Roberto Burle Marx revolutionized landscape architecture in the first half of the twentieth century by applying design principles from painting and music to nature. He also brought social and ecological questions to the forefront. This catalogue gives a broad audience insight into his interdisciplinary artistic cosmos.
Roberto Burle Marx's artistic stance, which runs like a common thread through his entire life's work, serves as a unifying element, bringing readers closer to his multifaceted oeuvre and, of course, to his dazzling personality. Fifteen case studies of landscape and garden projects introduce his innovative work. They demonstrate the significance of Brazil's diverse native flora for the design of landscape gardens, and how this natural beauty is reflected while modernist ideas are taken up at the same time. With his projects and his work, Roberto Burle Marx strove to lastingly improve people's lives in public space, and he actively promoted social and ecological engagement. The book also presents his paintings, works on paper, sculptures, and design objects; one chapter is devoted to his private collection of folkloric and religious objects.
Published on he occasion of the eponymous exhibition at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, in 2026-2027, and the Fundación Juan March, Madrid, in 2027.
In the first half of the 20th century, the Brazilian artist Roberto Burle Marx (1909–1994) revolutionised landscape architecture by transferring compositional principles from painting and music to nature. While his plans resemble abstract paintings, he integrated sculptures as well as three-dimensional and colourful wall surfaces into his landscape projects. In his paintings one encounters abstract plants and the play of light in the treetops. As a painter, graphic artist, sculptor, jewellery designer, stage and costume designer, environmental activist and collector, he participated—in the spirit of the Brazilian avant-garde—in the re-evaluation of what was considered "Brazilian". In his parks, for example, he used native plant varieties, even though these were held to be inferior, and advocated for the study and protection of Brazilian flora.
Edited by Fabienne Eggelhöfer and Nina Zimmer.
Texts by Lauro Cavalcanti, Manuel Fontán del Junco, Myrian Dössegger, Gareth Doherty, Fabienne Eggelhöfer, Guilherme Mazza Dourado, Catherine Seavitt Nordensohn, Isabela Ono, Claudia Storino, José Tabacow, María Toledo, Rossana Vaccarino, Rodrigo Gutiérrez Viñuales, Guilherme Wisnik; preface by Nina Zimmer and Javier Gomá Lanzón.
