Alan Diego Faena (born 20 November 1963, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

) is an Argentine hotelier and real estate developer who has developed properties in his native

, as well as

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

. Faena is the founder and President of Faena Group. He is a member of the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

International Committee and the New Museum Leaders Council. He previously founded Via Vai in 1985, an Argentinian fashion label, and worked as a fashion designer.

Early life

Faena is the son of a textile manufacturer. He was born in

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1963.

Career

Early career

In 1985, Faena followed in his parents footsteps into the textile industry and founded the fashion label Via Vai at age 19. He launched the brand with 50 colored shirts he funded himself. The brand expanded to include ready-to-wear collections and a denim line. Faena sold the company in 1996.

Faena Buenos Aires

Faena was a fashion designer for over ten years before beginning a career in real estate development in 2000. He partnered with

Len Blavatnik Sir Leonard Valentinovich Blavatnik, russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник, Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik (born June 14, 1957) is a Ukraine-born American-British business magnate and philanthropist. As of March 202 ...

Philippe Starck Philippe Starck (; born 18 January 1949) is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles. Life Starck was born on ...

and

Foster + Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide. ...

to redevelop abandoned docklands in the Puerto Madero neighborhood of

. Foster + Partner's residential condominium in re-development was their first project in South America. The Faena Hotel designed by Starck opened in 2004. The Faena District, which is estimated to be a $200 million development, is the most valuable real estate in Buenos Aires. The Faena Arts Center, a converted flour mill located in the center of the district, opened in September 2011 and displays the work of local and international artists. In November 2011, German artist Franz Ackermann exhibited the results of his voyages around

with the largest mural of his career in the center. The Cuban duo Los Carpinteros debuted their first solo exhibition in Buenos Aires at the arts center in May 2012.

Faena Miami Beach

Faena expanded his brand to

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

with a $1 billion project to develop a six block waterfront property. Construction on the Miami Beach Faena District began in 2013. The project includes the restoration of the 1948 Saxony hotel, and an arts center, Faena Forum, by architect

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a re ...

and OMA and residences by Foster + Partners.

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

and Catherine Martin are also involved in the project as designers for the interior of the Faena Hotel Miami Beach. The district will be landscaped by Miami-based firm Raymond Jungles. The Faena House, an 18-story residential unit, is the project's first building scheduled for completion.

Personal life

Faena was married to Ximena Caminos, the couple having a son together. They separated in 2009. Faena resides in Miami, Buenos Aires, and Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Paradise Papers

On 5 November 2017, the

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsch ...

, a set of confidential

electronic document An electronic document is any electronic media content (other than computer programs or system files) that is intended to be used in either an electronic form or as printed output. Originally, any computer data were considered as something inter ...

s relating to

offshore investment Offshore investment is the keeping of money in a jurisdiction other than one's country of residence. Offshore jurisdictions are used to pay less tax in many countries by large and small-scale investors. Poorly regulated offshore domiciles have ser ...

, revealed that Faena was director and CEO of half a dozen

offshore companies The term "offshore company" or “offshore corporation” is used in at least two distinct and different ways. An offshore company may be a reference to: * a company, group or sometimes a division thereof, which engages in offshoring business pro ...

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

and

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

. Faena also appears with bank accounts in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, linked to different hotels and real estate projects in

Puerto Madero Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land ...

References

External links

Faena - Official Website

Faena - Creating Utopias
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faena, Alan Argentine fashion designers Argentine people of Arab descent Businesspeople from Buenos Aires 1963 births Living people People named in the Paradise Papers