HOTEL FOCH, its history

It may not look be the most glamorous place in the city, but it is an exceptional building for several reasons, including its spectacular style of Modernism…

Modernism: the windows face south to capture the light and the views over the city, and the hotel has a roof terrace, which was very rare at the time. The architect Raphaël Oudeville was born in the Vosges in 1896 and died in Nancy on 3rd October 1949. He is best known for the Cité Senn or Cité Oudeville in Villers-les-Nancy, built in 1929. On the ground floor of the hotel, an art deco stained glass window by Georges Bassinot.
Raphaël Oudeville is one of Nancy’s most renowned modernist architects. He took over the practice of Lucien Weissenburger, the city’s Art Nouveau architect.

The interior also features a Prouvé-inspired aluminium banister.

Modernism was an architectural movement of the 1920s and 1930s. It was undoubtedly the greatest revolution in the history of architecture. The Hôtel Foch was built as an extension to the Brasserie des 2 Hémisphères on Place Thiers, owned by Mr Vidalenc. The plans for the building date from 1932, and the construction work seems to have been completed at the end of 1933.