectural inventory of the countryside around Paris.”

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