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Nature Is the Message: Sítio Roberto Burle Marx Acknowledged as UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Berlin district of Dahlem, in Germany, played a more remarkable role in shaping modern Brazilian tropical landscape design than one might expect. Amidst the cold European scenery, a chance encounter led to a lifelong passion for landscaping with tropical native flora. Roberto Burle Marx, a young Brazilian artist, discovered a collection of tropical plants from Brazil whilst visiting Dahlem Botanical Gardens in his early twenties. This interest drove him towards becoming a landscape designer and an illustrious collector of Brazilian flora, and eventually led him to the discovery of 35 new species. Burle Marx's tale highlights how travel can uniquely inspire one's life work.
Born in 1909 in São Paulo, Burle Marx was influenced by European artists such as Picasso and Paul Klee, inspiring him to study painting, a practice he pursued throughout his life. After his visit to Germany, he settled in Rio de Janeiro in the 1930s, where he met key figures of Brazilian modern architecture such as Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. With their recommendation, he started working as a landscape designer, incorporating the modern and visual abstraction from his paintings in his creations whilst highlighting the endemic flora of Brazil. Burle Marx then pioneered modernist landscape architecture with over 3,000 projects worldwide.
Although he is best known for works such as the Flamengo Park and the Copacabana beach mosaics in Rio, his legacy lies in the lesser-known estate he left in the Barra de Guaratiba region of Rio de Janeiro, where he made significant contributions to landscape architecture, visual arts and environmental conservation.
The Marriage of Landscape Artistry, Modernism, and Brazilian Culture
Nestled in the western region of Rio de Janeiro, at the foot of Pedra Branca State Park, the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx (SRBM) stands as a testament to his creative mastermind. The property served as a 'landscape laboratory' for several of Marx's projects, acting as a canvas that reflects Burle Marx's vision of creating, in his words, "living works of art" using native plants collected during his extensive explorations in Brazil. Since 2021, it holds the esteemed title of UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognizing its profound cultural and ecological significance, and is an exceptional and the newest addition to Brazil's collection of 22 other UNESCO Heritage Sites.
A Journey Through Time
Formerly known as Fazenda da Bica for its natural springs, Burle Marx and his brother purchased the property in 1949 for its abundance of water, good soil, and native Atlantic rainforest vegetation. Over the course of more than four decades, it has evolved into a sprawling masterpiece, following the successive extensions and interventions necessary to transform the site into the botanical and artistic laboratory he desired. The property is a paradigm to the symbiosis between nature and human creativity. It encompasses a vast expanse of landscapes, meticulously designed gardens, architectural wonders and botanical collections that capture the essence of Burle Marx's pioneering work.
Influencing Modern Gardens Worldwide
Commenting on his approach to garden and landscape design, Burle Marx said: "The garden is nature organized by and for humans. Discipline often helps to achieve a desired result". His work shaped the development of modern gardens on a global scale. At the SRBM visitors can see the key elements that defined Burle Marx's innovative landscape designs and subsequently influenced the development of gardens worldwide. These features include sinuous forms, exuberant mass planting, architectural plant arrangements, color contrasts, extensive use of tropical flora and the incorporation of elements from Brazil's folk culture and modern art.
A Botanical Treasure
By the end of the 1960s, Sítio Roberto Burle Marx had become the custodian of the largest collection of Brazilian plants, among other rare tropical species. The property serves as a refuge for 3,500 cultivated species of tropical and subtropical flora, which coexist with the native vegetation of the region. In particular, it is a sanctuary for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest biome and associated ecosystems such as mangrove swamps and restingas (coastal tropical sandy plains).
Perhaps this was one of Burle Marx's greatest contributions to landscape architecture: the use and valorization of native species in landscape design. An aspect that at the time was often neglected in favor of foreign species that were considered more prestigious, but sometimes proved harmful and invasive in the local ecosystem. He recognized the diversity and richness of Brazilian flora, its beauty and importance. Decades before society began to discuss themes such as nature-based solutions, Burle Marx understood that the sustainable use of native ecosystems could be beneficial to human wellbeing and provide resilience.
UNESCO World Heritage Status
In 1985, Burle Marx donated the property to the Brazilian Federal Government to ensure the continuity of his research and the dissemination of knowledge. After his death in 1994, the property came under the management of the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan). The site was declared a Cultural Heritage Site by the State of Rio de Janeiro in 1988 and by the Federal Government in 2001.
In July 2021, Sítio Roberto Burle Marx achieved a significant milestone as it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The institution has recognized the site as a cultural landscape, acknowledging the interaction between the natural and man-made landscape.
This recognition marks its pivotal role as the first modern tropical garden to earn a place on the prestigious World Heritage List, joining the ranks of iconic cultural and natural landmarks that transcend borders and generations. More than just a garden, Sítio Roberto Burle Marx is the living project of an artist who fused landscape art, modernism and Brazilian culture into his legacy. Its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site confirms its importance not only for Brazil but for the whole world.
Exploring the varied shapes, colors and flora of Rio's landscape not only reveals the ideals of Roberto Burle Marx, but shows that Rio has an integrated landscape that enhances the beauty of the city, and that not everything worth seeing here is the work of human or nature alone, but its symbiosis.
Sources:
UNESCO Brasil. Sítio Burle Marx é reconhecido pela UNESCO como patrimônio mundial. Available at: <https://brasil.un.org/pt-br/137694-s%C3%ADtio-burle-marx-%C3%A9-reconhecido-pela-unesco-como-patrim%C3%B4nio-mundial>. (Accessed: 11 October 2023).
IPHAN. História – Sítio Burle Marx. Available at: <https://sitioburlemarx.org/historia/>. (Accessed: 11 October 2023).
Centre, U.W.H. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx, UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1620/ (Accessed: 10 October 2023).
Metropolis. The man who elevated landscape to art (2022) Available at: https://metropolismag.com/viewpoints/burle-marx-man-who-elevated-landscape-art/ (Accessed: 11 October 2023).
Instituo Burle Marx. Legado Available at: <http://www.institutoburlemarx.org/pt/legado>. (Accessed: 11 October 2023).
EBAC, E. Burle Marx e o paisagismo brasileiro. Disponível em: <https://ebaconline.com.br/blog/burle-marx-e-o-paisagismo-brasileiro>. (Accessed: 11 October 2023)
