Carmen Añón Feliú

Though she was born in Barcelona in 1931, Carmen Añón moved to Madrid in 1941, where she took training at the Castillo de Batres Landscape and Garden School. She soon specialized in the conservation and protection of historic gardens and cultural landscapes and has been a key figure in this field both in Spain and internationally. She was a member of Madrid City Council in 1979-1983, when she spearheaded the creation of the first Madrid inventory of gardens; she has been an active member of the Institute of Madrilenian Studies (within the CSIC scientific council), and in 1980-1997 she taught Garden History at the Madrid Polytechnic University School of Architecture, as well as being a guest lecturer at many other universities in Spain and abroad. She chaired the International Scientific Committee for Historic Gardens of the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and played a large role in the international meeting that drafted the pioneering Nara Document on Authenticity (1994), reframing the way in which heritage conservation is commonly conceived. She also led the International World Heritage Advisory Committee, evaluating many nominations for sites of great cultural value worldwide and playing a part in the inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List of region-wide or landscape sites, such as the Pilgrim Way of St James, the Palm Grove of Elche, Las Médulas, the Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza, or the Aranjuez Cultural Landscape.

As well as this important work in heritage stewardship and protection, she has restored countless historic gardens, always applying a special sensibility to integrating and recovering the cultural value and original spatial conception of each site. Her most notable projects include work in some of Spain’s most iconic gardens, such as those of Aranjuez, the El Capricho park in Alameda de Osuna, the gardens of La Granja de San Ildefonso, the Campo del Moro, or the gardens of the Zarzuela Palace, the cloister of the Royal Monastery of Santa María in Guadalupe, or the Moncloa Palace, among many others. She has also worked outside Spain in projects such as the restoration of the Ducal Gardens in Parma, Italy, or landscape restoration in Sintra, Portugal.

She has always advocated conserving historic gardens with a focus not so much on their constituent materials, always dynamic and changing, as on their spatial configuration, their harmony, and their beauty. From this perspective a garden is much more than an array of vegetation; it is the expression of the set of ideas determining its design and how it will evolve over time. Thus Carmen’s approach challenges the traditional conception of heritage conservation, normally focused on the mere preservation of “material authenticity,” for in a garden, alterations are acceptable and at times necessary, provided they help maintain the essential qualities defining the garden’s character. In this regard she was a pioneer in Spain in drawing up masterplans for historic gardens, such as the Retiro park in Madrid, not just detailing the condition of the ensemble and its immediate needs but also establishing how it should be maintained and conserved into the future.

Carmen Añón’s legacy, with her continual devotion to her trade, is immense. Her rigorous approach, the product of a well-structured method and of her skill at integrating aesthetic, historic, and functional values in each project, has left a deep imprint on the development of this discipline in Spain. Her work has allowed sites of huge heritage value to be restored as well as inspiring several generations of landscapers, including her own daughters, Mónica and Ana Luengo, both of whom have well-recognized track records in the field of landscaping and garden conservation.

In 2017 Carmen was honored with the National Award for Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Property in recognition of her contribution to the conservation of Spain’s landscape heritage; in 1995 she was given the Europa Nostra Award, in 2012 the Madrid Region Culture Award, and in 2024 the Madrid City Medal.