La Samaritaine | SANAA

A nostalgic memory of the inhabitants who grew up with this iconic building set in the heart of Paris on the border of the bubbling right bank and the bourgeois left bank. When Ernest Cognacq moved there in 1870–with his wife Marie-Louise Jaÿ joining shortly after–he immediately understood the geographical advantage. They started with a stall at the corner of rue de la Monnaie and rue du Pont-Neuf and gradually extended into adjoining shops. In 1910, the Art Nouveau building by Frantz Jourdain was inaugurated. With ambitious volumes, metal structure and elaborate ornamentation it was a masterpiece of its style. 1928 saw the addition of an Art Deco building designed by Henri Sauvage. Both architectural feats that clearly show the couple’s avant-garde vision.

Samaritaine quickly became the go-to place to buy the trendiest dresses, dine at the aptly named Le Toupary or simply to see and be seen. In 2005, for safety reasons, Samaritaine had to close its doors. The LVMH group, its new owner, then decided to launch an ambitious renovation as part oftheParisianneighborhood’stransforma- tion into a green heart of the capital, partly
pedestrianized, and featuring a space for art with the opening of many galleries. The Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings on the rue de Rivoli side are completely restored, while a new modern building by the Japanese architectural agency Sanaa has been added. Inside, next to a Cheval Blanc hotel, are offices, social housing and a nursery; the rebirth of the legendary Parisian Samaritaine department store whose 20,000 m2 (215 000 sq ft) have been entrusted to the DFS group. Far from a covered space, Samaritaine is bathed in natural light filtering through from several points: the iconic glass roof of the Art Nou- veau building (now called Pont-Neuf), the original breakthrough bay windows in the Eiffel structure as well as two new skylights designed by the Sanaa agency.

Inside, the spaces echo the architectural principle, both rooted in history and turned towards the future. On the Pont-Neuf side a chic and refined aesthetic, terrazzo floor, ironwork repainted in gray with Art Deco and Art Nouveau details that welcome the biggest names in luxury. On the Rivoli side: industrial-style modernity with a more urbanfeel.

The signatures

Sanaa for the renovation of existing structures and the new building

Founded in 1995 and awarded the presti- gious Pritzker Prize in 2010, the Japanese agency Sanaa (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates), has taken on several projects in Japan, including the iconic Christian Dior store in Ginza, Tokyo. In France, they also designed the Institute of Modern Art in Valence and the Louvre-Lens Museum. Their signature? Clean, bright and fluid architecture, thought through to the smal- lest detail. For Samaritaine, they completely renovated the Art Nouveau building (now called Pont-Neuf), created patios to bring in skylights and imagined a new structure whose undulating glass façade weaves a real dialogue between past and present in a subtle game of reflections with the buil- dings opposite.

Yabu Pushelberg designed the interior of the Pont-Neuf building

Based in Toronto and New York, the Cana- dian studio has a substantial background in experiential locations and interiors of department stores. Barneys in New York and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong. At Samaritaine, they highlighted the Eiffel structure and its luminosity while bringing their warm, refined style to all floors of the Pont-Neuf building outside the beauty floor: a dialogue between the historic façade and their contemporary approach. Visitors are invited to an intimate, friendly shopping experience, full of surprises and discove- ries in the form of a chic Parisian stroll.

In terms of materials, Yabu Pushelberg has chosen noble materials such as this ter- razzo, a nod to Parisian cobblestones.
The agency also designed the furniture and rugs tastefully coordinated with bronze and touches of emblematic gray-blue from the original decor.

Hubert de Malherbe for the beauty area

A specialist in commercial design, the French architect has a perfect mastery of luxury spaces since designing the Dior Beauty boutiques, Fenty pop-up stores and the first Hennessy bar in Shanghai, among others. For Samaritaine, he designed the basement of the 3,200 m2 beauty area–the largest in Europe–which extends between the Pont-Neuf building and the one on the Rivoli side. Hubert de Malherbe designed a city stroll inspired by Paris and the buil- ding’s Art Nouveau past, like the parquet, personalized mosaics on the floor, gilded brass structures reminiscent of floral green- houses as well as nods to the Eiffel structure.

ciguë for the urban spaces of the Rivoli building

Author of Aesop, Isabel Marant and Veja boutiques, the French agency has imagined an avant-garde decor echoing the moder- nity of the concept store and streetwear offered on the Rivoli side. In the new glass setting, three floors are meant to be in tune with the times to appeal to Millennials. ciguë illustrated its approach, both arti- sanal and radical, using raw or recycled materials. A nod to Paris–Morris column- style structures, references to Haussman- nian interiors and façades–usher the city into the store.

Atelieramo for the apartment

Interior designers Chloé Nègre, Karine Chahin and Virginie de Graveron got to know each other at India Mahdavi. Coming back together for Samaritaine, the trio designed the spaces of the Apartment and the two private lounges dedicated to jewelry. Their inspiration? The motley style of Parisian apartments that mix classic French furniture and more contemporary codes like this colored leopard and these repurposed tailor’s tables. They also found some of the store’s furniture, including an 18th century wrought iron bed transfor- med into a bench on the 4th floor.

5 architectural elements

The glass roof and its Eiffel structure

Supported by a very visual metal frame, this spectacular architectural element from 1907 required particular care in its resto- ration. After having been modified, even hidden over time, the rectangular glazed roof with a footprint of 37 by 20 meters regains its original shape and colors chosen by Francis Jourdain. The only modern concession is electrochromic glass which tints according to brightness.

The peacock fresco

At 3.5 meters high and 115 meters long, the painting surrounding the glass roof is considered one of the masterpieces of Art Nouveau. Signed by Francis Jourdain, the

2 architect’s son, the 452mq canvas has been restored and has regained its former colors and brilliance.

Waves of glass

As the new face of Samaritaine, the Rivo- li-side building, designed by Japanese architects of the Sanaa agency, embodies the modernity, fluidity and poetry of the department store. Finely executed, the façade takes on an irregular wavy shape, both refined and vibrant.

A total of 343 screen-printed glass panels measure 2.7 by 3.5 meters and weighing 600 to 1250 kg seem to be perfectly balanced.

The Art Nouveau façade

At the beginning of the 20th century, Frantz Jourdain, a lover of modernism, used a metal framework in the shop to save space and light. To soften the structure, enameled Volvic lava decorations were designed by his son Francis Jourdain and poster designer Eugène Grasset in order to attract customers. During the department store’s renovation, 675 linear meters were renovated, including more than 42 m2 reconstituted thanks to the iconographic archives.

The grand staircase

Both functional and aesthetic, this central part of the Pont-Neuf building is one of the emblems of Samaritaine’s history. To res- tore the grandeur of this legendary stair- case, the railing has been renovated with particular care given to the 16,000 gold leaves, the Art Nouveau ceramic under the landings as well as the 270 original oak steps.

CREDITS
Architect: SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa)
Operations architect: SRA Architectes
Hotel decoration and design: Peter Marino and OAL, Maison Edouard François
Retail interiors: Yabu Pushelberg, Agence de création Malherbe Paris, Studio Ciguë
Historical monument architect: Jean-François Lagneau and Lagneau Architectes
Social housing and creche: François Brugel Architectes Associés
Executive project management: Egis
General contractor: Vinci Construction France
Specialist contractors: Frener & Reifer, SMB-CCS, Viry, Socra, AOF and Atelier Bouvier

PHOTOGRAPHY
Pierre-Olivier Deschamps
Takashi Homma
Vladimir Vasilev