Roberto Burle Marx: The Modernity of Landscape

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Farès El-Dahdah

Lauro Cavalcanti

Francis Rambert

Actar, Barcelona, 2011, English

Nonfiction, Landscape Design

11.7 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches, paperback, 350 pages, 380 illustrations

ISBN: 9788492861675

Suggested Retail Price: $49.95

From the Publisher Roberto Burle Marx (1909–1994) is known as a landscape architect, but also as a painter, gardener, and jewelry designer, tapestry designer, in short, a multitalented artist. He considered the garden to be one of the fine arts, as “the adaptation of the biome to civilization's natural requirements." This book introduces the realm of the full sensory experience. Burle Marx's work with plants becomes highly pictorial-everything is drawn, colored and constructed. In this symbiosis between aesthetics and botany, Burle Marx is the master of both species and spaces. This new publication focuses on Burle Marx's scientific interest in the landscape and his relationship with the environment.

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Paul Makovsky

On Paul Makovsky’s Notable Books of 2011 list

Burle Marx was one of the great modernist landscape architects of the last century, though perhaps better is the term he preferred, “painter-botanist.” He designed his landscapes like paintings—abstract with biomorphic forms, a confident use of bright colors, and a delightful musical rhythm that moves you through space. The book has great photos of his well-known projects like Copacabana Beach promenade in Rio de Janeiro but also of his lesser-known residential ones (which are even better) like the Garden of the Cavanellas Residence. Contemporary landscape designers like Gilles Clément and Patrick Blanc weigh in on his work, and his 1983 essay on landscape architecture in the city will have you thinking about designing your own tropical oasis in no time.

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