The new Galeries Lafayette has been designed so that its spaces constantly answer this simple question:What in the 21st century contributes to the uniqueness of a customer's experience in department stores?The first specificity of the building is its relationship with the city;it invites you to enter it,as you approach it on the street.In this sense,the rehabilitation project becomes an open space that is fully part of the urbanity.The ground floor is essentially the continuity of the(uninterrupted)space of the city,while the new built volume hosts vast commercial platforms with a steel and mixed steel-concrete framework that allows for large spans.With the establishment of spaces for these extensive,functional,and efficient platforms,the sales areas can be organized with all the rationality necessary for the efficiency required by a large shop.These multipurpose"mega-floors"reveal a simplification that de facto allows all types of events to take place within the building.Vertical circulation is key to the function of this building.The time of ascent to the floors is time apart,cut off from other activities,thanks to the large escalators along an interior window.
展开▼
