Alexandre Allard

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Alexandre Allard - Cidade Matarazzo, São Paulo - 2014

Alexandre Allard (born Washington, October 1, 1968) is a French entrepreneur. He is mostly known for the creation and subsequent sale of Consodata – the world's first comprehensive consumer database. Allard is also known for leading the rebirth of the iconic Royal Monceau hotel in Paris. Since 2011, he has been developing a real estate project in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, named Cidade Matarazzo.

Early life

First-born to a family of three, his father was a public engineer and his mother was a mathematics teacher. Until the age of 15, he lived in the neighborhoods of Abidjan, in Ivory Coast. In 1984, he arrived in France, where he was admitted as a student at the Saint Martin de France boarding school until he took his high school diploma.

Beginnings

Tech companies

After taking his high school diploma, he started his entrepreneurial activities by establishing his first office in an old butcher shop in the city of Puteaux. In 1987, he established SeaWay Promer Sarl, a Desktop Publishing company (DTP), with his cousin Pierre-Yves Gires.

In 1990, he established Équation Graphique, a company specializing in the artistic direction of newspapers and magazines. In 1991, he created PSCHITT together with Laurent Tordjman, a pioneer in numerical engraving. He won the Jacques Douce Association Young Entrepreneurs Award (awarded to personalities in the business world under the age of 30) twice, for his initiatives between 1990 and 1992.

In 1991, he created the Diacom SA company with Gérard Bonvicini, a specialist in the design of databases and information survey systems. Along with Jacques Séguéla, Mondher Abdenader, and Franck Tapiro, he launched The Infomercials. The ads featured celebrities such as Daniel Gélin, Christophe Malavoy, and Éric Cantona, attracting a wide audience and triggering interest from television channels. Diacom SA thus became the advertising agency for large advertising groups, such as RSCG and its clients, including BMW, L'Oréal, Danone, and Procter & Gamble. The Phillips brand campaign created by Diacom SA won the Effie award for advertising effectiveness in 1995.

Consodata

In 1994, as individual marketing gained momentum in the advertising industry, Alexandre Allard met Marc Hénon. Together, they created a database shared by advertisers. Alexandre Allard sold his other companies to dedicate himself to the worldwide development of this new company. Within five years, Consodata became a leader in the consumer file market and the world's largest database, with 580 million households and more than 1,000 clients. The company went public on the new Paris stock exchange in 1999. In 2000, Consodata was acquired by the Italian telecom group, Telecom Italia, for 500 million euros.

Investments in creativity and heritage

From the 2000s onwards, he dedicated himself to real estate renovation projects.

Qianmen

Alexandre Allard has undertaken initiatives to renovate historic buildings in Paris, Spain, Rome, London, Miami, and Morocco. In 2004, he launched a renovation project in Qianmen, a neighborhood in historic downtown Beijing. In 2006, in association with Christophe Dorey, he persuaded the city administration to protect and list the neighborhood as cultural heritage.

Royal Monceau Hotel-Palace

After a failed attempt to buy the conference center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for €368,000,000 in 2006, Alexandre Allard purchased the Royal Monceau Hotel, then facing severe financial problems, in June 2007. The project was jumpstarted by an auction organized by Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, which raised €3.3 million.

The Demolition Party

On June 26, 2008, Alexandre Allard gathered famous guests from around the world to participate in an artistic performance. Equipped with construction safety helmets and hammers, they tore down hotel rooms and halls. The performance was accompanied by 20 artists, including André, Chen Man, Wang du, Arne Quinze, Jean Baptiste Mondino, Roberto Cabot, Xavier Veilhan, Philippe Perrin, Adel Abdessemed, John Nollet, and Olympia Scary. In 2008, the event won the Cannes Lions award and the Strategy award for Best Event.

The Rebirth of the Royal Monceau

Alexandre Allard invited designer Philippe Starck to redefine the hotel's spirit. The hotel reopened in 2010 and received critical acclaim, being voted best hotel in Europe, best spa, and best restaurant (according to the Michelin guide, Condé Nast Traveler, Palace, Virtuoso, Forbes), and the best hotel in France by TripAdvisor.

The Hotel de la Marine

With Jean Nouvel and Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, he proposed a project for the Hôtel de la Marine, which had recently issued a call for bids. Previously occupied by Navy staff, this monument was slated for abandonment by the Ministry of Defense, which planned to centralize its activities in the new "French Pentagon" in the Balard district, Paris. The bidding application was filed in January 2011. The project was revealed under the name "La Royale".

According to the creators, this project aimed to transform the Hôtel de la Marine into an open venue for arts and crafts, fostering creation and attracting patrons and artists. Supported by the Master Artisans of the Grands Ateliers de France, the monument would also receive high-quality craftsmanship. "In the two courtyards opening onto the Royal Court, 150 high-quality artisans can be brought together," said Alexandre Allard. The halls and courtyards, open to the public, would have hosted temporary exhibitions. The project faced criticism due to the monument's historical nature, ultimately losing support. Given the controversy, Nicolas Sarkozy decided to suspend the bidding process and appointed Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who wished to keep the monument under state control, as chairman of a commission to consider the monument's future. Ignoring an open letter published in Le Monde, signed by 181 personalities from the creative world (including Johnny Hallyday, Daniel Buren, Yannick Noah, and sailor Olivier de Kersauson), who supported the project, the commission issued a report recommending maintaining the monument's administrative occupation and returning its historic halls to the Louvre. On January 24, 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed to the press his intention to follow the commission's opinion.

Cidade Matarazzo

In 2011, Groupe Allard acquired the former Umberto Primo Hospital, also known as Matarazzo Hospital, which is currently being renovated. Cidade Matarazzo is scheduled to open in 2021, although it was previously expected to open in 2019. A testament to the architectural and cultural influence of the Italian community in São Paulo, this development has witnessed the birth of half a million Paulistanos. Located 200 meters from Paulista Avenue, the city's most popular avenue, it is a monument built within 3 hectares of Atlantic Forest. The former Umberto Primo Hospital is one of São Paulo's most famous historical landmarks.

Expected to open in 2021 and designed by Jean Nouvel, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2008, the Rosewood São Paulo Tower is a tribute to the Atlantic Forest. It's a "landscape building" that blends with the surrounding rainforest, with flowers, plants, and trees throughout its public and private spaces, terraces, and roofs. The vertical garden will not only enhance the continuity between the tower and its surroundings but also provide residents with appropriate protection. "Matarazzo Park is about survival. I would even say more than survival; it is an oasis. It is the place of calm urbanization. It is the place of amazing trees: ficus, magnolias. And the hospital right in the middle is like a small town, very well organized with its yards. Around that, a bustling city. What is interesting is to start working from the memory of the place," explains Jean Nouvel. He is about to embark on his first project in the largest city in South America, considered by Alexandre Allard as a creative landmark of the 21st century.

Made by...Feito por Brasileiros

Presented as the prefiguration of the spirit of Cidade Matarazzo, a "Creative Invasion" at Umberto Primo Hospital, envisioned by Alexandre Allard, invited 100 Brazilian and international artists for an exhibition open to the public in September and October 2014. The exhibition featured artists such as Tunga, Beatriz Milhazes, Vik Muniz, Xavier Veilhan, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Joan Vasconcelos, Laura Vinci, Jose Miguel Wisnik, Cinthia Marcelle, Douglas White, Dora Longo Bahia, Paulo Nimer Pjota, Rochelle Costi, Arne Quinze, Valter Lano, Artur Lescher, Maria Thereza Alves, Delphine Gigoux Martin, Sofia Borges, Daniel Paula, Oskar Metsavaht, Mauricio Dias, Walter Riedweg, Sonia Gomes, Jean-Luc Favero, Elisa Pône, Nino Cais, Nuno Ramos, Henrique Oliveira, Holy Spirit Iran, Janaína Tschäpe, Rodrigo Bueno, Julio Villani, Juraci Dorea, Lia Chaia, Daniel Senise, Studio Drift, Lucas Simões, Marcelo Jácome, Reginaldo Pereira, Francesca Woodman, Charlie Case, Marcia Xavier, Rivane Neuenschwander, Maria Nepomuceno, and Lygia Clark, among others.

The São Paulo Arts Critics Association, APCA^[17], awarded "Made by... Feito por Brasileiros" the prize for best cultural initiative of 2014.

Rock Na Cidade

On the 461st anniversary of São Paulo in 2015, Cidade Matarazzo opened its doors with the support of the São Paulo Municipality (Prefeitura de São Paulo) for a celebratory cultural day—open to the public and free of charge. The event, titled Rock na Cidade (Rock in the City), was a music festival featuring over 40 performances, including Ira!, Legião Urbana, and Brothers of Brazil. The event also included food trucks and an animal adoption campaign. North-American superstar Queen Latifah and São Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad attended. Thousands enjoyed the celebration.

Fashion

Balmain

Allard became a partner in the Balmain haute couture brand in 2005, joining Alain Hivelin in its renovation and rebirth.

Faith Connexion

In 2009, Alexandre Allard acquired the Parisian brand Faith Connexion. With a new team of designers, the brand partnered with American actress Annabelle Dexter Jones in 2012 and created a capsule collection for Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana in 2013. After 2014, the brand expanded its creative team and launched a men's line. In 2014, Faith Connexion introduced a new business model called Circle of Faith, which aimed to redistribute economic benefits between the brand and its representatives and promote new talents.

Cultural partnerships and social responsibility

Since the 2000s, Alexandre Allard has pursued projects with social responsibility and cultural partnerships.

L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui

Alexandre Allard joined Jean Nouvel and François Fontes to acquire the L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui magazine, which had been inactive in the early 2000s. Alexandre Allard led the relaunch of the magazine's traditional publishing schedule since September 2009. He has been the owner and director of the magazine, founded in the 1930s by André Bloc. Bringing together French and international architects in a writing committee, L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui provides a space for dialogue and debate on construction, urbanization, and sustainable development, among other topics.

Microworld

A member of the Groupe PlaNet Finance Board, Alexandre Allard launched a micro-credit platform for entrepreneurs called MicroWorld. Since 2010, he has been co-chair of MicroWorld.

Cultural projects and socioenvironmental initiatives

Art exhibitions

• Exhibition Miro en son jardin – Fondation Maeght – Saint Paul de Vence – France (2009)
• Exhibition Xavier Veilhan Versailles – Château de Versailles – France (2009)
• Festival de la Correspondance – Grignan – France (2010)
• Exhibition Jean Michel Basquiat – Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris – France (2010)
• Exhibition Feito Por Brasileiros...Made By Brazilians – São Paulo, Brazil (2014)

Awards

• 1990: Jacques Douce Award for notable young businessmen under 30
• 1992: Jacques Douce Award for notable young businessmen under 30
• 1996: "Oracle" Award for best developer, awarded to Allard's company Consodata
• 2008: Cannes Lions "Best Event" Award to the Demolition Party of the Royal Monceau
• 2014: APCA Award (Brazil) for "Best Cultural Event" for exhibit Made by...Feito por Brasileiros
• 2017: France-Brazil Chamber of Commerce Award for "Personality of the Year" to Alexandre Allard
• 2018: São Paulo Medal recognizing leading examples of entrepreneurship in the city

External links

• Groupe Allard Archived 2016-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
• Microworld

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