Robert Burle Marx: Modernismo Tropical - (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Brazilian artist Roberto Burle Marx revolutionized landscape architecture in the first half of the 20th century by transferring design principles from painting and music to nature. While his plans resemble abstract paintings, he integrated sculptures, three-dimensional or colorfully designed wall surfaces into his landscape projects. In his paintings, one encounters abstract plants and the play of light in the treetops. A universal genius - painter, graphic artist, sculptor, jewelry designer, stage and costume designer - he was also an environmental activist and, as a collector, participated in the cultural appropriation and especially the revaluation of what was considered Brazilian, in the spirit of the Brazilian avant-garde. As a result, many native plant species were used in his parks, even - or precisely because - they had previously been regarded as less valuable. Roberto Burle Marx was actively involved in the research and protection of Brazilian flora.

About the Author

Gareth Doherty is trained as a landscape architect and urban planner, from 2026 Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, National University of Singapore, previously at Harvard University, research activities in Brazil, editor of the English lecture manuscripts of Robert Burle Marx. Fabienne Eggelhoefer has been appointed chief curator and head of collection, exhibitions and research at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, in 2017. From 2005 to 2017 she was curator for modern and contemporary art at the Zentrum Paul Klee where she realized numerous temporary exhibitions and collection displays. In 2012 she completed a research project on Paul Klee's teaching at the Bauhaus that culminated in an online database of Klee's teaching notes. In addition, she also analyzed the meaning of nature in Klee's teaching in a dissertation leading to a PhD degree. Guilherme Mazza Dourado is trained as an architect and urban planner, researches, publishes and curates in the fields of fine art, landscape architecture and architecture in Brazil, author of publications on Roberto Burle Marx as a landscape architect, tapestry designer, editor of the correspondence of Burle Marx and contributor to the Catalogue Raisonné . Nina Zimmer (*1973) is director of Kunstmuseum Bern and ZPK Zentrum Paul Klee since 2016, she studied art history, Romance studies and media studies in Bordeaux, Gö ttingen, Mü nster and Hamburg. In 2001, she completed her doctorate at the University of Gö ttingen with a thesis on artists' collectives around 1960. From April 2001 to August 2002, she was a scholarship holder of the state of Lower Saxony at the Central Institute for Art History (ZI) in Munich. She then completed a traineeship at the Kunsthalle Hamburg. Catherine Seavitt Nordensen is trained as an architect and landscape architect, Professor of Urbanism at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, Co-Director of the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology at the University of Pennsylvania and Creative Director of LA+, research in Brazil and author of a publication on Burle Marx's political activism during the military dictatorship. Isabela Ono is trained as a landscape architect, joined the landscape architecture firm Burle Marx in 2004. Following the death of Roberto Burle Marx, the firm was continued by his partner, Haruyoshi Ono. From 2017, she served as the firm's executive director, and from 2019, as executive director of the newly founded Instituto Burle Marx, she was responsible for managing and disseminating the firm's archives. Guilherme Wisnik (*1960) is architect, architectural critic, writer, and professor. He is author of numerous books and articles on architecture and urbanism in Brazil and has curated exhitions and collaborated with artists and musician on interdisciplinary projects. Claudia Maria Pinhero Storino is trained as an architect, designer, and social historian, specializing in the preservation and restoration of historical sites. Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Sí tio Roberto Burle Marx since 2012. Roberto Burle Marx (1909 Sã o Paulo - 1994 Rio de Janeiro) was the son of Wilhelm Marx (b. in Trier/Germany, 1869- 1952), his mother was the singer and piano player Cecilia Burle (1876- 1946). He studied art at the Academia de Belas Artes do Rio de Janeiro, continued his studies 1928/1929 in Berlin and was strongly influenced by Cubism. Back in Brasil he started as a self-taught landscape architect in creating roof gardens and parks; he collaborated with Lucio Costa, a childhood friend, and Le Corbusier, as well as Oscar Niemeyer.