Award winning architect Amanda Levete and her London based studio AL_A have just announced they will be redesigning one of Paris's iconic department stores; Galeries Lafayette is one of the French capital's retail landmarks.
The architects have been selected, following a competition among leading international firms, to work on the 40,000 sq m 'Cupola' building of Galerie Lafayette's flagship store on Boulevard Haussman. Founded in Paris in 1893 by Théophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn, the store moved into its current premises in 1912. It glass dome and atrium were famous, becoming a synonym for luxury retail.
The renovation project aims to place architecture at its heart, transforming the existing historical building into a 'new shopping experience'. AL_A was selected for its bold design that blends 'tradition and modernity.' Of course Levete is no stranger to cutting edge retail design, her portfolio including the Selfridges store in Birmingham.
'This store is an institution that has a special place in the life and identity of the city of Paris,' says Levete. 'Our commission is a fantastic opportunity to build on tradition to make a living contribution to the future of Galeries Lafayette and the cultural life of Paris. The exquisite craftsmanship of the original building and its location in the heart of Haussmann's city are both elements we seek to celebrate as we move forward.'
The world famous store on Boulevard Haussmann is the second most visited tourist attraction in Paris, after the Eiffel Tower.
Works are expected to start on site in 2017.
Levete is no stranger to cutting edge retail design; her portfolio includes the futuristic Selfridges store in Birmingham
INFORMATION
For more information on AL_A visit the website
-
Inside Valentino’s glamorous new Sloane Street store, inspired by the art of haute coutureThe latest in Valentino’s ‘The New Maison’ store concept opens on London’s Sloane Street this week, offering an enveloping marble and carpet-clad space of ‘intimacy and uniqueness’
-
Aesop’s Salone del Mobile 2024 installations in Milan are multisensory experiencesAesop has partnered with Salone del Mobile to launch a series of installations across Milan, tapping into sight, touch, taste, and scent
-
Dial into the Boring Phone and more smartphone alternativesFrom the deliberately dull new Boring Phone to Honor’s latest hook-up with Porsche, a host of new devices that do the phone thing slightly differently
-
Damien Hirst takes over Château La CosteDamien Hirst’s ‘The Light That Shines’ at Château La Coste includes new and existing work, and takes over the entire 500-acre estate in Provence
-
Tia-Thuy Nguyen encases Chateau La Coste oak tree in tonne of stainless steel stripsTia-Thuy Nguyen’s ‘Flower of Life’ lives in the grounds of sculpture park and organic winery Château La Coste in France
-
Paris art exhibitions: a guide to exhibitions this weekendAs Emily in Paris fever puts the city of love at the centre of the cultural map, stay-up-to-date with our guide to the best Paris art exhibitions
-
Cyprien Gaillard on chaos, reorder and excavating a Paris in fluxWe interviewed French artist Cyprien Gaillard ahead of his major two-part show, ‘Humpty \ Dumpty’ at Palais de Tokyo and Lafayette Anticipations (until 8 January 2023). Through abandoned clocks, love locks and asbestos, he dissects the human obsession with structural restoration
-
Remembering Pierre Soulages (1919-2022), a pioneer of post-war abstractionPierre Soulages, the pioneering French printmaker, sculptor and ‘painter of black’, has died aged 102
-
Reclaim the Earth, urge artists at Paris’ Palais de TokyoWe discover the group exhibition ‘Reclaim the Earth’, a wake-up call for humans to reconsider our relationship with the planet (until 4 September 2022)
-
Jason Boyd Kinsella’s curious portraits dissect the architecture of humanBased on the Myers-Briggs personality test, Jason Boyd Kinsella’s new portrait series, on show at Perrotin in Paris, examines the building blocks of human existence
-
Kader Attia dissects multiculturalism, colonialism and capitalism in Doha showKader Attia addresses postcolonial trauma and the need for psychiatric repair in a new show, ‘On Silence', at Doha's Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art
