Nearly a whole generation has grown up without La Samaritaine, but finally, 16 years after it closed due to fire-safety concerns in 2005, Paris’s mythic department store is to begin reopening on May 28, subject to authorization from the government regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Transformed by a team of architects headed by Japanese firm SANAA and including Frenchman Édouard François, American designer Peter Marino and heritage specialist Jean-François Lagneau, the vast ensemble of buildings, which occupies two entire city blocks between the Seine and the Rue de Rivoli, is now a mixed-use complex. Piloted by owner LVMH, the $900 million operation comprises 215,278 square feet of retail space, 161,459 square feet of offices, a luxury hotel offering 26 rooms and 46 suites, 96 units of social housing and a kindergarten. If all goes to plan, the store, run by LVMH subsidiary DFS, will open first, on May 28, and the hotel, managed by LVMH subsidiary Cheval Blanc, a little later this year.
