Roberto Burle Marx was a renowned Brazilian landscape architect born in 1909. He is renowned for introducing modernist landscape architecture to Brazil and designing over 2,000 gardens worldwide that featured native plants in innovative designs. Some of his most famous works include the Copacabana Beach promenade in Rio de Janeiro, Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo, and gardens in Brasilia, Venezuela, and Malaysia. Burle Marx was a true polymath with interests in music, painting, sculpture and more that influenced his naturalistic yet abstract landscape designs.

1. SUBMITTED BY : NIKITA B. LONDHE
CLASS : T.Y. BATCH : B
YEAR : 2017-18 SUBJECT :LA-III

2. LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECT
Born August 4,
1909
São Paulo,
Brazil
Died June 4,
1994 (aged 84
)
Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
Nationality Brazilian
Occupation Landscape
architect
Known for Designing
gardens and
public spaces
Parent(s) Cecilia Burle,
Wilhelm Marx
ROBERTO BURLE
MARX
(August 4, 1909 – June
4, 1994) was a
Brazilian landscape
architect (as well as a
painter, print maker,
ecologist, naturalist, artist
and musician) whose
designs of parks and
gardens made him world
famous.
He is accredited with having
introduced modernist landscap
e architecture to Brazil.
He was known as a modern
nature artist and a public urban
space designer.
His work had a great
influence on tropical
garden design in the 20th
century.
 Water gardens were a
popular theme in his work. He
was deftly able to transfer
traditional artistic expressions
such as graphic
design, tapestry and folk
art into his landscape designs
He was one of the first
people to call for the
conservation of
Brazil's rainforests. More than
50 plants bear his name

3. Burle Marx's artistic style was avant-grade and modern.
Much of his work has a sense of timelessness and perfection. He explored an anti-
mimitec and skeptical aesthetic developed from modernism with a distinctly Brazilian
style.
His designs were also influenced by cubism and abstractionism. Another strong
influence was Brazilian folk art.
His aesthetics were often nature based, for example, never mixing flower colours,
utilisation of big groups of the same specimen, using native plants and making a rocky
field into a relaxing garden.
 Burle Marx had a great skill in utilising the sculptural form of plants. He also made
clever use of enormous scale, lighting and reflection particularly in his use of water.
Burle Marx was able to extend the architecture of a building into the garden.
He preferred to work on public spaces because, in his words, they are able to
provide dignity for the masses.
PHILISOPHY

4. Marx's work "can be summarized in four general design concepts—the use
of native tropical vegetation as a structural element of design, the rupture of
symmetrical patterns in the conception of open spaces, the colorful treatment
of pavements, and the use of free forms in water features" (Vaccarino 2000,
p. 17). This approach is exemplified by the Copacabana Beach promenade,
where native sea breeze resistant trees and palms appear in groupings
along Avenida Atlantica. These groupings punctuate Portuguese stone
mosaics which form a giant abstract painting where no section along the
promenade is the same. This "painting" is viewed from the balconies of
hotels, and offers an ever changing view for those driving along the beach.
The mosaics continue the entire two and a half-mile distance of the beach.
The water feature, in this case, is of course the ocean and beach, which is
bordered by a 30-foot wide continuous scallop patterned mosaic walk
(Eliovson 1991; Montero 2001). Copacabana Beach is "the most famous in
Brazil" (Eliovson 1991 p. 103).
CONCEPT

5. He was truly a polymath,” said William
Howard Adams, the chief curator of a
Burle Marx exhibition presented at the
Museum of Modern Art in 1991. “But
the thing about him that really stands
out is that he regarded landscape
design as an equal partner with
architecture, not as a backdrop or
decoration, and elevated it to that
level.”
One of the most creative minds
of our the 20th century, Burle Marx
was ahead of his time and
innovative in using native Brazilian
species in his creations.
Today, his style is synonymous
with Brazilian landscape
architecture.
Incredibly productive, he
designed more than 2,000 gardens
throughout his lifetime.
You can find his work in 20
countries, including the United
States, France, Germany,
Argentina, Venezuela, and Peru.

6. 8 FACTS ABOUT BURLE MARX
FACT 1: He was also a singer Burle Marx was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in
1909. His mother, Cecilia Burle, was a pianist who promoted local music
events that allowed her son to be in contact with music from a very early
age. As you will see in the next topic, he took singing lessons in Germany
and strongly considered studying music.
FACT 2: He had training in painting, not architecture, most of you probably
know this fact already. When Burle Marx was 19, he moved with his family
to Germany (for eye treatment), where he took painting and singing
lessons. One year later, back in Brazil, he began studying architecture, but
then changed to painting — although he first considered studying music.
He just could not make up his mind! WATCH: The Artistic Patterns of
Roberto Burle Marx

7. FACT 3: He was related to Karl Marx For those of you wondering about his
surname, yes, he was indeed related to German philosopher and politician
Karl Marx, a cousin of Burle Marx’s grandfather.
FACT 4: He discovered the beauty of tropical plants … in Germany! His first
meaningful contact with Brazilian flora was actually at the Botanical Garden
of Dahlem in Berlin. For the period of time Burle Marx and his family lived in
Germany (1928-1929), he used to visit the garden quite often and to
observe the species carefully.
Roberto Burle Marx had a unique understanding of tropical plants. Image:
Farmhouse and chapel gardens in Barra de Guaratiba where Burle Marx died
in 1994. Credit: BY-SA 3.0 by Halley Pacheco de Oliveira

8. FACT 5: He was a neighbor of architect Lucio Costa While living in Rio de Janeiro,
Burle Marx was a neighbor of renowned architect Lucio Costa (who designed
Brasilia’s master plan with oscar Niemeyer). In fact, Burle Marx’s first garden design
ever was for a residential project by Lucio Costa, in 1932. This collaboration
contributed greatly to his professional recognition.
FACT 6: He discovered new plant species (some even take his name) Fascinated
with the Brazilian flora and highly engaged with environmental protection and
preservation, Burle Marx used to go on expeditions around the country with
botanists and photographers in search of rare and exotic plants. He even
discovered new species that take his name, like Heliconia burle-marxii.While this is
not Heliconia burle-marxii, it is still a stunning variety. Image: Heliconia Psittacorum
x Spathocircinata at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, Big Island, Hawaii.
Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Frank Schulenburg
FACT 7: He also designed tapestry and jewelry Besides being a keen drawer,
painter, and sculptor, he also designed tapestry and jewelry.
FACT 8: He was a great cook Burle Marx appreciated the art of good food, too. He
was very concerned with its presentation and would never allow food to be served in
ordinary, boring dishes — he would even paint his own tablecloths! Pasta with
palmito, watermelon and coconut chutney, and chicken with star anise were among
his favorite dishes.

9. WORKS
•Landscape design of some gardens in the public buildings of Brasília
• Ministry of Army – water garden and excellent use of concrete forms.
• Foreign Affairs Building
• Ministry of Education
• Itamaraty Palace – headquarters of the Ministry of External Relations
•Copacabana promenade – Pavement landscape, large scale (4 km long) mosaic completed in
1970 on famous Rio de Janeiro beach. (Influenced by Portuguese pavement)
•Inhotim, Brumadinho
•Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, 1954
•Flamengo Park – large public park in Rio de Janeiro built on landfill
•La Rinconada Hippodrome, Caracas, Venezuela
•Parque del Este, Caracas, Venezuela
•La Lagunita Country Club, Caracas, Venezuela
•Pampulha, Belo Horizonte
•Cascade Garden, Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania
•Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida (Completed posthumously)
•Maracaibo Botanical Gardens, Maracaibo, Venezuela
•Peru Square, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Demolished)
•Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Park, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
•Casa Forte Square (Praça de Casa Forte), Recife, Pernambuco-Brazil
•Cascata Farm, Araras-Brazil

10. The Picasso of landscape
architecture, Roberto Burle Marx
(1909-1994) designed the Central
Park of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre
(KLCC)shortly before he died
The Central Park of the Kuala Lumpur
City Centre (KLCC)shortly before he
died.
The Central Park of the
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
(KLCC)shortly before he
died

11. Italian Water
Garden in
Longwood
Gardens
Roberto Burle Marx was
a polymath interested in
graphic design, tapestry,
line and shape, and
managed in a completely
original way to transfer
those ideas and textures
from paper and fabric
onto the ground
Burle Marx
designed the
sidewalks along
Copacabana
Beach in Rio de
Janeiro, which
stretch for about
three miles.
WORK OF
AR.ROBERTO

12. THE STRUNK GARDEN,
BRAZIL
• The bold use of a checkerboard-patterned lawn
and tender bedding plants created striking painterly
effects.noted for exploring and using plants of his
native Brazil. He voraciously sought and
experimented with adaptable and dynamic plants
from all over the world.

13. RIO DE JENEIRO BEACH
PEDISTRIAL PATH IN PARIS

14. MATERIALS
1.Colourful pavings
blocks for making
abstract design.
2.Lawn or covers is
used in curve
pattern.
3.Trees used as
sculpture .
PARQUE DA CIDADE
HOUSE GARDEN

15. AWARDS :
 Diplomas of merit and honorary memberships: The landscape
architecture prize at the 2nd International Exhibition of Architecture
(1953)
 Title of Knight of the Order of the Crown from Belgium (1959).
 Diploma d’Honneur in Paris (1959)
 The Santos Dumont Medal of the Brazilian Government (1963)
 The Fine Arts Medal of The American Institute of Architects in
Washington (1965)
 Doctor of the Royal College of Art, London (1982)an honorary
doctorate from the Queen of the Netherlands.
 The Missouri Botanical Garden awarded him the Greensfelder Award
and the Kentucky Botanic Garden proclaimed October 14, 1985 in his
honor (Eliovson 1991).