La Samaritaine

La Samaritaine stands in Paris, in the first arrondissement, at the corner of Rue du Pont-Neuf and Rue de la Monnaie. Its Art Nouveau skin combines steel, glass, and ceramic panels. Frantz Jourdain reshaped its first interior and designed a second building for the growing department store. Henri Sauvage later helped extend the buildings towards the Seine. Glass-tile floors, frescoes, and iron staircases carry ornament through the practical interior.

Ernest Cognacq founded the business and managed it with his wife, Marie-Louise Jaÿ, as expansion continued. Prefabricated elements accelerated construction of the second building. Changing architectural tastes prompted later expansion with more contemporary forms. Fire-safety concerns eventually led to closure before extensive renovation changed its role. The reopened complex combines a Cheval Blanc hotel, a nursery, offices, and social housing. Its layout places impulse items on the street floor and demand items above. Steel, glass, ceramic panels, and ironwork hold the building’s history together.