New Brazilian Gardens: The Legacy of Burle Marx

An inspirational and insightful look at contemporary Brazilian garden design and the influence of famed designer Roberto Burle Marx

Brazilian Roberto Burle Marx was indisputably one of the greatest garden and landscape architects of the twentieth century. His distinctive style, incorporating bold, abstract patterns and native flora, still influences garden and landscape projects around the world. Presenting over thirty new gardens and landscapes located across the country, New Brazilian Gardens offers an exciting overview of the current practice by a wealth of creative designers working in idioms and styles that are varied and individual, but which also acknowledge the genius of Burle Marx.

With the richness of the country’s great tradition of modernism and the lushness of its tropical vegetation, here are gardens to inspire everyone. Whether dazzling swimming pools or serene urban escapes, stark minimalist hardscaping or exuberant planting, the projects illustrate the great diversity and dynamism of Brazil’s gardens today, but also incorporate universal ideas and details that can be translated for any culture.

In his introduction, Roberto Silva considers the evolution of the Brazilian garden since the Colonial period and examines Burle Marx’s influence in the light of current trends. Gardens are then grouped into four sections―Water, Planting, Abstraction and Sculpture―with each project presented in detail, including descriptions, the designers’ own plans, and drawings, plant lists, and spectacular photographs.
278 illustrations, 268 in color