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Thursday, August 04, 2011

Gardens of Rio de Janeiro

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This morning, when I opened Google, the topic for this Friday’s post just popped into my head.  Without even running the mouse over the special Google header, I knew the topic before me.  Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994) Brasilian landscape architect and artist.  Born in São Paulo on August 4, 1909 to German parents, the look that so marks Brasil as Brasilian; the wavy black and white sidewalks of Copacabana, the gardens that circle the Lagoa, the gardens that runs along the Aterro do Flamengo to Parque Brg. Eduardo Gomes can all be attributed to Burle Marx’s genius in designing beautiful spaces.  

“.... Burle Marx's first landscaping inspirations came while studying painting in Germany, where he often visited the Dahlem Botanical Gardens and first learned about Brazil's native flora. Upon returning to Brazil in 1930, he began collecting plants in and around his home. He went to school at the National School of Fine Arts in Rio in 1930 where he focused on visual arts under Leo Putz and Candido Portinari. While in school he associated with several of Brazil’s future leaders in architecture and botanists who continued to be of significant influence in his personal and professional life. One of these men was his professor, Brazilian Modernism’s Lucio Costa, the architect and planner who lived down the street from Burle. This game, the Schwartz house was the beginning of a collaboration with Costa which was enriched later by Oscar Niemeyer who designed the Brazilian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Niemeyer also designed the Pampulha complex in 1942 which Marx designed gardens for.

In 1949 he acquired the 365,000m² estate Barra de Guaratiba (just outside of Rio de Janeiro). Burle Marx began taking expeditions into the Brazilian rain forest with botanists, landscape architects, architects and other researchers to gather plant specimens. He learned to practice studying plants in situ from the botanist Henrique Lahmeyer de Mello Barreto and established his garden, nursery and tropical plant collection at Guaratiba. This property was donated to the Brazilian government in 1985 and became a national monument. Now called Sítio Roberto Burle Marx, under the direction of IPHAN-Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional / Ministério da Cultura, it houses over 3,500 species of plants. The house was rebuilt in a valley on the site of a garden house belonging to the original plantation estate....”  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Burle_Marx)

At the beginning of this year, Camillo and I spent about half a day visiting the Burle Marx sitio, and for me the best way to show his gardens is to show you a few of my photos from that day.  ... I am so bad, trying to pick what to show and what not to.... so I created a slide show for you to walk with me through the gardens, a cultivated garden with a feel of the wild. 

17 comments:

  1. Lovely collection of photos! love all the greeneries, so beautiful.

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  2. What a rich collection! I agree that it is difficult to choose and enjoyed moving through your slide show as if I was walknig through a gallery.

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  3. This is a great collection! I really like the way you displayed it.

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  4. Such a walk would take me a long, long time, Ginger. I just love the lushness of your plants and flowers.

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  5. I would love to go with you to Burle Marx Sitio with you and just stroll aroung. Watch out now, just renewed my passport!
    Great pictures as always but the close ups of the bromeliads speak to me most......and there's a split leaf diffenbachia in there that is a stunner!
    Love ya toots!

    Reggie Girl

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  6. This post reminds me that I really need to visit some of the public gardens up my way before winter approaches. Time just flies so quickly. I like your lily pond photos.

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  7. Lovely, all of them!

    I enjoyed learning about Burle Marx when he was featured on Google yesterday; I never knew the name behind the sidewalk motifs that truly do give Brasil the feel of Brasil. I'm designing a quilt (was already designing it before yesterday) based on the sidewalk motifs -- it was neat to learn about the man behind the designs and the gardens, etc.

    Lovely post and capture of the plant/garden side of things!

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  8. Super! Keep that camera out of the bag. Think of changing that "sick yellow" color for your blog background.

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  9. Oh my goodness! What a gorgeous garden with so may exotic-looking plants!

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  10. Beautiful collage of photos. Some plants I am familiar with and the tree wow they are huge!! Thanks for sharing!

    My Rose

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  11. Steve on my screne it looks beige - is it really sick looking.... who else votes for my changing the colors....
    and if yes, then what color? give me a blog #

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  12. an aftershock is the earthquake that continues to shake from the first one that had shaken.

    A new quake is a brand new one that is not from the earthquake area which had been shaking.

    I think in Christchurch, they have two different "Mother" earthquake.

    I hope that answers your question.

    I will be going to Christchurch in two weekend. I told my friend, it better don't have a quake, or I am not coming.

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  13. I really enjoyed the slideshow viewing your photos, Ginger.

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  14. Ginger, I love that you created a slideshow to showcase the beauty of the gardens. Interesting post about Burle Marx. Love all the images you posted but I especially like the images you took inside the building of the faces/knick knacks (I don't know what you call them)

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  15. gorgeous photos Ginger. I always enjoy seeing the area you live. so lush and exotic.

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  16. I got so excited when I saw the google page the other day!!! I told everyone even in the US but apparently it was only for www.google.com.br but still, I was so happy he was honored as I am also a Landscape Architect. I cant wait to see his home someday, great pictures!

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