Brazilian Artist Roberto Burle Marx’s Most Mesmerizing Gardens
He was a painter and designed tapestries, costumes, and jewelry as well. But Roberto Burle Marx—a true Renaissance man, visionary, and artist—is most remembered today for his pioneering landscape designs. Why is this? Before the São Paulo native began working, South American gardens largely imitated European models, both in terms of their organization and use of plants. Burle Marx, however, was interested in asymmetrical designs and the inclusion of local, tropical species.
Lush, graphically bold, and revolutionizing grounds soon followed. And now, with the Rio Olympics in full swing, his designs have never been more relevant. So below, we’ve gathered 12 of his most beautiful landscaped works. However, if you can’t make it to Rio de Janeiro and beyond, consider swinging by New York’s Jewish Museum, where his retrospective is currently on display.
The exhibition is on view through September 18, and will then travel to Berlin’s Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, and fittingly, to the Museu de Arte do Rio.
Photo: Alamy1/12Copacabana promenade, Rio de Janeiro
Perhaps Burle Marx’s most iconic work, this walkway uses black-and-white Portuguese pavement for its graphic and oscillating design, an original feature he amplified with his redesign. But even if you haven’t been to his Copacabana Beach composition since its 1970 construction, Olympics viewers are getting frequent exposure to its memorable aesthetic, thanks to NBC’s Rio 2016 coverage.
Photo: Tyba / Courtesy of The Jewish Museum2/12Sítio Roberto Burle Marx, Rio de Janeiro
Burle Marx’s former home and studio is open to the public. While it’s fascinating to see how the artist lived and worked (the property contains a farmhouse and a 17th-centuray chapel, too), its expansive garden grounds are still unsurprisingly a highlight.
Photo: Cesar Barreto / Courtesy of The Jewish Museum3/12Ministry of Education and Health, Rio de Janeiro
In 1938, Burle Marx completed the landscaped elements for this governmental building, including its roof garden, pictured here.
Photo: Getty Images4/12Ministry of the Army, Brasília
The Ministry’s plan is almost reminiscent of the U.S. Pentagon, but its water garden with concrete forms is what truly sets it apart from its early-’70s—and subsequent—peers.
Photo: Alamy5/12Parque del Este, Caracas, Venezuela
The park, which is also known as Parque Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda, contains a lake, grass field, forested area, and tile work.
