True expert of mobility, Patrice Meignan is the publisher of Intersection magazine, dedicated to car culture and high-fashion. In parallel he is the CEO and founder of TheArsenale, the first high-technology mobility concept store. Company born in Hong Kong and Paris is now evolving and expanding through Miami, Macau and beyond.
“The near future is definitely AAV(Autonomous Aerial Vehicle). Some drones will soon come pick you up.”
How did you move to Miami? (Patrice Meignan) U.S. was one of my big professional challenges. I really wanted to develop TheArsenale there. Then I had the opportunity to meet Craig Robins, founder of the Miami Design District who loved TheArsenale. Craig proposed me to establish my concept garage inside the district. Sharing a road with Hermès, Gucci, Prada is not a bad thing for our insane garage.
First thing to do in the morning?
(PM) I briefly scan my social media, no more than 10 minutes.
And I run to the gym for my daily physic routine. I never take any meetings before noon.
Favourite toys these days?
(PM) Not a simple question for a toy specialist. There are so many. It’s really a booming industry. I’m bit bored with four-wheel machines on earth. I’m now developing a lot of connections with what we call AAV(Autonomous Aerial Vehicle). Brands like Ehang, VOLOCOPTER, or Vertical Aerospace are literally reinventing the game.
What is the future of mobility to you?
(PM) The near future is definitely AAV (Autonomous Aerial Vehicle). Some drones will soon come pick you up in the air to drop you to your next destinations. And further future will be about tele-transportation. Sci-fi scenario gets closer to reality day by day. Why not traveling like the Star Trek?
“Elon Musk who is for me the new Noah, he will save the world by sending an ark to the Mars.”
What inspires you? (PM) My heroes and my mentor are the engineers, the travelers, the utopists and the dreamers like Ferdinand Magellan, Marco Polo, Vasco da Gama and Elon Musk who is for me the new Noah, he will save the world by sending an ark to the Mars.
One of the most exciting moments from your career?
(PM) Recently I had a great honor to open a giant concept store in Macau. I had been invited by Sir Laurence Ho, founder of MELCO group to create ‘The Most Insane Garage In The World‘ inside his casino called City Of Dreams. The opening was completely crazy with more than 200 journalists who came from all around Asia. That is surely the peak of my career.
If you were not doing what you are doing now, what would you do? (PM) Artist living in my small island called Sumba. I acquired a piece of land in a semi desert island close to Bali. I would live there on the beach painting abstract big format… that is my plan B soon.
Anything you want to learn these days? (PM) I’m working hard on developing TheArsenale, this surely the most booming project in my life. We became sort of a loved brand and we plan to open some new spaces in China soon. We are also working on our second book and developing a bunch of new collaborations. Upcoming collaboration is a motorcycle with MV Agusta.
