Courchevel is the name of a ski area locate in the Savoie region of the French Alps, and part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski area in the world. The original resort was planned during the Second World War with a study in 1942 by the Vichy regime and in a doctorate by the town planner Laurent Chappis. Chappis was a natural choice to direct the development of the resort in the immediate post war years. Courchevel 1850 was significant as it was the first resort in France to be constructed from scratch rather than based around an existing village. It therefore served as an open air laboratory of ideas.