Delightfully transparent

Through the eyes of Lucette de Rugy, a wall becomes a canvas as she works from her palette of light. Buildings are transformed, and if you’re driving through Beverly Hills this holiday season, you might see her fairies, teddy bears and toy soldiers emerge from darkness on the face of City Hall.

Built in 1932, the building is a local landmark. Its eight-story tower is said to symbolize commerce, while the base of the building represents government. From now through Dec. 26, however, the building will symbolize the holiday season.

Combining art and technology, four high-powered projectors loaded with transparencies 7 inches square turn the face of the building into a giant screen beginning at 5 p.m. daily. At 8 p.m. the transparencies are changed, creating a different mural of light.

The colors are rich and bold, clearly defined against the night sky. Images have been sized precisely to fit details of the building as they are projected beyond the symmetrical alignment of palm trees, fountains and streetlights lining the entrance. From a distance, it’s difficult to tell what is projected and what is real. The lights near the arched entrance are made of light. The windows are real, and so is the price the city pays for the four illuminations: about $195,000 for this year’s show.

Since 1996, De Rugy, founder of Paris-based ArtLumiere, has transformed 30 buildings in eight countries with illumination art. She has turned the visitors center at New York’s Central Park into a gingerbread house and has lighted City Hall in Washington, D.C., with a holiday motif.

“I try to respect the architecture of the building,” she says. “Then I integrate the message, the purpose, whatever it is. In this case it’s the holiday season.”

This is De Rugy’s second project involving Beverly Hills City Hall. Last August she created a Cirque du Soleil motif. When Mayor Thomas Levyn saw it, he approached her about a holiday presentation.

“It’s a wonderful building,” De Rugy says. “It’s very elegant. The first time I saw it, I wanted to do something with it.” She says illumination art is finding applications around the world as light is used to draw attention, sometimes to beauty overlooked.

“In everyday life, you come across so many places and you mostly don’t pay attention to them,” she says. “Suddenly, with this enhancement, you discover or rediscover a wonderful building.”

Light can bring life to whole communities, she says. “Light is life. What excites me the most is to completely transform a place. It’s a very interesting way to revitalize some downtown areas.”

Its primary function in Beverly Hills is to create a festive mood for the holidays, and the images have been a big draw, according to the person probably most acquainted with them. Marcia Jones is a special events security guard whose job is to oversee the grounds in front of the building. Every once in a while, she says, she’ll have to stop people from making shadow puppets with their hands, but mostly what she does is answer questions.

“People want to know if the building’s painted,” she says. “A lot of them will take pictures of it.” Jones goes home when the projectors are turned off at midnight. Come morning, it’s business as usual until dark, when, as in a child’s dreams, fairies, teddy bears and toy soldiers return.

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Illuminated City Hall

Where: 455 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills

When: 5 p.m.-midnight, through Friday

Info: (310) 285-2450

Duane Noriyuki can be contacted at duane.noriyuki@latimes.com.