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.”