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La Samaritaine is reopening in Paris; this legendary grand magasin, department store, has been returned to its former glory through the renovation and expansion project by the Pritzker Prize winners Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese firm, Sanaa

Originally opened in 1870 by the husband and wife pair, Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jaÿ, a tiny shop selling coffee on the corner of Rue de la Monnaie and Pont Neuf, La Samaritaine soon began its ascent and came to forever revolutionize traditional distribution. First, they expanded into adjacent shops, then in 1910 they purchased an Art Nouveau building designed by Frantz Jourdain, and in 1928, bought another Art Deco style building designed by Henri Sauvage. The monumental batiment was intended to create a unique experience for customers and it did exactly that, letting them stroll freely through the corridors of a

Owner: LVMH Management and operator: DFS Architectural renovation: SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa) Historical monument architect: Jean-François Lagneau and Lagneau Architectes Interior design: Yabu Pushelberg (interiors of the Pont Neuf Building), Agence de création Malherbe Paris (Beauty Area), Studio Ciguë (urban spaces of the Rivoli Building), Atelieramo (The Apartment) Furnishings: on design by the architects Hotel decoration and design: Peter Marino and OAL, Maison Edouard François Social housing and creche: François Brugel Architectes Associés

Author: Antonella Mazzola Photo credits: Pierre-Olivier Deschamps, Takashi Homma, Vladimir Vasilev full-fledged city of commerce. The large-scale project, commissioned to the Japanese firm Sanaa, entailed the total renovation of the buildings making up the complex and then converting them. The project’s raison d’etre was diversity in every sense: in terms of functions, architectural forms, and construction methods, as well as social and intergenerational diversity. It creates a unique, memorable shopping experience that is modern and fitting new times. The architects maintained and enhanced the most distinctive details of its historical origins, making a material connection between its history and modern times through the addition of a new building on Rue de Rivoli, standing out with an undulating, translucent curtain wall, reflecting the delicate ornamentation of Paris between its folds. And through the 343 silk-screened glass panels making it up, it concedes a view of the life happening within. The 70,000 square meter structure holds 600 fashion and beauty brands, a spa, 12 restaurants, exclusive concept bars, a day-care center, 96 public housing units managed by Paris Habitat,

and art spaces. Starting from next September, it will also include the Cheval Blanc Paris, its first 5-star urban hotel. On the Pont Neuf side of the grand magasin, the iconic Art Nouveau facade was meticulously restored with the stunning glass roof and Eiffel-tower structure. The Peacock Fresco, 3.5 meters high and 115 meters long, designed by the modernist Francis Jourdain, again adorns the lower part of the glass

roof at the top of the internal staircase that connects the building’s seven floors. To restore the magnificence of this grand staircase, the railing was renovated with particular attention to the 16,000 gold leaves, the Art Nouveau ceramics below the landings and the 270 original oak steps. The design of the sophisticated, luxurious interior was commissioned to the Canadian firm Yabu Pushelberg. The designers highlighted the Eiffel structure and its light-filled quality, fostering the dialogue between the historical pre-existing structures and their contemporary approach on all floors of the Pont Neuf building, with the exception of that for beauty products. The atrium of the Glass Pavilion is the quintessence of a vast open structure; each floor has an even more intimate

atmosphere, reinforcing the feeling of taking a stroll, underscoring the project’s very Parisian spirit. The building next to the Glass Pavilion, Les Coulisses, carries visitors entering La Samaritaine from the Seine side, evoking the aesthetics of the Art Nouveau iron structure with furniture carved in soft and dark metal. Opposite Les Coulisses, on the other side of the large atrium, is a modern loggia, distinctive for its glass colonnade. Elegant display stands and columns introduce spatial modularity, and their Art Deco motif echoes the heritage of the surroundings. The concept of the columns is taken back up at the perimeter of the building, which holds the brand spaces. Each boutique entrance is bound by a bare stone frame that conveys the impression of sophisticated simplicity and gives each brand the ability to define their space with their own identity.