The Modern Brazilian Garden: Redefining the Legacy of Burle Marx

An up-to-date, all-encompassing survey of Brazilian garden design. Brazil is home to some of the world’s most innovative modern gardens, with a focus on tropical ecology, modernist art and a strong regional identity in ways that differ from traditional landscape design. Spanning from the Colonial era to today, The Modern Brazilian Garden explores the legacy of pioneering designers and the country’s bold new voices. At its heart is the enduring influence of Roberto Burle Marx, whose visionary work transformed the language of landscape design, breaking away from rigid European parameters and creating a distinctly Brazilian style rooted in native plants, abstraction and ecological awareness. From Juliana Castro’s evocative ‘Earth Tattoo’ to Gilberto Elkis’s striking ‘High-Rise’, garden designer Roberto Silva brings thirty projects to life with detailed insights accompanied by breathtaking photography, drawings and sketches. He reveals not just how these spaces are created, but the ideas and inspirations behind them.