Galeries Lafayette Haussmann

The Galeries Lafayette Haussmann is best identified by its immense neo-Byzantine dome, a structure of stained glass and steel rising forty-three meters above the central hall. Inaugurated in nineteen twelve, the building was the ambitious project of cousins Théophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn, who began in eighteen ninety-three as owners of a small haberdashery on the corner of rue La Fayette and rue de la Chaussée d’Antin. They transformed their growing business into a grand retail destination, commissioning architects and artists to create a space that would function as a luxury bazaar.