Tristan Claret-Trentelivres is a former student of HEN, a senior civil servant and a teacher at “Prep’ENA” at I-ENS in Paris.
The old charm. This stereotypical expression, used to praise the property to potential buyers, says a lot, if we look carefully, about a reality that is unanimously felt, but which many of our contemporaries still find uncomfortable to accept. It does betray a modest but general consensus about the aesthetic superiority of the past over the present, which is expressed particularly starkly in real estate prices, which are often a good indicator of our collective hypocrisy. Gradually, and paradoxically, in an age that does not question traditionalism at all, we have actually become accustomed to the idea that in terms of architecture and, in general, urban planning and decoration, not only the ancient is aesthetically superior to the modern, but also the latter; almost always ugly, at best tasteless
Source: Le Figaro
