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El Retiro's Palacio de Cristal is transformed by Andrea Canepa's ‘Fardo’ installation
Palacio de Cristal is exhibiting Andrea Canepa's Fardo during its restoration until 2027.
The Palacio de Cristal in El Retiro Park, one of Madrid’s architectural emblems and the work of Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, is unveiling a striking artistic intervention this January as its restoration, scheduled to last until 2027, progresses.
The Peruvian artist Andrea Canepa, in collaboration with the Museo Reina Sofía, has covered the building with ‘Fardo’, an installation that wraps the structure in a canvas inspired by the funerary bundles of the pre-Columbian Paracas culture in southern Peru.
Canepa’s design combines fabric mosaics with pre-Hispanic motifs and solid colours, creating a visual effect that evolves as visitors walk around the Palace. Each panel works like a frame, generating a dynamic sequence of textiles that cover and uncover the building.
This intervention turns the Palacio de Cristal into a contemporary praxinoscope, where art and architecture enter into dialogue during the works. ‘Fardo’ is the second work to cover the Palace during its restoration process, following Miguel Ángel Tornero’s ‘Gran Friso’, exhibited in 2025.