From 17 May to 7 December 2025, the Radicepura Horticultural Park in Giarre (CT) is hosting the fifth edition of the Radicepura Garden Festival, the biennial international event dedicated to garden design and Mediterranean landscape architecture.

This year’s theme, “Chaos (and) Order in the Garden”, explores the creative tension between spontaneity and control, between nature that expands freely and the design that structures it. It is an invitation to reflect on how the landscape can become a space where order and disorder coexist, giving rise to new forms of aesthetic and functional balance.

Luce&Light collaborated on the lighting of five of the eight gardens in the competition, offering the designers lighting solutions tailored to their projects. The goal was to discreetly enhance the spaces while respecting the identity of each project and the relationship between light, vegetation and architecture.

The Rambunctious Garden: art and nature in motion

Inspired by abstract art, The Rambunctious Garden celebrates nature’s fluidity and irregularity. The paths are lit by Plin round 6.0/6.1/6.2 bollards, installed at different heights to modulate the light intensity between lush and colourful plants —between aromatic herbs, flowers, and thriving shrubs—accompanying nature without ever imposing on it.

Mira: an exploration of Mediterranean biodiversity

Mira is a wild garden that celebrates the biodiversity of the Mediterranean scrubland with 18 resilient native species, such as bay laurel, strawberry tree, hawthorn, myrtle, prickly pear, and broom.

A perforated white wall filters the view of the garden, creating a dialogue between chaos and order. The cut-outs and their captions are lit by white, wide-optic Pivot B 1.9 bollards, while corten Pivot B fixtures blend into the vegetation of the garden on the other side of the wall, providing discreet, functional lighting.

Il Miracolo di Quasimodo: contrasting life and death

Inspired by Specchio, a poem by Salvatore Quasimodo, this garden explores the dichotomy between life and death. The area representing life is illuminated by the soft light of Rio RGBW linear profiles, recessed into the ground and set to warm tones mixed with colour saturation to enhance the Mediterranean vegetation. In the area representing death, dry tree and suspended trunks with abstract shapes are highlighted by Ginko 2.0 with sharp optics and cool light (4000K), installed with ground stakes to create a dramatic effect.

Echoes: a journey into memory

The Echoes garden represents a symbolic journey through disjointed recollections. The paths, made of volcanic concrete and fragments of local porcelain, are enhanced by Ginko 3.0 fixtures and Reiko 1.0 outdoor projectors with wide, grazing beams, while the central and perimeter flower beds are illuminated by Reiko 2.0 devices. Vertical elements, such as trees, are emphasised by the light from Reiko 3.0 fixtures with narrow beams and shadow-effect filters, creating evocative focal points.

Giardino di Terra: nature and architecture in harmony

This garden blends architectural elements in raw earth with Mediterranean grasses. The rammed-earth columns are enhanced by ground-level Reiko 2.0 projectors with a grazing medium beam; the external paths are lit by Pivot B bollards, with one lighting body at the paths’ entrance and exit and two lighting bodies along the route.

Designing light in contexts such as this means engaging with the natural environment and the architectural vision that shapes it. Each lighting installation guides visitors unobtrusively, letting the materials, the landscape, and the designer’s intent take centre stage.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL.