Ambling along the streets of Paris, I can’t tell you the joy of coming face-to-face with the curving glass facade of department store Samaritaine. Having enjoyed the work of Japanese architecture studio SANAA in the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, it was delightful to realise that this is also their work, completed in 2020. The size and scale of the building directly matches the surrounding buildings, all of which are that classic Haussmann size – bigger than a house, smaller than a skyscraper. These singular proportions are what make Paris Paris. At the same size, Samaritaine stands out for its materiality – undulating glass waves that create an opacity to the interiors while matching the size of the fenestrations of the buildings opposite, reflected as ghostly apparitions in the glass. Inside, a glass atrium contains a mini forest, softening the whole building and its contents.
Interestingly, this not my first experience of delighting in a glass facade in Paris. Designed by Jean Nouvel, the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in the Raspail also has a stunning glass facade, which presents as a gridded wall of glass to the street, behind which both the interiors and garden are visible as you walk past. I remember visiting the building in the mid-2000s and finding that mix of hard modern glass and soft green garden peeking from behind a delicious contrast.
I was sorry to hear that the Fondation Cartier will be moving to a new building on the Rue de Rivoli at the end of 2025. Jean Nouvel is redesigning the interiors of this one, a Haussmannian building just near the Louvre and while I’m sure it will be fantastic, I do hope the Jean Nouvel building in the Raspail continues to have a life.
Famous glass buildings in Paris are, of course, nothing new. Where the British had the Crystal Palace, the Parisians had Le Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts, but theirs actually survived rather than being burnt down. Designed for the Grand Exposition in 1900 and with a main space of almost 240 metres, this remarkable structure is still used for a variety of events including the fencing and taekwondo during the Paris Olympics 2024.
Another famous glass building at a much smaller scale in Paris is the Maison de Verre, a project built between 1928 and 1931 in the early modern style by designer Pierre Chareau, architect Bernard Bijvoet and metalworker Louis Dalbet. The external form is defined by glass block walls, while interior walls are also made with glass or metal or a combination. While the glass block went through a time of unpopularity, like the breeze block, I have a feeling it is back.
But probably the most famous glass building, or part of a building, in Paris, is the array of glass pyramids of the Louvre. Protruding out of the ground or inverted going into it, each of the five pyramids acts as either entry or skylight depending on where it is placed. Designed by Chinese-American architect IM Pei, the addition to what is one of the most important historic buildings in Paris, the royal palace, was hugely controversial at the time, commissioned by President Francois Mitterrand and completed in 1989.
IM Pei said of the pyramids: “Formally, it is the most compatible with the architecture of the louvre… it is also one of the most structurally stable of forms, which assures its transparency, as it is constructed of glass and steel, it signifies a break with the architectural traditions of the past. It is a work of our time.” While at the time they were as loved and loathed as the Eiffel Tower once was, I think now they are pretty much universally considered as success – and a symbol of modern Paris.
Completed more recently, there are also new buildings in Paris that make use of glass. Freshly open is the enormous Villejuif-Gustavo Rossy metro station by Dominique Perrault Architecture, which is a simple pavilion shape on the surface but then continues in monumental glass, a 70-metres diameter structure dug into the ground.
There’s also SANAA’s latest design for fashion brand Alaïa at 15 Rue Du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which is an interior made of softly curving transparent tubular rooms with a soft pink tinge.
What is it about glass that makes for such compelling buildings? Perhaps it is the transparency that allows other parts of the architecture or landscape to be seen. Maybe it is the technology of glass – spans like this are still relatively new, at least in architectural terms. Or maybe it’s the way it reflects and bends light at different times of day. There’s always a new view, a new vision, a new reality to discover.