By Diogo Borges Ferreira

Roberto Burle Marx is celebrated as a pioneering landscape architect because of his way of integrating nature into cities. His work shows a deep respect for native flora and a commitment to ecological balance.

At a time when climate change and biodiversity loss are pressing global concerns, we can revisit Burle Marx’s principles. His landscapes in Brazil demonstrate how to create urban spaces that are resilient, sustainable, functional, and beautiful. They offer valuable lessons for contemporary landscape architects.

From the 1930s to the 1990s, Burle Marx anticipated many of today’s concerns. Long before terms like sustainable design or green infrastructure became commonplace, Burle Marx advocated for native plants, recognizing their role in creating self-sustaining ecosystems that required minimal intervention. His projects often transformed neglected urban areas into vibrant, ecologically-balanced spaces. His landscapes improved the environment and enhanced the quality of life for city dwellers.

Burle Marx understood that landscapes are dynamic, ever-changing entities rather than static compositions. He emphasized the importance of designing with a long-term vision, ensuring that his landscapes could adapt to change over time, both in terms of ecological shifts and our use.

As cities grapple with the challenges of rapid urbanization, climate adaptation, and biodiversity conservation, Burle Marx’s work offers a model for how landscape architects can address these critical issues.

From his legacy, we can extract key lessons on how to:

• Design for resilience
• Prioritize native plants
• Create spaces that are deeply connected to their cultural and ecological contexts

Burle Marx viewed landscapes as living, evolving systems rather than static designs, a philosophy vividly embodied in Sítio Roberto Burle Marx in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, his former residence that now functions as a public garden and museum.

Initially established as a plant nursery in the 1940s, the Sítio evolved into a living laboratory for botanical experimentation, showcasing over 3,500 plant species of tropical and subtropical flora. Many of these species are rare or endangered.

The Sítio demonstrates Burle Marx’s commitment to adaptive management and continuous education. It serves as a global center for research and learning that attracts botanists and landscape architects.

Its ongoing evolution underscores the importance of viewing landscapes as living entities that require adaptive management, challenging the concept of a finished landscape and highlighting the need for long-term stewardship.

Burle Marx’s adaptive approach is also evident in projects like the gardens of the Ministry of Education and Health building in Rio de Janeiro, completed in 1938.

This project underscores the role of landscape architects in adapting to change and fostering connections between people and nature. It can inspire contemporary landscape architects to prioritize adaptive management and continuous learning.

The rooftop garden, innovative for its time, features sinuous forms and vibrant colors that evoke 19th-century garden plans while reinterpreting them in a modernist context. The garden improved building insulation and mitigated the urban heat island effect. It also creates a sanctuary for biodiversity, showcasing the multifaceted benefits of integrating nature into urban architecture.

All these features contribute to the idea that urban development and nature conservation aren’t mutually exclusive. Landscapes can create emotional connections through modernist abstract forms and plants. The rooftop garden demonstrates how cities can function as complex ecosystems benefiting both people and nature.

Roberto Burle Marx’s design for Parque do Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro shows his groundbreaking approach to landscape architecture, urban planning, and the preservation of local biodiversity and cultural identity.

Developed in the 1960s, it was conceived as an urban garden that transitions between the sea, city, and mountains. The park provides versatile spaces for recreation, leisure, and cultural activities. Spanning 1.2 million square meters, Flamengo Park transformed a former landfill into a vibrant urban ecosystem, featuring over 17,000 trees from 240 species.

By prioritizing native Brazilian species, Burle Marx preserved the local ecological identity. He promoted biodiversity by providing habitats for local fauna and creating plants adapted to local climate conditions requiring less water and maintenance. He also strengthened cultural connections to the land crafting spaces that are distinctly Brazilian. This approach was instrumental in Rio de Janeiro becoming the first city in the world to earn UNESCO World Heritage status as an Urban Cultural Landscape in 2012.

Another defining feature of Parque do Flamengo is how Burle Marx’s landscape design acts as the unifying element that ties together the various architectural landmarks within the site, including the Monumento aos Mortos da Segunda Guerra Mundial, the Marina da Glória, and the Museu de Arte Moderna. By integrating landscape and architecture, he underscores the role of outdoor spaces as vital connectors within the urban fabric, enhancing the city’s identity and function.

Through this, Burle Marx set a powerful precedent for contemporary landscape architects and urban planners, showing how urban landscapes can serve as dynamic repositories of biodiversity and cultural heritage. He created spaces that are ecologically significant and deeply connected to the residents and their local environment.

Roberto Burle Marx’s work on the Copacabana Beach Promenade and the Conjunto Residencial Prefeito Mendes de Moraes (Pedregulho) shows his ability to blend function, aesthetics, and cultural heritage.

Completed in 1970, the Copacabana promenade features an iconic undulating mosaic pattern that reinterprets the traditional design of Lisbon’s Rossio Square. Stretching 2.5 kilometers, this mosaic is one of the largest in the world, with its black and white tiles enhancing the coastal view and framing the iconic Sugarloaf Mountain.

By elongating the curves and aligning them with the sea, Burle Marx created a harmonious connection between the natural landscape and Brazil’s colonial history. He ensured that the connection remains a central part of urban life and that it embodies the city’s character and enhances its resilience to environmental challenges.

Similarly, the Pedregulho project demonstrates Burle Marx’s strategic use of landscape design to enhance residential spaces. By incorporating native plants and thoughtful layouts, the landscape architect created multifunctional outdoor areas that provide natural cooling, privacy, and community interaction zones.

This approach — commonly developed by the landscape architect in residential projects — aligns with the architectural vision while addressing residents’ needs. It demonstrates how landscape elements can be integral to the overall project.

In these projects, Burle Marx’s design philosophy emphasizes creating visually appealing yet adaptable spaces, setting a standard for resilient urban landscapes that serve immediate and future community needs.

Throughout his work, Burle Marx viewed plants not just as botanical specimens, but as elements of color, shape, and volume in his artistic compositions.

“A garden is a complex of aesthetic and plastic intentions; and the plant is, to a landscape artist, not only a plant — rare, unusual, ordinary, or doomed to disappearance — but it is also a color, a shape, a volume, or an arabesque in itself.”

His lessons are more relevant than ever as we confront the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. His legacy encourages a holistic approach to urban design, emphasizing the integration of cities with larger ecosystems. By adopting his principles, contemporary landscape architects and urban planners can create sustainable, vibrant, and life-affirming environments that benefit both people and ecosystems.

Diogo Borges Ferreira is an architect, researcher, and editor based in Porto, Portugal.

This article was originally published on ArchDaily and is part of a collaborative series on landscape architecture and climate and biodiversity solutions. See more of their related coverage.