Fernando Caruncho illuminates the Palais-Royal garden
On Tuesday, December 3rd, the philosopher-gardener Fernando Caruncho took over Paris’ famous Palais-Royal gardens with “La Nuit de Spirite”. This lighting project was an initiative of the Palais-Royal Committee and supported by France’s Cultural Minister Franck Riester and the Centre des monuments nationaux. Inspired by Théophile Gautier’s novel “Spirite”, and driven by the desire to “restore the memory of this place of reverie and splendor”, Caruncho has installed more than 200 handmade copper lanterns as well as a device recreating a luminous carpet where the light is playfully reflected as if in a dance with the garden surrounding it. Several personalities from the worlds of art and design came together to discover this illuminated meditation such as architect Charles Zana, Pascale Mussard, Jacques Grange, Pierre Hardy, Betony Vernon and Linda Pinto. Since 1979, Caruncho has created more than 160 projects, has collaborated with architects such as Renzo Piano, Peter Pennoyer and Ricardo Legorreta and he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Society of Garden Designers in 2017. Together with his two sons Pedro and Fernando, they form the Caruncho Garden & Architecture studio. In parallel with their architectural and landscape practice, this year, they are launching a handmade collection of copper and bronze lanterns “Gardens of Light”, the same lanterns that visitors were able to discover on December 3rd in the heart of the Palais-Royal garden… The event was organized with the support of Delvaux and Didier Ludot (two of the most iconic Palais-Royal boutiques), as well as Champagne Piper-Heidsieck.
