Outdoor Landscape Design Inspiration from Roberto Burle Marx | PureModern

“Unlike any other art form, a garden is designed for the future, and for future generations.” --Roberto Burle Marx 

Anyone who has studied the world of outdoor landscape design is familiar with the name of Roberto Burle Marx.  Born in Brazil in 1909, Burle Marx enjoyed a 62-year career of creating stunning landscapes before his death in 1994. He left a legacy of unique and inspirational gardens, both public and private, as well as a number of other works. Like Michelangelo, Burle Marx was proficient in many areas of the arts, including painting, music, jewelry design, and set and costume design. However, landscape architecture is where he left the most significant legacy and it is in studying this incredible landscape architect that designers can gather ideas for their own landscape projects, which is why we have put together a list of inspirational ideas to hopefully encourage creativity for your new project.

Use Local Flora in Landscape Design

Burle Marx was a proponent of protecting, preserving, and incorporating native plant life into his landscape designs. He made many trips into the Brazilian rainforest to study and explore, and contributed to botanical sciences through the discovery of new plants and species; he’s been credited with discovering over 50 new plants which bear his name. He was also one of the first to speak out against deforestation of Brazil’s rainforest. He recognized the inherent beauty in the tropical plants that grew wild in the rainforest and had the vision to see how they might be used in smaller quantities to enhance local landscape design. 

Pay Attention to How Plants Interact

Burle Marx also spent many years creating a home/laboratory/garden on an abandoned estate purchased in 1948. Now a national landmark and tourist attraction, this estate functioned as living quarters, garden, and experimental botany lab for many years, and it’s here that he grew more than 3,500 species of plants, which he then used in his outdoor landscape designs. He was concerned with plant communities and the interaction between plants and their environment and was careful to choose plants that easily co-existed whenever possible.

Don’t Be Afraid of Strong Design Elements

Burle Marx incorporated many aspects of traditional art and design into his landscapes. Elements of folk art, graphic design, and tapestry were woven throughout the numerous gardens that he designed. His style was avant-garde and free-flowing, and he enjoyed using graceful, curving lines to create swaths of color and excitement throughout his landscapes. He often included lily ponds or other water elements designed to enhance the overall experience and extend the landscape through the reflection of the water. He was not afraid of bold colors which he incorporated through a variety of flowers, trees, grasses, and shrubs. He never mixed colors in the beds, so his designs always yielded a clean, organized look, while at the same time creating an uplifting feeling of movement and grace.

Consider the View from Every Angle

Another trademark of Roberto Burle Marx is the use of bold, bright colors and designs in walkways. He often “painted” them in as he would have done on canvas. He paid close attention to the overall experience of the observer, so his designs focused on creating a space that drew people to interact. This concept is readily apparent in one of his most well-known works, the Copacabana Beach promenade in Rio de Janeiro. Hand-laid mosaic walkways extend for 2 ½ miles along the beach, providing not only a beautifully unique walkway but a stunning mosaic tapestry for those viewing it from the windows of the surrounding high-rise buildings.

Considered one of the greatest and most influential landscape architects of the 20th century, Roberto Burle Marx left behind a multitude of outdoor landscape design ideas for future gardeners and landscape architects the world over. His legacy will continue as his outdoor design concepts are studied and put into practice by those who value the ideals and principles made popular through his work.

Put some of Roberto Burle Marx's ideas into practice by shopping our PureModern planters.