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No, the after war years are not limited to Formica, flared skirts and washing powder with free gifts inside. The time of the “Plaisirs de France” magazine was also, and especially, a bold, carefree atmosphere, fertilising the fields of art and industry and fostering the many brilliant minds of the time: Le Corbusier, Perriand, Prouvé, Calder, Miro and more. Nowadays, to enjoy the aesthetics of the mid-fifties other than going back to watch the first season of “Mad Men”, you book a room at the Résidence, the hotel restored, but not spoiled, by Franz Potisek. Reviving the modernist spirit of his predecessor Jacques-André Dunoyer de Segonzac in 1954, he goes for daring colours like coral reds, assertive greens and Curacao blue. He takes on retro graphics and designs exclusive prints for the linen curtains. He puts a polychrome sofa by Kwok Hoï Chan from Steiner next to the bold oval windows in the lounge, places a simple sofa opposite the monumentally poetic tapestry by Jean Lurçat. The corridors leading to the bedrooms are similar to those in Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse and each object, lamp, painting, shelf or armchair, is homage to the architect-designers of the period. And yet nothing here is stale: all the comforts of the 21st century are present, with a special mention for the lit cornices above the bed. With its neighbours, the (at last) listed 1994 buildings by the underestimated dandy Fernand Pouillon, the Résidence invites us cheerfully back to the future.