SANAA’s La Samaritaine to open in Paris
After fifteen years of renovation La Samaritaine is finally ready to meet the Parisian public. In 2005 the department store was shut down for safety reasons. The Tokyo-based architectural firm SANAA took on the project of restoring the old department store, plus a new 5-star 72 room hotel, 96 social housing units, offi








After fifteen years of renovation La Samaritaine is finally ready to meet the Parisian public. In 2005 the department store was shut down for safety reasons. The Tokyo-based architectural firm SANAA took on the project of restoring the old department store, plus a new 5-star 72 room hotel, 96 social housing units, offices and a nursery.
La Samaritaine is iconic and very well-known since its foundation: it emerged with a new architecture that skyrocketed a retail haven, aka the department store. Today, it embodies its historical 19th century roots while flaunting a contemporary light-filled glass atrium. This choice of material is a nod to the original architects Frantz Jourdain and Henri Sauvage. As for SANAA’s very own Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, they describe their touch “as a negotiation with the building's monumental scale and the strong border of the Rue Rivoli.” Its like the glass façade is flirting with the street and the passerbys, every time their reflection shows on the wavy front.
The completed La Samaritaine posed in front of Simón García’s lens. The space is expected to open by the end of May 2021, one year later than the original inaugural date. The reason behind the delay was that the disagreement of different heritage groups, hence court rulings that stopped work.
Opening right before summer is a great timing considering the flux visitors and tourists who will appreciate this remixed version of the department store plus the high-end hotel.
Evidently La Samaritaine is part of many tourists’ itinerary – and that’s because of its emblematic value and commercial attractions. LVMH takes over the complex by displaying more than 600 of his brands. Le Cheval Blanc, the high-end hotel, has a 30-meter-long swimming pool and a terrace overlooking the Seine, Centre Pompidou, and none other than the Eiffel tower.
- date publishedMay 27, 2021
- categoryArchitecture
- original sourceDesign Boom↗