Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

ROBERTO BURLE MARX

PAVIL ION

Jackie Kay Zannetti

On the cover page: Fig. 01 The dining hall and the garden as seen from the Pavilion's margin with the landscape, having it to our backs. The photograph, captured on 35 mm film, depicts the Architecture bare in some parts, with little plant life and the ceramic panel not yet painted. The Pavilion's nudity demonstrates the raw and poetic use of materials, here im pressing a nostalgic image of a ruin (1978)

Politecnico di Milano

School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering Bachelor degree in Architectural Design

A.Y. 2021-2022

Graduation session: July 2022

Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

Supervisor Skansi Luka

Jackie Kay Zannetti 921508

Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

previous page: Fig. 02

AbstractThrough the illustration of the design solutions of this project, certain essential concepts related to Roberto Marx Burle’s ideology are compelled to surface.

The invaluable lessons and the incredible heritage that Brazilian landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx1 has left behind cannot be determined by limiting oneself to the observation of his modernist parks, urban interventions, and private gardens. As much as these works could transmit the impression of well-thought-out, anti-obsolete design solutions, such as the use of autochthone flora or abstract forms, they do not demonstrate the entire process and extensiveness of his labour and true enthusiasm seemingly placid behind the synthetized artistic expression.

When surpassing textual descriptions on his repertoire of innumerable works, made by others or Roberto himself, one can appreciate the immense dedication and love for his art and its primary subjects: his surrounding plant life.

The Sítio Roberto Burle Marx2 is where his lifetime devotion is tangible and expressed in a flooding of emotions through a single spatial experience. The Sítio constituted his laboratory for many decades before becoming, in addition, his place of residence.3 It is considered not only a heritage of Burle’s collections, but a symbol and materialisation of Brazil’s ecological culture.4 Furthermore, it is a catalyst set against the barbarous forest warfare in which this proliferation of plant knowledge, modern artistic expression, and collaboration with his contemporary architectural vocabulary5 are expressed through the different components of the Sítio’s system.

It must be acknowledged that all the areas that are included in this complex garden cannot be considered on the same terms as Burle Marx’s commissioned works. The latter are finished, ideated through a

complete design process. Instead, the Sítio remains unfinished as stated by the exdirector of the Sítio, Roberio Dias: “It is not even a completed project: in the Sítio there are areas in which Burle has never worked on... he did not consider his plant compositions to be a finished work of art, unlike other gardens he designed”.6

In consideration of the statements above, the aim of this research is not to repeat the boundless reflections left behind by the master nor on the wholeness of his body of works present at the Sítio. The focus of the thesis is rather on one of the components of the residential apparatus, the so-called “Cozinha de Pedra” (Stone Kitchen) or the “Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion”.

The paper utilizes the Pavilion as an object of study in all its aspects: context of setting, materials, original drawings, project evolution, reconstruction of the current space, and description of its qualities. Through the illustration of the design solutions of this project, certain essential concepts related to Roberto Marx Burle’s ideology are compelled to surface.

The choice of this individual building was motivated by a variety of factors. Firstly, and most obviously, is the context of the building and the significance of the Sítio. Secondly, the Stone Kitchen represents a union of the values close to Burle and of those of the architecture essential to the phenomena of the second half of the 20th century in Brazil.

1. Roberto Burle Marx (1909 - 1994), painter, plastic artist, and land scape architect, was one of the leading exponents of the nascent modern Bra zilian art, but he is, above all, in the field of garden design (over 2,000 created in the course of his life)

2. The Sítio Burle Marx is located on the Estrada Roberto Burle Marx, in the region west of the munic ipality of Rio de Janeiro. The property was acquired in 1949, and entirely do nated to the Fundação Pró Memória in 1985

3. Roberto Burle Marx lived on the property from 1973 to his death, in 1994.

4. The Sítio was declared cultural heritage in 2000, by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Herit age (IPHAN).

5. The vocabulary refers to that of the generation of architects belonging to the Escola Paulista and Escola Carioca (Paulis ta School, and Carioca School). See Brazil builds: Architecture new and old, 1652-1942.

6. Roberio Dias. “La Nat ura e Il Valore Del Sítio.”

Roberto Burle Marx: Verso UN Moderno WPaesaggio Tropicale, cura B. Boifava e M. D’Ambros. Il Poligra fo, Padova, 2014.

Fig. 03

Ctenanthe burle-marxii on the foreground of the compisition of vegetation

The tips of Montrichardia arborescens found on the low land of the property

IntroductionThe union of static solid masses with the conscious placement of the lively native flora transmits a poetic feeling of wonder. Mysterious at first to the foreign eye, upon closer inspection, states clearly the intentions of an artist and his influence in a definitive and crucial period in Brazil.

One of the artificial lakes at the base of the property

The Stone Kitchen was a part of Burle’s living quarters, used as a dining hall as well as an open-air exhibit of the most popular botanical specimens on Burle’s property during the occasions when he hosted visitors. 1

The Cozinha de Pedra is an important representation of certain recurring themes in Roberto Burle's work. Furthermore, the choice of this specific edifice instead of the other residential units at the Sítio was by virtue of the elements of strong symbolism between the garden, the architecture, and the landscape. As already mentioned, it demonstrates a close relationship between the plastic use of concrete in a specific political and architectural context, the stonework from demolitions belonging to a decaying architectural historical period 2, and the rediscovery of the cultural and

ecological value of Brazil’s flora. What can be apprized in this setting is the similar pursuit of its landscape design form regarding its other architectural compositional elements.

The building placed in the constellation of the Sítio’s mountainside is composed of a square free-form floor plan open on three sides. Between a stone base and a concrete slab, it houses a kitchen, bathroom, pantry, and large area reserved for the entertainment of guests. Directly in front of the kitchen, on one of the open sides, the members belonging to the reinforced concrete structure of the roof extend forward into the garden. The structure creates a covered area under the form of a pergola. The shaded exterior garden is the location of an open-air exhibition of the plants more acclimatized to sun-protected

1. O pavilhão do sítio de Roberto. H. Laus. (1964). JORNAL DO BRASIL, Ano LXXIII (N° 1), 4.

2. Granite stone blocks from demolished sites be longing to the center of Rio were implemented in parts of the pavilion, as other buildings and architectural elements present in the Sítio.

environments. The composition of the refectory-garden is characterized by linear and rectangular patterns, a tendency found in Burle Marx’s works in the years concurrent to the project. 3 The building and garden follow this rule and are in dialogue with each other.

The union of static solid masses with the conscious placement of the lively native flora transmits a poetic feeling of wonder. Mysterious at first to the foreign eye, upon closer inspection, states clearly the intentions of an artist and his influence in a definitive and crucial period in Brazil.

The research is ordered into two main parts. Firstly, the critical review is presented to elucidate the material that was rendered available. It is also the result of re-elaboration and interpretation.

In the first chapter, the experience of walking through a section of the property and the Pavilion is expressed through a spatial description of the dimensional and sensorial qualities encountered. Following this description, the narration is concluded by excerpting the most important recurring themes in the project and deliberating upon them.

In the second chapter, original drawings of the project are used to illustrate significant nodes of the project. The selective process of the final execution, with respect to the previous versions, hold a valuable narration on the choices used to reinforce certain qualities of the principal nodes.

3. “By the 1950's Burle Marx began to explore a more geometric form of garden composition, beginning in 1952 with a rectilinear scheme for the town square of...". Roberto Burle Marx: The unnatural art of the garden (1st Edi tion), (1991). Distributed by H.N. Abrams, p. 31

Fig 05

Concrete wall ornated in a series of hanging epiphytes in the garden of the Pavilion

The Pavilion: Literature Review

1. Rosa De Oliveira, A., & D’Ambros, M. (Eds.). (2014). Arte Moderna e Natura. In Arte Moderna e Natura (pp. 121–123). Il Poligrafo.

The existing material on Roberto Burle’s vast finished works are inexhaustible. These documents specifically confirm the status of Burle as a landscape artist that contributed decisively to contemporary architecture and whose work was derived from an extraction of the pure forms of cubism and the idea of a rationality associated with production and the “modern machine”.

because the Sítio is not a finished work, because it symbolizes the union of his many inspirations, and because the property is not a product of a uniquely executed plan, the totality of its records is fragmented.

2. Francisco Haroldo Bar roso Beltrão (1935: For taleza, CE – 1989: Rio de Janeiro, RJ). 1954-60 –Collaborated with Roberto Burle Marx on landscap ing projects, gardens, sculptural panels, and murals. 1959 – Graduated in architecture at the Uni versity of Brazil, currently the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Rubem Breitman was an archi tect, artist, and gallery owner, having established an art gallery, Grupo B, in Rio de Janeiro.

3. The Ingá Museum has a "Haroldo Barro so collection", "formed through the donation of his sisters on his death, on November 10, 2003. It contains sculptures, engravings, three-dimen sional objects, studies, architectural projects and landscapes, photographs, correspondence, exhibi tion catalogues.

It is difficult to register the influence of his work as its legitimacy is sanctioned from a desire of form and is expressed through an extension of the modern form in areas, such as in the architecture, where the presence of nature could have appeared an insuperable obstacle in face of the configuration of abstract order.1

Burle sustained an intense sensitivity towards the projects he worked on, projects comprehending a variety of sciences, not bounded by any specific one. He collaborated with scientists, botanists, horticulturists, sculptors, painters, architects, and engineers. The art of his modus operandi was never the result of one influence, rather it was a coalition of numerous sources and material. Given this description, researching documentation that was purely descriptive of the artificial form of his projects was not a straightforward process.

Furthermore, as previously mentioned,

The Pavilion was a result of a collaboration with architects Haroldo Barroso Beltrão and Rubem Breitman.2 Only a few brief descriptions on this subject materialised. A large portion of the solutions of spatial configuration was provided by a collection of original drawings from the donation of Burle’s sisters, Angélica and Fernanda Barroso Beltrão, to the Museum of History and Arts od Rio de Janeiro.3 The drawings of the project were donated by the sister of Haroldo Barroso, one of the collaborating architects. These drawings consisted of plans, sections, perspective drawings, and technical instructions of different modifications of the project dating from the initial proposal in 1963 to 1965. This collection, although for the most part complete, is lacking in context of the representations. Also, the annotations are not legible and there are no descriptions given for the design choices of the modifications made.

It is difficult to register the influence of his work as its legitimacy is

sanctioned from a desire of form and is expressed through an extension

of the modern form in areas

Other

significant sources of documentation result from Giulio Rizzo’s “Il Giardino

Privato di Roberto Burle Marx”. Rizzo documents the original masterplans, drawings of the Sítio, and some of the units present on the property. In addition, the main body of his work consists of annotating the floral specimens in a precise and methodical manner with corresponding photographs. However, there is a lack of this type of documentation regarding the building of the Stone Kitchen compared to the material presented on the other buildings in proximity. This could have been influenced by the fact that the architects

worked on different units. A prominent figure in the arts, Lucio Costa, was the main collaborator with Burle on the construction of the atelier and on the restauration of the chapel and main residence. Haroldo Barroso Beltrão and Rubem Breitman, however, were presumably students who had recently graduated with an architectural education from the National School of Fine Arts where Costa was the director.

Finally, a great contribution of material is provided by IPHAN (National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage), the organization responsible for the

Sítio. Although the documentation is considerably complete, divulging both historical and technical references in the description of the spaces, the reading is not adequate for the objective of the research.

It was crucial to form a vast collection of information from different sources, deriving out of a variety of documentation, due to the multidisciplinary conduct of Burle’s art. Consequently, it was my task to interpret the descriptions and drawings provided, according to the limitless sources expressing the ideas close to Burle, into a complete form of narration that is framed both in time and in representations through a production of original drawings.

Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

top left: Fig 06:

Granite blocks of the Kitchen

bottom left: Fig 07

View of the estern en trance, from the shaded interior

Spatial Narration

far right: Fig 08

Extreme left panel of the tryptic:“The Garden of Earthly, painted by Hieronymus Bosch, 15th Century

1. Rizzo, G. (2016). Il giardino privato di Roberto Burle Marx Il sìtio: Ses sant’anni dalla fondazione. Cent’anni dalla nascita di Roberto Burle Marx (Italian Edition). In Nel solco dell’Eden. La rein terpretazione di Roberto Burle Marx (pp. 37–38). Gangemi Editore.

2. Ibidem 1.

3. ripado or “shelter” re fers to the covered areas of an exterior garden shel tered from the sun.

4. Ibidem 2.

The mystic landscape of lush, tropical abstract flora and sculpturesque figures of the Sítio Burle Marx is the image of the paradisiac hills of Eden. The analogy drawn by Rizzo of the impression of Burle’s Sítio to that of the representation of Eden in one of the panels of “The Garden of Earthly Delights” could not be more accurate. The tryptic piece of Paradise, painted by Hieronymus Bosch at the end of the 15th century, portrays on the left extremity a colorful scene of a valley that reaches towards the sky through a series of circular planes. The inclined grounds of Burle’s property are an orchestration of wonderful elements such as lakes, vigorous and rare vegetation, sculptures, and creatures, and is said to be an unconscious reconstruction of Bosch’s Eden. 1

"It is the Construction of a place that can be read from the bottom up, which is

perceived as you ascend, which is organised around an axis that, rising, forms a series of curves that delimit many spatial planes. Roberto Burle Marx, as a master in the distribution of masses in space, significantly increases the perception of Hieronymus Bosch's "circles" - of spirals towards God - by enhancing their appearance with the lowering of the central tree masses. Thus, with this simple artifice he also lowered the optical axis that from the initial plane of the main entrance leads to the top.”2

The Sítio can be divided into three bands: the entrance with the main groupings of the ripados3 and administrative buildings, the middle containing the residential group of buildings, and the highest region with the atelier.

The Pavilion is found in one of the spatial planes situated in the central band of the

property, in an area well-connecting it to the other sets of buildings by a series of gardens. The residential unit is made up of the Chapel of Sant’Antonio da Bica, Burle’s house, a washroom, and a loggia. Some of the buildings share stylistic features belonging to that of the colonial-Portuguese Baroque architecture.

To arrive at this point of the path, where the Pavilion is located, one must move through the Sítio’s dantesque path. The Pavilion is not an entity isolated to itself, but rather a part of a constellation. It is impossible to appear at the face of the project without completing the promenade through the prior spatial nodes, nor can the walk be considered terminated at this point.

The ‘walk’ starts from the bottom of the mountain and reaches towards the higher planes, accumulating not only ground, but a collection of sensations. The following is said about the experience of the ‘street’, referring to the main path of the Sítio: “it re-acquires the original meaning of “stratus” …of an accumulation and stratification: of objects, of plants, of odors, of colors, of images and sensations that are perceivable along the pathway, that brings us from the entrance until the peaks of the sceneries of Burle Marx’s Eden.”4

These affirmations, stating the driving forces behind the perceptions of the ascending promenade, only help to provoke certain spatial qualities of the Pavilion, which are particular and directly associated to the site. In other words, the narrative specific to the advancement through the superficies of the project is a masterful continuation of this main path, as well as a response to the immediate context.

Masterplan of the Sítio Fig 11

Porch of the residence and the fortified wall rear the garden

1

The curved path that snakes its way around the ascending land, enfolds the residential plane on the east. One of the principal nodes of circulation is set by a small enclosed space that acts as a backstage to the residence and a piazza, forming an interval in the path. The open space is limited by the forest on the west and by elements defining the lateral extension of the main house on its east. A porch stretches before the entirety of the L- shaped linear house and terminates before the walkway with a set of granite steps descending into the square. Parallel to the stairs and directly facing the porch, a collection of vibrant variants of thick and broad leafed Aechmeas line a massive garden wall composed of carved architectural fragments. The porous granite wall has its back to the main path, appearing as a fortification. Farther up, always maintaining the focus in the direction of the residential

buildings, through a thick screen of plants, the top of the horizontal concrete cover of the Pavilion, and the faint outlines of a heavy stone structure, pre-announces the presence of an architectural artefact. The dark exposure of the concrete laying placid on the rough cut of the stone blocks is perceived as foreign and abstract, but their crude material opposingly integrate the construction to the surrounding nature.

The garden is ordered nature created by man

made by man

Fig 12.

The main residence as seen from the South

Fig 13.

Entrance by several steps into the garden in between the Pavilion and the res idence

3 2

Fig. 14

The Pavilion as seen from the entrance from the main path (p. 17-18)

Fig 15

Progression of walls, one of which containing a foun tain of water

Fig 16. View of the granite steps

Whilst advancing forwards in the axis, nearing in view of a clearing in the property, the path sides with a wide geometric flower bed that extends before the back of Burle’s house. It is rich with rupestrian species belonging to the diverse Cerrado climate5 with stones and pebbles contouring it. Its perimeter follows the linear form of the path and is instead of irregular shape towards the interior. The first flower bed terminates in the direction of the higher end and with a few steps, the area opens between buildings with vegetation similarly organised. The irregularity of the flowerbed’s contour coheres to the analogous shapes of the rectangular stone slab pavement.

Shortly ahead, on the right, another series of flowerbeds initiate, raised according to the ascension of the main path itself, subdivided in smaller terraced garden beds. Confined in the raised stone ledges of the beds, there are groups of thick plants and trees, most notably a Mangifera Indica (mango tree) and an Acacia (mimosa tree). Instead, on the left of the path, there are unbounded amoebic compositions of various low plant groups, of the same texture and color, placed on sloping land. After surpassing this progression of herbaceous groupings, an opening, following the same proportions as one of the terraces, marks another ramification of the path. The opening is perpendicular to the main cobbled path and marked by an aperture in space and a change of texture in the pavement. Immediately consecutive to this initial area, a set of wide low-rising granite slabs descend onto an uninterrupted plane, constituting a large open hall. Thus, the opening reveals itself to be the gateway to the Pavilion. From the cobbled path to the long strips of granite of the low-rise stairs, the surface becomes linear and of less coarse in nature, characterized by a pattern of large dark stone slabs fitted in varied rectangular shapes in an irregular manner. The mouth of the entry forms a spatial enclosure, functioning as a vestibule for the Pavilion and directs the movement and optic focus into its gateway. The

spatial boundaries of the vestibule are reinforced by formal elements represented by volumes of terrain and plants. In fact, opposite of the entrance, there are cluster of low Aechmeas placed on an immediate slope. Lateral to the steps, from a small distance off the pavement and resembling the antecedent examples of flowerbeds, volumes of ground and vegetation are confined at the sides. They are cladded of the same porous material as the stairs. The vegetation on the right is characterized by copious trees and expansive plants of generous foliage, thicker built and higher in stature, concealing the profile of the Stone Kitchen. One of the trees is an Acacia, a specimen of green, broadened leaf petioles. Another is a Mimusops coriacea, made up of a large, rounded crown, and finally the noticeable Mangifera Indica specimen that displays its bright rounded fruit. Regarding the low growing plants, most evident, closest to the Pavilion, and on the lower terraced beds, grows a myriad of lively philodendrons extending outwards off the ledge. The segment of vegetation limiting the entrance on the left is instead composed of primarily low plants, more evenly spread amongst each other and around a clump of golden trunks of an Areca, that stands with narrow fronds, similar to those of bamboo, as well as a prominent Artocarpus (jack-fruit tree) farther up. Most of the plants are an orchestration of lively heart shaped and green leaved Anthuriums, pinned palm-like tufts of Cycas, and stiff and thorny-leaved Dychias, the last sparsely placed in between rocks. This portion is also divided by another vertical grouping parallel to the main path and originating from the perimeter of the flowerbed: a sequence of walls of dual profiles, the last of which are considerably taller.

5. Cerrado meaning a “closed” is a vast tropical Savana region in Brazil, characterized by a large biodiversity.

Fig. 17

Masterplan of the Residen tial Units of the Sítio (p. 21-22)

Fig. 18

Groundfloor plan of the Residential Units (p. 2324)

Fig. 19

Fig 20 View of the stone stairs

The vertical faces are broken by shorter segments posed in between. The profile facing the east is of dark rock in a brute state and the other half resembles, in material, the granite stairs and lateral cladding with superficial engravings to mimic an appearance of masonry. From the central wall, facing the interior of the Pavilion, small shoots of water depart from within. The water flows below, disappearing into a void of the volumetric flowerbeds and stone masonry. The boundary of the flower beds then continues uninterrupted by the height difference between the path and the floor of the hall.

In completing the turn into the entrance, the boundaries and volumes, previously described, lead into the wide and spacious hall of the Stone Kitchen. The space unfolds, spreading longitudinally, defined between two extensive square

horizontal planes, the base and cover of the Pavilion. The cover is made of a thick reinforced concrete slab, exposing its raw material, roughly and linearly cut on its sides. It heavily weighs on a rhythm of transversal columns of the same material and rectangular profile, and on a mass of complex blocks of stone on the farright end. Two strips of thick concrete beams, with a placement of two columns under each, run parallel to the sides of the roof, offset towards the interior, leaving the central space of the hall free. The rows of columns and the stone bodies are aligned according to the limits of the steps and extend in proportion to this rule. On the immediate right, the floor continues unvaried in the direction of an area laid out before the main house, filtered by a garden of rupestrian plants.

Marx

View of the main hall of the Pavilion as seen from the landing of the stone cladded stairs

Fig. 21

The facades of the loggia (front), the main house (left), and the chapel (right), as seen from the north

Fig. 22

Panoramic view of the vast mangroves, and mountains in the background

Fig. 23

Segment of a view of the baclony as seen from behind the last set of arches

1

This garden, made up of a network of paths and flowerbeds, is an open area enclosed by the loggia, a small rectangular building, and the whole posterior façade of Burle’s L-shaped house. The loggia is made up of a unique and small rectangular space, opened towards the north, positioned on the rear corner of the Pavilion. This small hall acts as a fulcrum between two apparent courtyards: the one south of the Pavilion and the other located north of the loggia. The latter is placed in front of the open façade of the loggia and is confined laterally by the Chapel of Santo Antônio da Bica and the main house. Arriving at the square from the side of the chapel, the combination

of the oblique façade of the building, the lateral façade of the house, and the rich and tall vegetation lining both sides, narrow the space towards the loggia’s arcade. Facing the other extreme, the square forms a balcony that reaches in direction of the uninterrupted view of the landscape and lower levels of the property. The first portion of the surface, closest to the panorama, is initially dirt and grass limited by a low stone ledge. The ground then becomes layered with cobble, anticipating the paved entrance into the loggia. The white and solid external surfaces of the buildings contrast with the granite lined arcade of the loggia and the adjacent exuberant and colorful foliage of the jasmine-mango and

plumeria trees. The interior of the loggia is covered with blue and white ceramic tiles, creating depth through the richness of color and texture. After entering through one of the arched apertures, opposite the arcade, the eye is led immediately to the left to a double-gated passage at the end of the room through a series of fountains on the wall that spout onto a stonecovered ditch along the entire base, which is trimmed with plants. The doorway, also lined in warm granite, conducts to the other courtyard by means of a path of the same width as the opening. The linear path, made up of large stone slabs, maintains a visual continuity with the granite paved floor of the interior of the loggia.

1

Fig. 24

Interior of the loggia

Fig 25.

Double gated opening towards the garden north of the Pavilion 2

Beyond the portal, the walkway twists around angular flowerbeds lined with rolled pebbles and stones. Then, shifting towards the façade of the Stone Kitchen, the irregular pattern of the stone path heads for the center of its façade. Before reaching its base, it flanks an analogous irregularshaped plot of plants, primarily composed of groups of Bromeliaceae that surround a tall Mangifera Indica and its green crown. Instead, on the right, the path opens onto an area confined by a thick semicircular ledge.

The composition of unsymmetrical forms sets the surface anticipating the massive and complex artefact of the northern façade of the Kitchen. This architectural body is composed of a non-uniform assembly of granite blocks, only ordered at the apertures. In fact, the cavernous wall is perforated symmetrically by two large voids. The apertures behave as bodiless windows and are framed by ordered sets of long blocks of the stone. Their thickness allows for very little communication to the obscure interior. On the left half of the façade, a regular and uniform concrete slab, lodged between portions of the stone walls, breaks the consistent theme of irregular blocks. On top of this organisation, sits a profile

of a thick concrete slab. The raw and course texture of the concrete, homogeneous to that of the stone, attributes to the resemblance of a long slab of granite. A gap between the flat partition and the cover initially suggests the true nature of the slab.

In moving east, around the corner of the northern façade, the profile of the concrete slab claims its own quality, revealing to be an expansive horizontal plane, separate to the assembly of stones. The profile of the solid stone blocks becomes a complete three-dimensional object. At such a short distance, the full quality of the juxtaposition and offsetting is divulged through a display of contouring shadows. The cover sets the optic axis forwards longitudinally, drawing the attention to parallelly shift to these components. The narrowness of the passage between the solid walls of the Pavilion on the right, and the plentiful vegetation in lifted and enclosed terrains on the left, further propel movement into the main space under the covering.

Fig. 26

Fig. 27

Northern facade of the Pavilion

View of the eastern facade of the Pavilion from lateral passage way

Fig. 28

Scholastic group resting in the inteiror of the spacious and open hall of the Pa vilion, Fig. 29 1st Diagram of the Spatial Mapping corresponding to a photographic and descrip tive documentation of the previous pages (p. 13-33)

The circulation from both the entrances is left free of obstacles. Instead, the pattern of columns forms a rhythm, dividing the horizontal space and encouraging the sight to shift across the surface. Three main spaces, unified dimensionally under the cover of the hall, can be perceived through this observation. The first area, and the only closed space of the dining hall, is the kitchen. The two massive volumes composed of sculpturesque stonework walls delimit the extremities of the kitchen, hollowing out a small and dark central cavity. From the interior, the walls of large solid blocks of warm porous granite varying in size and placement, form a contrast with the cover: the irregular surface that extends from the ground comes into sharp contact with the smooth and cool-gray concrete ceiling. In a virtually symmetrical division, a large oven is centrally placed in between the two stone walls, with a tabular surface and sink on each side. The volumes of both walls enclose small obscure spaces, lit only through gaps

between the concrete partitions and the ceiling. The brick chimney stands erect on a stone base, adding to the built environment adjacent to the façade. Above each counter, the bodiless windows are divided in to three parts by thin beams. These openings permit compensation in the equilibrium of mass, lightening the structure and ensuring illumination from the north to perforate through the thick façade. In addition, the apertures create a visual connection to those of the southern façade of the main house.

Advancing into the center of the hall, in the second and central space of the hall, directly opposite of the entrance from the main path, a second row of columns encloses a solid and deeply colored panel. The surface of this panel is overlaid by ceramic tiles painted with a design of Burle Marx: an abstract motif in black, yellow, and blue on a red background. The other portions of this façade are immaterial, composed of bright screens of florid

greenery of the tropical forest backdrop, an unbuilt area lateral to the building. The natural light passes through the weightless facades on the hall’s three sides and is then reflected from the ceiling and floor into the umbrous space under the heavy slab. The dim environment between the two tabulas is perceived as a shelter, reinforcing the optic focus to the horizontal plane.

First Diagram of the Spatial Mapping

Fig. 30

The garden lays before the marging of the dining hall (p. 35-36)

Fig. 31

A horizontal depiction of the extension of the structural components (p. 37-38)

Fig. 32

Detail of the concrete beams of the pergoal framework

Fig. 33 The large Kerriodoxa elegans protagonist of the central flowerbed spans its large fanned leaves over the surface of the garden

Of all embellishments by which the efforts of man can enhance th e beauty of natural scenery, those are the most effective which can give animation to the scene,

At a second glance, the large beams spanning under the cover are revealed to be two in number, enveloping the profiles of the columns. They distend from the monumental granite blocks on the far north and progress towards the south, in the direction of an opening. The beams curiously do not seem to begin from the stone walls, rather, they pass through, thanks to the absence of some blocks. In addition, they terminate at the same distance as the Pavilion’s cover. In following the movement of the beams towards the opposite end, the Pavilion is again opened to a screen of light and nature.

In the third area, in the perimeter of the hall space, from the farthest corner on the left, the elevated flowerbeds contained in granite cuttings, become void in front of the central wall of the fountains. The water cascades down a series low juxtaposed layers of stone masonry, into a pool of water on another plane underneath. Shortly before the stream of water, the square platform of the hall drops down into a lower plane containing the pool and garden. In front of the first row of columns, a screen of water from the roof of the Pavilion streams into the pool below, creating a transparent partition between the two levels, composed of moving particles and sound. The intersection of these water elements deviates the sensatory orientation in the direction of the central axis, towards the curious position of the edge between the exterior and interior.

The spaciousness and dominance of a central corridor is further intensified by the expansion of the supporting structure leading into the garden. In fact, the rhythm of the concrete pillars becomes easily identified from the point of discontinuance of the roof: the structured grouping of the pillars, joined between the pair of beams, extend outwards, exposing themselves to the natural elements. The beams reach similar distances on the exterior as in the interior of the covered dining hall, spanning in analogous proportions, two units between three columns. The ensemble is a layout of a pergola system, with a multitude of thinner beams resting

atop of the framework. This first assembly is intersected by a group of the same repetition and span, stretching parallel to the margin of the square hall, forming the second segment of an ‘L’ shape. This last set of beams then end at a tall wall, of the same span and height, hidden behind some of the plants of the garden.

The southern ‘façade’ acts as a portal, revealing a virtuous scene: an intricately abstract garden, softly illuminated by filtered sunlight that passes through the multitude of concrete beams, surrounded by a thick forest, inspiring a wonderful harmony between static and living elements. The geometry of the exterior garden is decided by the rule of the pergola enclosing the space underneath and limited by the perimeter of the garden’s pavement. The perimeter is further reinforced by implicit and explicit vertical compositions. At some points, the concrete pillars and frames are embraced by climbing plants, vines, and other thriving foliage. The growth of the dynamic living nature amongst the solid composure of the modern structure forges an image of mystic symbiosis. The main surface of the garden is composed by a rectangular area, divided into three more equivalent linear parts that follow the order of the pergola: the pool, the stone pavement, and a portion of ground and vegetation. The pool lays out before the stair landing, carving out a lower section that is in alignment with the central axis of the Pavilion and extending almost to the end of the garden’s perimeter. The bottom of the pool is lined with small stones, attributing a tenebrous and rich mineral appearance to the body of water. The central segment is characterized by continuous slabs of stone that terminate in alignment to the horizontal frames above and wrap around a small section of the pool.

In front, a solid rectangular stone, basin occupies the same proportion of space.

Fig. 34

Series of waterfalls cas cading into the pool below

Fig. 35

On this margin, between the pavement and the rest of the landscape, a small organic path made of cobbled stones and lined with clumps of small plants and rocks, makes its way around the soft and virid slopes of the mountainside, vanishing into the land itself. The third segment of the main rectangular area is composed of a flowerbed that expands in same length as the pavement, breaking only for a short distance to continue the path that is aligned at the end of the pool. This passage allows the stone floor to carry on to the second covered garden area of the pergola.

The borderless edges that characterize the stone pavement suggest a planar vision of the horizontally organised space. Instead, the optical vertical elements, posed on the pavement’s perimeter, suggesting an implicit enclosure of the horizontal volume are given by a wall of thick dark green vegetation on the east of the pool, a progression of voluminous shrubs and the slope of the mountain that gradually becomes more abundant in trees, and by a richness of undergrowth under the second part of the pergola. Although the series of organic compositions and the termination of pavement delimit the garden at its perimeter, the concrete columns and beams frame a background of an eternal slow inclination of the land that seems to be a continuation of the same orchestration of the garden. In this backdrop, the narrowcobbled path described before, helps lead the attention to the magnificent trunk of a Ficus that extends its thick base and roots as a labyrinth on the terrain. Along with other trees, varieties of volumetric undergrowth are laid out in their contiguity, composing abstract motives that contour the suave waves of land.

From this margin of the hall, a narrow granite staircase runs parallel to the slab, giving access to the garden below. These granite steps sign a second spatial descent throughout the entirety of the Pavilion. The stairs start at the second half of the Pavilion, aligning with a rectilinear plot of vegetation of the lower garden, and land in front of the pool. The segment following the footprint of the stairs is cut out of the solid base of the Pavilion. The transition from the vertical movement of the stairs to the arrival into the wide plane of the garden is marked on the floor by a repeated alternation in material: the granite surface of the steps is interrupted, and the same irregular pattern of large smooth stones begin again. The interaction between the falling water, the pool, the blocks of the base, and the roof-pergola system are narrated more vividly in the descent into the lower plane. Directly in front, the streams of water, displaying a greater fall, illustrate the double height of the pergola, the volume composing the garden, and the juxtaposed planes. The sides of the base of the Pavilion and that of the wall on the margin of the pool are cladded with elaborate blocks of granite. The use of layered soft granite assembled with the running water and other natural elements, resembles a natural association. It draws an image of transposition: an idle series of waterfalls found in a forest stream. Immediately in front of the landing, from the shallow depths of the dark pool, clusters of aquatic plants sprout in a formal order. One of the recognized volumes born in the water is cylinder-shaped, made up of long and bare stems terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets that belongs to a variety of Rhapis. On the other half of the pool, a much larger mound is made up of a

multitude of Anthuriums, characterized by clusters of dark foliage and adorned with white flowers. On the edge of the stone structure, confining the water on the east, the hanging pinnate foliage of big heart shapes of the Philodendron Pinnatifidum spills out, invading the front of the volume from which they originate, reaching down to almost touch the surface of the pool. This last copious wall of philodendrons completely covers the construction that supports the variation of volumes of ground lodged behind the pool. The first two concrete pillars of the sequence, closest to the stone wall, sink into the

shaded copper body of water, its base concealed and its shaft enveloped in the grips of the Philodendrons. The substantial agglomeration of plants adjoined to the ends of the projected beams of the pergola cast shadows over the artificial and organic forms, loading the boundary of this side of the garden with contrast.

Jade Vine hanging from one of the frames of the pergola

bottom left : Fig. 36

Layered volumes of vegetation on a as cending plane forms a continuity with that of the garden

top right: Fig. 37

Large wall adorned with epiphyte species hanging on its surface

On the opposite face, in the flowerbed, some specimens of Kerriodoxa elegans grow from the foot of the concrete pillar and expand their giant green fanned leaves, covering much of the structure. The ground at its base is cloaked in a layer of small copper-violet-colored foliage of the Pseuderanthemum alatum. From the same position, a rampant vine of the Strongylodon macrobotrys climbs up the column, weighing on the beams with its long hanging branches and jade-green flowers.

This vegetal aggregation occupies a large volume, enveloping the concrete profile and thus creating a perception of a massive block in the middle of the pergola structure. On the sides of this vegetal volume, two sets of passages of the same width, lead

the rest of the garden under the second part of the pergola. When surpassing the voluminous block and entering the passage closest to the forest, the focus is conducted ahead by the beams of the structure running parallel to the path, terminating at a massive wall of analogous span. The wall of rough concrete texture englobes the ends of the thick beams into its surface, on the verge of its vertical limit, thus, allowing only for a small gap between the top of the wall and the thin juxtaposed frames of the pergola. A multitude of epiphytes are hung across the wall, adding more weight and texture to its face. The space under the secondary portion of the pergola is made up of an assembly of more rectangular patches of ground with less recognizable plant compositions as the flora here is

placed more sparsely. A strip of flowerbed, made up of low rising plants, is placed at the base of the wall, in front of where the paths join, creating a linear loop around the central mass of palms. On the far left, the path instead strays past the perimeter of the garden into the thick of the surrounding forest, shifting according to the alteration in the terrain’s configuration. The solid wall functions as a strong force of optical pull: the direction of the rhythmic concrete structure and the deep rich texture of its enormous façade, lead the focus and order the compositional objects in between. The materiality of the wall stands strong against the more untamed tropical forest at its back and that of the less organised and teeming vegetation occupying the flowerbeds adjacent to the foot paths.

On the opposite side, facing the last sets of columns on the perimeter of the garden, the vertical boundaries that indirectly enclose this planar volume are further identified. The stone wall that was hidden behind the cascade of philodendrons is now partially exposed in the area in front of the basin. At this point, it folds

inwards joining the façade of another wall of the same materiality, which stands taller. The last vertical partition continues further past the stone basin, invading transversally into the hillside. The masses of leafage blanketing the solid built walls, which meet the volume of the descending terrain from the main path, fortify this edge of the garden, conceding an uninterrupted crepuscular impression. In this frame, another situation that perceptibly encloses the limit of the Pavilion is given by the relationship between the roof and its extension, and the level of the terrain in its frontal vicinity. If the beams originating from the interior of the Pavilion were to be elongated indefinitely in the direction of the apex of the mountain, they would intersect the slope of the of proximate hill right at its point of culmination. At this point, the terrain becomes leveled and open for a portion of the mountain, but what is immediately found after the prominence of the mound is not yet visible.

a rampant vine of the Strongylodon macrobotrys climbs up the column, weighing on the beams with its long hanging branches and jade-green flowers

Fig. 38

2nd Diagram of the Spatial Mapping corresponding to a photographic and descriptive documentation of the previous pages (p. 35-46)

Fig. 39

The juxtaposition of planes is evident through the pho tograph of the horizontal components of the dining hall with that of the garden

The direct alignment with the sloping terrain, which conceals the perception of the rest of the mountain’s profile, consolidates the spatial narrative of the Pavilion’s volumes as an integral indentation of the landscape, attributing a dulcet interpretation of its perimeter.

In the process of walking back to the dining hall of the Pavilion, a new perspective can be seen from the garden, from a point parallel to the façade, on the central axis. This frame illustrates the prevalent geometries of the space. The rule of the horizontal line is confirmed again by the sequence of longitudinal slabs: the solid base of the Stone Kitchen, the stairs, the roof, and the beams. Instead, the central void of the Pavilion

dominates the elements that intersect those parallel to the perspective, demonstrating that it occupies a unique space, incorporating the interior with the exterior. In addition, the contrast in light depicts the heaviness of the concrete slab onto the solid stonework blocks, creating an excavated conformation in the farthest space of the Pavilion. Also, from this point of view, the association with the other buildings of the site is clear, as through the windows in the background, the facades of the residential buildings seem integral with the profile of the Stone Kitchen.

Second Diagram of the Spatial Mapping

Fig. 40

Transversal section of the Pavilion, highlight ing its relationship with the context

Fig. 41

Section of the Pavilion, highlighting its place ment in the variation of terrain Fig. 42 Key Map of the Sec tions

Fig. 43

A florid specimen of Delo nix Regia goes undetected

Fig. 44

The artificial composition of the lake with the profile of the Pavilion's roof in the background

Fig. 45 Following the lake on the right, the path of the Sítio continues onwards, in a more rapid ascent towards the apix (p. 52-51)

Continuing from the entrance to the Stone Kitchen, the main path advances to rise towards the clearing, as aforementioned. While the Pavilion disappears behind the cluster of wall, ground, and vegetation, the eye is instead led towards the sky: the flamboyant magenta-colored crown of a towering Delonix Regia stands out from the swarm of green treetops. In addition, the vibrant vegetation, the curved winding of the path, and the visible proximate opening of the land, guide the movement uphill.

At the clearing, in the direction of the Pavilion, an amoebic body of water, lined with a collection of boulders and groups of plants, creates a leveled surface. The mineral elements occupy the foreground, while the curves of the lake lead the eye to the same enormous Ficus. The terrain then drops off at the mast of the tree and recedes into the concavity advancing into the garden.

The lateral walls of the garden collaborate with the set of concrete frames rested atop to form a volume that compensates the indentation formed in the landscape. The cover appears from above to frame a void: the body of water set on top mirrors the umbrous surrounding creating this effect. The rawness in materiality and unobtrusive structure of the architecture, and its relationship with the landscape’s profile, render its placement a harmonious and integral part of the viridescent landscape.

The path then continues onwards towards the apex of the mountain, where the image of the Pavilion is lost once again in the thickness of the forest.

The Garden becomes the transition between

Architecture and the Greater Landscape

Landscape-Garden-Architecture

top: Fig. 46

Diagram of tthe pro files of the residential units on the inclination of the mountain

bottom: Fig 47

Diagram showing the relationship between the built form and the context of the Pavilion

The immediate impression of the compositional space of the Pavilion is that of two juxtaposed, planar volumes inserted in a niche on the side of the inclined mountain of the Sítio, with its axis directed towards its apex. The Pavilion’s volumes, that of the hall and the garden, are weighted to the ground as a part of the geometry of the land. The limit is set authoritatively by the landscape and carves out a platform from where a Cartesian plan is generated. The built form of the Pavilion does not dominate over the land and the surrounding nature, rather it is confined by its thick vegetation and the organised floral compositions of Burle’s designs alongside the entirety of the pathway.

As the architectural form is already inscribed in the dimensionality of the landscape, the work of Burle consists in transposing the image of the immediate context into the project and the art of the garden. He begins his work by setting a limit, usually dictated by the impression of the morphology of the landscape. Therefore, the susceptibility of the spatial quality of the Pavilion initiates with a coherent observation of the primordial space itself.

The identity of the land that shapes the Pavilion is given by the rolling terrain of the western face of the Morro do Capim Melado1, characterized by a richness in water, minerals, and a vast and luxuriant variety of vegetal communities. The limit of the Pavilion is described by the inclination of the terrain on its three sides, the plane created, the built form, and the other residential buildings. It is inserted in a neutral area, enclosed by the ascensions and descensions of the land. In addition, the features of the vegetal community that surround the plot where the Pavilion is located are comprised by an extremely exuberant physicality. The theme of integrating the interpretation of the land into an artificial organisation in the Pavilion’s garden and the ground bordering it, is done under one of Burle’s influences: the Japanese art of ‘shakkei’ (borrowed scenery), which incorporates background landscape into the composition of a garden. To determine the initial limits and the compositional rule over the project, as would an artist, for Burle it was crucial that the observational process is done by firsthand experience, in sketches or through other representational methods.

1. Morro do Capim Melado refers to a small mountain locat ed on the margins of the the Pedra Branca State Park.

2. The Mata Atlânti ca is the second larg est plant formation in all south America. It was the first environ ment settled by the Portuguese colonists more than 500 years ago, and today still has about 70% of the entire Brazilian population.

The direct morphology of the terrain molds the plane on which it is inserted

Based on the specific dimensional and sensorial features of the land, Burle draws out the configuration of the space, figuratively as well as physically. He worked with drawings done on the site, often making a perspective sketch of the project from what emerges from the observational process.

The direct morphology of the terrain molds the plane on which it set; it is inserted as one of the gironi danteschi mentioned previously. In addition, the built forms of the residences on the north set the other non-organic boundary of the Pavilion. The predominance of the mass is, in fact, concentrated in this periphery of the Pavilion in correspondence to the masses of the main house, the loggia, and the Landry buildings.

manner as would a building.

4. Doherty, G., & Finot ti, L. (2020b). Roberto Burle Marx Lectures: Landscape as Art and Urbanism. Lars Müller Publishers, p. 156

The expressive factors that provoke the abstract nature and geometry of the Pavilion is perceptible in the sensorial experience through the volumes of the Pavilion and divided by a scale of sensitive application. For Burle Marx, the garden remains an artificial product intended for man to walk through. Therefore, the volumes are divided in a sequence of opening and closings, by sets of small pathways, stairs, pillars, and flowerbeds.

The thick and lively foliage of the Serra do Mar also contributes to the immersion of the Pavilion in what feels like a small opening, a subdivision in the paradisiac forest. The nature surrounding the Pavilion is not uncultivated but organised in a distinguishable order. The lifted horizontal built forms of massive material made light over the heavy stone weighted base form a harmonious relationship with the caricature of the mountain. The garden itself is a transposition of the characteristic of the Mata Atlântica; the thin, repetitive concrete beams raised above the floor of the garden act as a canopy, sheltering the plants and filtering sunlight. This environment is the ordered image of the forest in proximity to the site. The associations found in the Serra do Mar are characterized by a rich intricate undergrowth as a result of the protection from the treetops. The plants populate the spaces between the columns demonstrate, as Burle has said referring to this system, “The sight of that association of plants gives us the impression of a covenant for living together.”4 The balance was an important theme to implement in the aesthetic feeling of the garden, as he used it to “emphasize the characteristics of certain species”.

man. As such, it serves its purpose in the same

Its serves to be used and “walked through” by

he (the landscape architect) cannot merely reproduce nature or copy her habit… He is required to construct an artifice, something which is unquestionably the product of the inventive and creative mind of man…”6 The garden in this context, functions as a continuation of the landscape. Specifically, is not a transposition of uncultivated wild nature, rather a transposition of associations found in nature. Its serves to be used and “walked through” by man. As such, it serves its purpose in the same manner as would a building. This interest on integrating the landscape built using elements in proximity, work in favor of ensuring a continuum between the architecture and the landscape.

forests were seen as hostile and the land, as such, was treated with repulsive disregard, in both cultural aspects and in agricultural techniques.8 In effect, the territory of the Sítio was purchased as a mosaic of small properties, where originally there was an intense cyclical cultivation of firstly sugarcane, then coffee, and lastly banana fruits. Therefore, Burle’s work also consisted of donating life back to the exhausted land.

6. Ibidem 5.

3. L. Agassiz, 1990, as cited in Adams, 1991 7. Boifava, B., D’Am bros, M., & Istituto universitario di ar chitettura di Venezia. (2014). Il Giardino nel Rapporto tra Uomo e Natura. In J. Leen hardt (Ed.), Roberto Burle Marx. Verso un moderno paesaggismo tropicale (pp. 58–59). Il poligrafo. 5. Ibidem 4. 5

The elements of immediate visibility in Burle’s reality belong to the jungle. What defines the most recognizable and familiar image of the Brazilian topography is given by the Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest).2

The majority of the Brazilian population resides in this region. The Mata occupies Rio de Janeiro where its presence is undeniably rooted in the city’s identity. It is part of Rio’s overwhelming aesthetic. When viewed, “it can be considered one of life’s three most profound moments” along with the towering peaks and the ocean.3

The configuration of the towering peaks is given by the Serra do Mar (Sea Ridge), a mountain range that, due to constant humidity, donates the richness of the dark foliage and tall trees to the urban scenery.

In a lecture he held at Harvard in 1954, he declared: “A garden in its sider sense is, I think, a careful selection of aspects of nature: water, rock, flower, and foliage; ordered and arranged by man; and in which man may have direct contact with plants. An area in space, however small, in which he may find rest, relaxation, recreation, and above all the feeling that he is living in, and integrated into, this space. It is also a complex of plastic intentions, with a utilitarian purpose: and it should, whenever possible, fuse with the surrounding landscape, while being an extension of the architecture for which it is designed.” 5

He does not consider the garden as an imitation of nature, but an architecture of open spaces. When speaking of the role of a landscape architecture he remarks: “…

The balanced configuration of landscape, garden, and architecture, with man as protagonist, functions as a guide to the orientation of the Pavilion. As was described in previous segments, the circulation is directed from the agglomeration of the residential buildings and lead through the open hall. The space then brings the optical focus towards the vivid screen of florid green vegetation that surrounds the open facades, through the extended cover leading into the landscape, facing towards the vertex of the mountain.

The exuberant nature of Brazil, although omnipresent, was perceived by Burle as having a weak relationship with its inhabitants. The ruptured harmony of coinhabitance can be traced from the land’s destruction by the methods of relentless burning and felling trees to the employment of extensive monocultures of coffee, cotton, and sugarcane of the banderantes7. The

The withdraw from nature is said to have perpetually remained embedded in the consciousness of the Brazilian population. Marx Burle states himself: “for the conquistador of the New World, the forest, the tropical forest most of all, instilled fear. It was the haven of Indios and other wild beasts: the jaguar, the snake, the spider, the alligator and the mosquito. For this reason, the necessity to make strategic clearings and the complex of cutting down and destroying was fostered in the minds of the new inhabitants.”9

During his infancy in Rio de Janeiro, in a rural neighborhood of villas on the margins of the forest, Burle was taught to keep away from the dangers of the forest. Even in the decades to come, the fear and ignorance towards local nature caused neglection towards its features and a distaste in the use of plants deriving from this reality when planning urban greenery or private gardens. Instead, it was preferrable to remain devoted to the European canons of landscaping. This can be put into evidence by Burle’s descriptions of the sickly conifers placed on the tropical seaside, or in his critique of town planning that used foreign species such as lavender and plane trees in the streets.

8. Roberio Dias. “Il Giardino nel Rapporto tra Uomo e Natura.” Roberto Burle Marx: Verso UN Moderno Paesaggio Tropicale, cura B. Boifava e M. D’Ambros. Il Poligrafo, Padova, 2014.

9. Roberto Burle Marx, Jardim e Ecologia, in “Revista Brasileira de Cultura”, n1, 1969

Thus, it is not surprising that Burle discovered an appreciation for the tropical compositions from observing the displays of rare Brazilian plants at the Dahlem Botanical Garden in Berlin. There were other sources or exceptional figures of inspiration for Burle that exemplified the pursuit of native flora in the design of cities. One of these was the French engineer Auguste François Marie Glaziou. In the large urban park of Quintal da Boa Vista, designed by Glaziou in the 19th century for the imperial Portuguese capital, it is important to note the English picturesque gardens that utilize tropical flora. This park held a myriad of solutions appreciated by Burle. Glaziou sought and collected new specimens during expeditions as materials to implement in his designs.

Because the bordering forests bred terror, ignorant, rooted notions posed a distance between the savage and the domesticated. The Brazilian house represented all that was tamed, separate from the unruliness of the forest. What is more, the house was not considered a dwelling but a war trench.10

As the modern architectural vocabulary introduced by Le Corbusier’s five points was being interpreted by the generations of architects formed in Brazil, the role of the edifice in South America was being discussed. There was a desire to come closer to a national identity, through adaptations of the innovative materials to the climate and preservation of traditional decorative or structural elements.

The attempts to integrate the western principles of the modern architecture in the Brazilian urban fabric against the tendency towards excessive decoration, destruction of historic colonial buildings, and the imitation of northern American models was undeniable. However, this movement did not address the problem of incorporating

features of vegetation native to the country with discipline. The first sample of the avant-garde architecture movement that unified architecture and landscape under the same pretense of national identity and formal organisation, was by the naturalized Brazilian architects Gregori Warchavchik and his wife Mina Klabin Warchavchik with the “Casa Modernista”.

The “Casa Modernista”, projected in 1927 by the Polish architect Warchavchik, presented a refreshing example of modern architecture in symbiosis with elements of Brazilian nature. The house situated in Rua Santa Cruz in Sao Paulo, was an attempt to construct architecture that harmonized with the traditions of the nation. The gardens of the villa were planned by Mina Klabin, Gregori Warchavchik’s wife, in a truly innovative fashion, as she used a collection of cacti and other plants native to the country. The garden demonstrated a compositional discipline and planning organisation in the application of tropical vegetation through the groupings of cacti and palms. The artificial combination and organisation of the plants with the similar effect of the abstract planes and lines of the architecture would be later adopted by Burle with an expansion of intent and efficiency.

10. José Lins do Rego, “O homen e a paisagem”, in Alberto Xavier, Arquitetura moderna brasileira: depoimento de uma geração, São Paulo, ABEA/FVA/Pini, p. 301.

10. José Lins do Rego, “O homen e a paisagem”, in Alberto Xavier, Arquitetura moderna brasileira: depoimento de uma geração, São Paulo, ABEA/FVA/Pini, p. 301.

Fig. 48

Front of the Casa modernista, in Rua da Rua Santa Cruz, São Paulo, 1927 by Gregori Warchavchik, Mina Warchavchik

Transfiguration of Materials: Concrete and Stone

Fig. 49

Abstract diagrma of the contact between concrete beams and stone walls

Fig. 50

Closer detail of the sche matic representation,

The first-person act of moving through the objects allows to comprehend the complete identity of their materiality. The various compositional qualities of the materials become absolute through this interpretation. The narrative of the various phases in viewing the architectural object are important to understand their specific role in their application. The concrete slab that functions as the cover of the Pavilion and the set of massive complexes of granite blocks on which it lays are expressed in different moments of space and time. From the two-dimensional façade on the south of the Pavilion, to its lateral view from the east, and finally in a complete turn to its opposite face, from the interior, the transfiguration of the bodies is fully communicated. The concrete and stone are not expressed as a stationary

image, nor static in their substantiation. This statement may seem contradictory to their nature as masses that weigh heavy on the ground. Their solidness comes from their texture and full volumes and gives us, the viewer, initial information of their role as an architectural artifact as well. Instead, their weightlessness derives from the mutation of this initial impression, and through their full observation, we learn of its symbolic presence in the space. It is in the conduction through these elements that their material’s aesthetic maturation is revealed, transmitting a poetic feeling told only through time and space.

As previously described, the slab of concrete acquires a progression of images at different intervals of the path. Initially, from afar, the slab is hardly recognizable in the thickness of the vegetation. It becomes

a foreign object, lost in the vegetation as you would encounter a hidden and ominous solid body of rock in the forest. Therefore, in the beginning the profile has a contrasting image, enticing a curiosity and engaging the mind to complete the object’s identity, as would the horizon blocked by ‘siepe’ (a hedge) for Leopardi. In a second moment, depending on the course chosen, one is faced with the concrete profile from its side, from the main path on the east or on its northern face from behind the main house.

At the point of entrance from the main path, the concrete slab is narrated in an impression of its plastic qualities. Only one side of the concrete is seen, its appearance ugly, overtaken by the unsparing elements of the environment and represented as a flat horizontal element. The planar and

thickness of this image of the material immediately inform us of its function in the system of the building: it is a cover, a shelter over a space underneath.

Instead, arriving to the front from the south, the slab acquires a minimal role, unimposing in the configuration of the Pavilion’s northern façade. As aforementioned in the segment of narration, the concrete acquires the form of one of the granite blocks, where its materiality is doubtful, while being an integral part of a bigger component. The only references that set it apart from the stones are the apertures of the wide windows, its length stretching over the whole wall, the gap made between the perpendicular smooth slab, and the cover itself, casting a short shadow over the blocks.

Fig. 51

Burle Marx posing in front of a wall com posed of re-utilized stones

It becomes a foreign object, lost in the vegetation as you would encounter a hidden and ominous solid body of rock in the forest.

Finally, when entering under its body, the architectural identity of its form is felt as an intimate act of sheltering. The slab creates an environment, a place of living for man. This idea is reinforced by the rhythm of pillars and sets of beams of the same material. The vertical structural elements serve to underline the horizontality and raw substance of the concrete. In a further observation, the solid profile of the slab is figuratively disintegrated, as the skeletal framework of the pergola appears as a direct extension of its body. Therefore, in this phase of the project, the concrete takes on a certain lightness, resolute in its geometrical rule and harmonious with that of the garden and surrounding nature.

the object. Instead, the calculated vision between the viewer and the pergola’s frames and columns, evokes a pure and organised rule; the mind finds pleasure in the economy of thought. The systematic rhythm of the concrete ensemble and its precision in its materialization perform as a visual bridge to the viewer in interpreting the forms composing the progression of spatial experiences.

1. Calvino, I., & Man ganelli, G. (2017).

Lezioni americane. Mondadori, p. 68

The image of the raw plastic material completes a metamorphosis, from the vague and imprecise of the object’s ominous presence in the forest, it becomes a solid and pragmatic architectural element and finally terminates with a decomposed image determined by precise language. Calvino speaks of the impressions and symbolic meaning of accuracy versus vague in analogous terms of the contrasting transfiguration of images. The imprecise and vague, not being able to see everything, contributes to the corresponding pleasure taken in the act of ‘vagare’ (to wander) in the multiplicity and uncertainty of

Yet, in the definite form of the pergola, another image is proposed in a different shade of contrasting nature. Through the reading in the key that sees the concrete structure as a transposition of nature, we find the vague amidst the organised. Calvino spoke of a forest canopy as an element that could ignite ‘piacere’ (pleasure) in the assortment of the incorrectness, vague horizon, or evasiveness of the soft filtered sunlight in the following passage:

“È piacevolissima e sentimentalissima la stessa luce veduta nelle città, dov’ella è frastagliata dalle ombre, dove lo scuro contrasta in molti luoghi col chiaro, dove la luce in molte parti degrada appoco appoco...A questo piacere contribuisce la varietà, l’incertezza, il non veder tutto, e il potersi perciò spaziare coll’immaginazione, riguardo a ciò che non si vede. Similmente dico dei simili effetti, che producono gli alberi ... “1

the artificial concrete canopy interprets both order and the abovementioned quality of delightful vague

“The same light seen in the cities, where it is jagged by shadows, where the dark contrasts with the light in many places, is very pleasant and very sentimental, where the light in many parts gradually degrades ... The variety contributes to this pleasure, the uncertainty, not seeing everything, and therefore being able to wander with the imagination, regarding what cannot be seen. Similarly, I say of the similar effects which trees produce…”

Thus, the artificial concrete canopy interprets both order and the abovementioned quality of delightful vague. The conscious and perceptive use of materials in an intimate connection with the observer demonstrates a great sensibility in Burle’s rather abstract art form.

In juxtaposition to the concrete, the stone wall also bears a transfiguration of importance to the narration. The walls of stone, in the initial encounter from afar, result more natural in their state as they are a product of minerals less refined. What is interesting is to see their transfiguration from their exterior face to their interior. From the northern façade, the assembly of blocks are sedate and uniform, composing a unique fortified wall. Together with the concrete slab, the initial impression is that of an object that is fortified. The fortification is not merely in substance, as a dark and gray amour. It also seems to sheath a small paradisiac enclosed space. Thanks to the absence of some of the granite blocks, in the form of a window, what can be seen past the thickness of the wall is a rather dark and

Fig. 52

Series of diagrams illustrating the simple forms of the spac es,each corrisponding to a position in the walk through the Pavilion

2. Roberto Burle Marx: The unnatural art of the garden (1st Edition), (1991). Distributed by H.N. Abrams, p. 21

3. Rizzo, G. G. (2009). Il giardino privato di Roberto Burle Marx. Gangem, p. 51

somber cavernous dwelling that empowers the compactness of the granite, and in a mighty contrast, a source of illumination originates at a farther distance through a screen of viridescent sunlight reflecting vivid green shades.

4. Refers to the Art nouveau architectural tendency that gave rise to destruction of older architectures in the center of Rio.

Shifting around the uniform wall, the single blocks composing the body acquire an individuality, as does the slab of cement separating itself from them. The overlaying in random patterns and the maximized texture of the porous surface once again gives life to the material. The granite blocks used in the construction of different edifices on the property, such as the wall confining the garden of Burle’s residence, introduced at the beginning of the narration, were ‘rescued’ from old Portuguese colonial buildings. Many fragments of historical buildings were victim to the fashion of destroying older Brazilian architecture, gardens, and parks, a trend that had gained popularity in the name of the decorative excess of Art Nouveau.2 In fact, the blocks incorporated in the walls of the Pavilion were taken from the Muralha da Gloria that surrounded the church “Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Gloria do Outeiro”, a construction which was found on the present Aterro do Flamengo.3

The fragmented appearance of the stone

blocks can be noted when observing them as whole objects. In a successive moment, their disjointed profiles become evident through a contrast in light and shadow. Moreover, the blocks are revived to their state in the structure of the Pavilion. From the interior of the hall, the walls become structural objects that interact with the newer material, the concrete slabs and beams. The granite blocks are not superficial decorative elements of a partition underneath. They compose a whole and bear the load of the cover that meets this material directly. The stone slabs are not insincerely applied as ornamental excess, the source of its demise4 but valued as a functional component of the architecture, permitting the melancholic fragments to perform again, gaining some of the dignity and identity lost in their dismantlement. In addition, the beams that run underneath the slab pass through the wall thanks to perforations of the same size in the profiles, collaborating to form a unique structure.

The poetic charge of the arcadian concrete and stone, and their impressions of vague and pure forms, are not found in a still image, but through this narration, the richness of their identity unfolds.

“Details, when they are successful, are not mere decoration. They do not distract or entertain. They lead to an understanding of the whole of which they are an inherent part.”

Peter Zumthor

Fig. 53

Original drawing rep resenting the precise organization of the various species in flowerbeds north of the Pavilion

Artificial Organization ofNature

Throughout the course of the spatial narration, objects of natural material such as the vegetation, water, and other minerals have made their presence significant in the project and in Burle’s other works. The vegetation is organised in an artificial form and applied in the spaces of the Pavilion with the same architectural determination and concise manner as construction materials. The placement of the various specimens of plants are decided according to aesthetic principles1 and a sensibility to their ecological characteristics. The flora is the heart of the Sítio because the property itself was first purchased intended as a laboratory for specimens to be inserted in the designs of urban parks, gardens, and architecture. As mentioned previously, the Sítio is not a completed work when compared to the finished compositions of his official commissioned projects. According to the artist, the purpose of the gardens of the property were to be experimental canvases for applying his paints and plants, cultivated from the ripados or brought in from various expeditions. Thus, plants participate as a principle compositional material for the open spaces of Burles’s residence. Despite the continuous mutation of the Sítio’s vegetative plots, because of inevitable natural phenomena, and the fact that the built edifices were planned and constructed in different periods, the ideation of the property remains a conscious product of an executed work.

integrity of both architecture and landscape, the formality of a compositional element like concrete and stone, and the symbolic importance within the agenda of the Sítio as an instrument of learning for its visitors. One of the most notable aspects of Burle’s works that contributes to the plastic aspect of the Pavilion’s spatial experience in time and space, and the pragmatic use of selected specimens in the garden, is the understanding of the plant as an unstable manifestation of life. The artist himself states that:

“To understand plants or their forms, it is necessary to understand all the series of profiles that define a plant in time and space. Analyzing it, one can find a succession of necessary states, complimentary and interdependent-germination, growing, flowering, and fruiting- phenomena with translate a position in space into a project.” 2

1. Refers to the aes thetic principles of cub ism and abstraction be longing the approach to form and color of his generation.

2. Doherty, G., & Finotti, L. (2020b). Roberto Burle Marx Lectures: Landscape as Art and Urbanism. Lars Müller Publishers, p. 168

The Stone Kitchen, or the Pavilion is not an exception to the product of an organised flora. Inside, the vegetation bears the

The variables that make up the plant life, under the powerful tool of observation, such as the wavering elements of light, wind, and temperature, amount to a great creative potential for the artist. In the garden of the Pavilion, harmony arises in utilizing certain plants sensitive to the site-specific environment and tangible appearance.

The disposition of the garden itself is a transposition of the characteristics of the Mata Atlântica: the thin repetitive concrete beams raised above the floor of the garden act as a canopy, sheltering the plants and filtering sunlight. This environment is the ordered image of the forest in proximity light, wind, and temperature, amount to a great creative potential for the artist.

technical and artistic solutions are not in conflict with each other; they live with each other 3. Ibidem 2. 4. Ibidem 3

5. Reminiscent of bamboos, Rhapis is a small evergreen palm with upright, slender, bamboo-like canes bearing delicate, glossy, dark green, fanshaped leaves.

to the site. The associations found in the Serra do Mar are characterized by a rich and intricate undergrowth thanks to the protection coming from the treetops. The plants populating the spaces between the columns, and under the beams, demonstrate, as Burle has said referring to this system, “the sight of that association of plants gives us the impression of a covenant for living together.”3 The balance was an important theme to implement into the aesthetic feeling of the garden, as he used it to “emphasize the characteristics of certain species”.4 Furthermore, the collection of plants in the garden are not delimited based on geographic region. Burle also implemented specimens from overseas if the associative relationship remained integral. For example, the Strongylodon macrobotrys, which crawls its way around the central pillar of the garden, is a specie originating from the Philippines. However, their jade green and thick leaflets are coherent with the rest of the lively green foliage of the garden.

The other components under the pergola, other than coexisting under an analogous ecological rule, serve in guiding the optical sense. In other words, the groupings have plastic qualities expressed through the thickness, height, span, color of their foliage, stems, and flowers. Some of these vegetative members can be easily represented on a plan as their abstract formations are well-defined shapes and volumes. It sheds its nomenclature and place of origin to become an object of form and color, gaining life in its reactiveness to its surroundings. The jade vine, in fact, is placed to envelop the entirety of a column, set to underline its vertical line, and continues intertwining with the horizontal lines of the beams, countering their juxtaposition.

Another example is the group of Rhapis5 arising from the water. They have a clear circular form that breaks the constant theme of linearity in the plan. Their 4 Ibidem 2

sensual aggregation of delicate leaflets also serves to rupture the bleakness of the flat body of water, pronouncing their contrasting images. In a similar manner, the less distinct, rounded shape of the Anthuriums on their side, create a more solid and fleshy appearance. Rather than creating a contrast, their voluminous and dark body forms a visual continuation of the water and wall that lie adjacent to them.

The same key of analysis can be performed on the other groupings of plants found in the garden as briefly illustrated in the previous narrative. As the lush and green garden under the pergola retains an intentional ecological and artistic organisation, the flora in proximity to the Pavilion also performs in such terms. The garden north of the Kitchen, also described as containing the rupestrian collections of Bromeliaceae, corresponds to a relatively drier and more variable environment. As the nature it transposes, the garden contains associations found in the Cerrado region. Many of the specimens are advantageously sparse and inserted in a layer of bed rock. Thus, the vision between the two residential units, the back of the house and the front of the Kitchen, share the same visual plane, uninterrupted by thick florid vegetation that instead sheaths the view of the Pavilion from the main path. In addition to the ecological orchestration of vegetal matter in name of aesthetic principles, the plants under the pergola and in the proximity of the Pavilion were placed to display their botanical properties. In fact, the concept of the Pavilion derived from the idea of creating a node in the promenade, a laboratory program dedicated to gatherings of Burle’s visitors, where the role of the Pavilion was not confined to social purposes but also functioned as an educational instrument.

Harry Laus, as a matter of fact, states in the article presenting the project for the first time, that the floral displays were to “invite visitors to have a facilitated perspective

foliage, stems, and fl owers

through the thickness, height, span, color of their

the groupings have plastic qualities expressed

Fig. 54

Personal exercise in the abstraction of plant life through drawing

I want to see therefore I draw

Scarpa

6. O pavilhão do sítio de Roberto. H. Laus. (1964). JORNAL DO BRASIL, Ano LXXIII (N° 1), 4.

and understanding of the coexistence of elements of interest to them…”.6

...the landscape, if I give it the chance, offers me freedom and serenity. Nature has a different sense of time. Time is big in the land scape...

Burle also practices a great sensibility with respect to the other materials of mineral origin that, in paring with the flora and built forms of the stone and concrete, create situations of poetic significance. Rock and pebbles, as would be found in a river in their primitive state, line the bottom of the pool of the garden where steady streams of water glide over the refined and melancholic engraved granite slabs. As aforementioned, this image is an association already found in nature: a small stream in the forest. The water, that originates visually from atop the roof and from the series of walls on the elevated perimeter of the garden, assumes a role on par of the vegetation and the artificial materials. The water does not appear in a casual state, placed frivolously and decoratively in a secondary position. Instead, the spaces where it passes are molded to harbor its fluid and running body. Through the representation of the sections of the Pavilion, one can note the influence of the water element. It is clear how the built form would drastically change in form if it were not to host the movement of the water.

Furthermore, the water shapes the experience of the space in time, the direction of the flow of water directs the movement towards the heart of the garden. The ‘partition’ formed by the falling water from the cover divides the two planar volumes specific to the location in the walk of the Pavilion, to direct the gaze towards the ‘unveiling’ of the garden. The richness in this surprise, and the visual and auditory guidance contributes towards the advancement and accumulation of sensations throughout the Pavilion.

The plastic and abstract qualities that inspired the art belonging to Burle’s generation are attributed to natural elements in an artificial form. As an architect of open spaces, the application of elements of plants and minerals, tantamount with concrete and stone, remains a constant subordination of the recurring dominion of the spatial experience over the Pavilion’s ideation.

Amoebic shapes provide contrast with the angular shapes of a building

Fig. 55

Sketch of the Rhapis in the pool Fig. 56

Sketch of another plant composition, expressed through its volume

Carlo

Project Evolution

There is an aspiration for free creation, in order to avoid any results that are routine or compositions with aesthetic preconception, deeply rooted in his understanding of the natural world

An introduction of the Pavilion written by Harry Laus1, was published on the Jornal do Brasil at the beginning of 1964. 2 In this article, Laus describes the project selected by IAB the year prior as one of the winning ideas under the category “Habitação Unifamiliar” (“Free-Standing Housing”).3

Preparations for the project commenced in the 1960’s with the first layout proposed in 1963. Initially, it was conceived as a single-family Pavilion, hosting in addition to the garden-dining hall, a two-bedroom living quarters in a separate building. ¹

Laus illustrates some of the significant concepts that moved the ideation and construction of the Habitação In comparison to the final execution of the project, presumably dating shortly after 1965, the initial design proposed themes that through a variety of changes to the configuration are maintained if not expressed in more decisive terms. While performing an observation of evolution of the Pavilion through the plans, sections and perspective drawings provided by the Barroso’s documentation, certain nodes become apparent as the agents that motivated the spatial organisation.

1. Harry Laus (Tijuca, 1922 – Florianópolis, 1992) was a Brazilian art critic and writer, he was a periodical writer for the art section for the Journal do Brasil

2. O pavilhão do sítio de Rob erto. H. Laus. (1964). JORNAL DO BRASIL, Ano LXXIII (N° 1), 4

3. Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil escolhe os melhores projetos entre os de 63. (1963). JORNAL DO BRASIL, Ano LXXIII (N° 279), 8.

Fig. 57

Masterplan of original pro proposal dating 1963

In fact, the same qualities that Harry Laus attributed to the Habitação Unifamiliar are found in points of the drawings that undergo obsessive modifications or are unaltered through a process of selection.

The themes that Laus writes about in the article and that are omnipresent and tangible through experience are reminiscent of those that determined the specific impressions extracted from the narration of the Pavilion: the uniformity of spaces between architecture and landscape, and the consideration in applying modern materials and methods in relation to the stone structure in the built form.

The first node of importance is the persistent search

The body knows and remembers. Architectural meaning derives from archaic responses and reactions remembered by the body and the senses. Pallasmaa, Fig. 58 Grounfloor plan dating 1964, this drawing does not present the single family housing, favouring the insertion of a wall as solution

Fig.59 Redrawing of the masterplan in current conditions, simplified to make a comparison to the previous drawing

for a uniformity of space throughout the Pavilion; there is a continuity in the surface level and texture, as well as an unremitted vision between the principal volumes of the dining hall, the garden, and the consequent landscape of the Sítio. The correspondence of the spaces sets a harmony between the distinguished phases: the built, the artificial nature, and the primitive. The three phases of the Pavilion correspond to an awareness in the insertion of the construction in the fabric of the mountain’s morphology and ecological environment, and that of the symbolic and formal system of the built residential units. The problem of the coherency to the context is found in the authors’ first intentions: “The first concern was the adequacy of the new construction in face of the topography and its adjacency to the historical, contiguous patrimony. For this reason, they decided to situate the construction as a logical addition to

the existing system, without disturbing its appearance, and to stand predominant in the landscape, without imitating its natural attributes in an inauthentic way.”, Harry Laus states at the beginning of the article.

From a comparison with the masterplans, the Pavilion is positioned in a similar configuration as in the final project. It appropriated analogous properties with respect to the residential buildings due north and the topography of the landscape on the remaining sides. In the area under the second segment of ‘L’ shape of the pergola, running parallel to the plan of the hall, there is a square shaped single story building housing the living quarters. The edifice is placed lower, naturally sunk into the ground, according to the descent of the land. The house, with its built form, takes the same proportions of the garden it borders. However, because the building is

inscribed in the portion of the descending ground, with respects to the level of the garden, a section of the view towards the peripheral forest is left free. In addition to the attempt to create a continuum with the surrounding nature on the western façade, the elevation of the second mass was conceived as a continuation of the floor of the dining hall; the effect is that of a unique opening that runs across the whole Pavilion, emphasizing the strong parallelism of the horizontal elements and of the protraction of the main hall into the garden. The plans dating after the first proposal, instead, opted for the placement of a wall of similar dimension, fulfilling a similar role to that of the building. The perceived intentions of first designs, in confining all sides of the garden with vertical elements, is one of an enclosed courtyard garden. The courtyard garden represented in the plans and the perspective drawings consisted of a more

sculpturesque prominent progression of fountains and intertwining paths between flowerbeds. In these designs, the theatrical water elements, and the intricacy of the circulation between floral compositions gives the impression of a ‘giardino meraviglioso’ (wonderful garden) that is closed off from the proximate landscape.

When considering the integrity between the vision of the hall, garden, and the forest, it signifies the absence of physical and optical restrictions. The consistent pattern of the transverse beams that contributes to structure of the Pavilion itself are also intervals that define the planar and uninterrupted unity of the central space. The pillars wedged in between the two beams limit the extremities of the Pavilion, allowing a large portion under the cover and in the garden to be liberated of obstacles, marking through vertical lines

in questo modo si genera il prolungamen to delle linee e degli elementi da comporre insieme in un ambiente in modo collaborativo

Fig 60

Perspective drawing of exterior, 1964

Fig. 61

Perspective drawing of the garden in the interior, 1964

a planar quality to the architecture. An important alteration in the plans is noted when making another close comparison: the centrality given by the axis leading the spaces from the kitchen to the extremity of the garden is broken in the drawings of the previous plans. An additional set of beams and its row of columns employed is represented, pervading the middle of the hall. The placement of the central beams commands an explicit symmetry of the space, dividing the hall into two. The structural members again extend towards the exterior as do the other groupings, continuing the fragmentation in the volume of the garden. From the initial proposal, the lateral entrance to the Pavilion was composed of a series of steppingstones set atop a pool, presumably even to the stone flooring. The pool takes up a fourth of the dining hall’s surface area and flows down in a progression of cascades parallel to the hall, into the garden. In addition, the kitchen is rendered distinct from the rest of the hall; large counters are placed in front of the oven and the interruption of the stone pattern of the floor establish the kitchen as a separate environment. The entrance on water and the distinguished kitchen space strays from the conception of having a singular open hall, rather it enunciates three individual conditions. The removal the pool entrance, the superfluous volumes of the kitchen counters, and most importantly, the central arrangement of concrete members, were crucial development in

the project: the space acquired coherence in the continuity between volumes, from interior extending towards the exterior, from the sheltered and completely artificial space between the cover and the slab to the formal organisation of the structural and plant material, to the plastic attributes on the marginal vegetation, and finally to the completely untamed nature.

On the same axis, what now can be said to be a frame of the landscape or the open view of the climbing terrain in direction of the mountain top, was to be initially concealed, enclosed by the structure of the concrete pergola. The original drawings illustrate the insertion of a wall lining the southern perimeter of the garden, assuming the same function as the wall of epiphytes- englobing the beams ends. The construction, together with the house, or in alternative, the wall spanning on the western margin and the wall on the eastern perimeter of the garden, limited the connection between the floral compositions and the exterior nature, rather reinforcing the idea of an isolated courtyard.

The Pavilion, in fact, from the drawings of a previous model, was placed parallel to the level of the terrain on its eastern face, where the main path took its course. This favoured the leveled pool and the set of steppingstones as a solution for the eastern entrance. Thus, the insertion of another vertical limit on this side was impelled

Fig 62

Schematic diagrams highlighting the division of spaces according to the removal of the cen tral pair of beams

The placement of the central beams commands an explicit symmetry of the space, dividing the hall into two

Fig 63.

Sections of the Pavil ion, 1963

Fig. 64

Sections of the Pavilion according to the cur rent state, 2022

The elements of architecture are not visual units or gestalt; they are encounters, confrontations that interact with memory.

Juhani Pallasmaa,

to ensure that the interior would not be revealed immediately. However, the choice to deepen the body of the Pavilion farther into the terrain proves to be more efficient in neutralizing the weight of the architecture on the landscape. Furthermore, the descent into the heart of the Pavilion with the series of soft granite steps, conducted laterally by the cascading of water and raised levels of terrain and vegetation, permit a rather continuous progression into the spaces whilst being able to communicate the horizontal forms of the concrete slab that cover in more descriptive terms.

The integrity of the Pavilion is also achieved through the texture of the surfaces. The recurring stone slabs contribute to create uniformity throughout all the dining hall and garden volumes, and the areas of connection between the Pavilion and the residential units. The stone

slabs cover the entirety main surface floor, the exterior garden, and the paths of the garden rear to the main house, in irregular rectangular patterns. In addition to the uniformity of the stone floors and the continuous concrete structure that englobe the environment of the interior into the exterior or vice versa, large porous granite slabs overlay surfaces of vertical elements, in places pronounced by changes of level, such as the surfaces lateral to the entrance’s steps or on the base of the dining hall.

Following the concern of forming a coalition between the three phases of the Pavilion, a great importance is given to the modus operandi in the application of materials in the structure according to their formal and textural attributes in space and time. Laus states “… the project makes use of materials, methods, and configurations

Architecture is essentially an extension of nature into the man made realm, providing the ground for perception and the horizon of experiencing and understanding the world. It is not an isolated and self-sufficient artifact

Juhani Pallasmaa

Fig. 65

Drawing of the Con struction plans, 1965

Construction is the art of making a meaningful whole out of many parts. Buildings are witnesses to the human ability to construct concrete things. I believe that the real core of all architectural work lies in the act of construction. At the point in time concrete materials are assembled and erected, the architecture we have been looking for becomes part of the real world.

Fig. 66

View of the Pavil ion hidden behind a screen of vegetation (p. 82)

compatible with our contemporaneity, seeking to obtain legitimate solutions according to singular design problem”.4

The configurations and methods of their contemporaneity refers to the plastic treatment of concrete. The structure of the concrete and that of the stone walls, floors and coverings, instead has remained persistent in the configuration of the Pavilion. The interaction between the different material bodies is represented in every solution as a permanent relationship. An assumption on this basis is that the themes closely associated to architecture do not change through the ‘evolution’ of the project, demonstrating its strong conceptualization from the beginning.

Laus offers a description of the structural program of the Pavilion that proves unaltered in its final execution: “The construction is based, in terms of materials, on a mixed structure of reinforced concrete and stone, defined as a pinna slab (cover) in exposed ribs supported by concrete pillars and stone walls. The slatted structure is a result of the extension of the ribbed slab, with fittings for precast concrete beams according to the need for shading and lighting. The concrete was to be treated without coating, revealing the material in its rawness. The stone supports were to use elements of old constructions, obtained in the demolitions, chosen according to artistic criteria (entablatures, cornices, columns, frames, slabs, etc.), to create surfaces of noble material, marked by the contrast of the fine handcrafted finish of the slabs with stone5 in its natural state.”6

The operation of using concrete and stone in the project, bearing the semblance of their mass, is a theme dictated by the pure architectural principles. Their invariability through the selection process of the design phase seems to be coherent to that of the stability of architectural matter, in

6 Ibidem 2.

comparison to the sensitive problem of inserting the Pavilion in the landscape.

It is important to note in the technical plan, intended for the constructors, the clear structural quality of the stone walls. The distinct shape of their profiles shed their apparent inconclusiveness in the irregular stacking of the ‘historical reminiscent’ stone blocks and leads the symmetrical placement of the columns according to their organisation. The same relationship is represented in the sections of the project, where the vertical walls of stone are set on the same level of the concrete elements, demonstrating a more harmonious hierarchy. The process of transfiguration of the concrete cover is pertinent throughout the documents as well. Its poetic disintegration can be appreciated in the architectural drawings, from plans and sections. Cartesian and precision rule the structural members. Following their placement and proportion is a node that demonstrates itself to be decisive from the initial proposal, leading the narration of the Pavilion’s spaces.

4. Ibidem 2.

5. Original: …” can teiros com pedra” ... translated here as “slabs with stone”; canteiros is interpreted as referring to the ele ments obtain ed from demolition.

6. Ibidem 4

The nodes illustrated, and deemed significant in the process of selection, are crucial in understanding the relation between sensed organisation of the spaces and their moving principles. Cartesian and preci sion rule the structural members. Following their placement and proportion is a node that demonstrates itself to be decisive from the initial proposal, leading the narration of the Pavilion’s spaces.

Peter Zumthor

ConclusionThe balance, or rather, the sense of unity between man, built form, and landscape embodied through the garden “shows itself in the many small nuances that can awake poetic feelings; and these feelings of pleasure, or the awareness of beauty, with those even of simply feeling hot or cold, come down to the physical and chemical processes which are the basis of all vital manifestations.”

The incitation behind the subject of the work began from a desire to resolve the perceptions found during a first-person experience of the Pavilion, at the time of a visit of the Sítio Burle Marx. In the experience of the space, in a time frame, or rather in ‘an accumulation of objects, of plants, of odors, of colors, and of sensations’, I found there to be an underlying force made of rules moving the dimensional organisation. The act of passing through a walk that impressed poetic images, and surprising unveiling of details, instigated an excitement and intrigue towards understanding the formal principles at hand. The complete stratification of the path, through the property, communicated a clear intention; the Pavilion, belonged to a unique narration. The Pavilion is expressed through the larger context of the Sítio, a distinguished order, given by an immediate reading of the space, such as the rhythm decided by the pillars, the horizontality from the slabs, the significance of the organic matter as a formal material, and the harmonious relation of the built within the landscape. The themes close to Roberto Burle Marx that frame the importance of the sensations and impressions of a man in a harmonious relationship with the architecture, landscape, and the unstable plant material are expressed through the tangible qualities of the Pavilion.

The principal author of the creation and their values were unbeknownst to me before the visit; I had only a few notions sufficient to state where and what I was visiting. However, the lack of knowledge

regarding both the artist and his work were not necessary to grasp the intentions permeating through the spatial experience. After the consequent discovery of the depths of the significance of Burle’s intentions, a personal search for material was set off to fulfill a reminiscent curiosity of the artist’s values and the intriguing perceptions of a plastic and spatial quality, perceivably of the same intrinsic nature belonging to a series of Brazilian modern architectures such as Niemeyer, Rocha, Artigas, Bo Bardi, Costa, Rocha, and Reidy.

In a confrontation of the collected body of literature regarding Burle’s significant notions, I found that there is a vast quantity of descriptions of his values and of his principal works under abstract and general terms. It is seldom possible to encounter narrations of his works as a corpus completum (complete body), and in key of a spatial narration. The Pavilion cannot be understood to its full extent if not with this method of interpretation.

Furthermore, these descriptions seem to emerge only in fragments, and often solely in the words of Brule. In the moment that one seeks to touch the embodiment of his work through words, the descriptions seem to disperse in an act of resignation.

The search to complete the narration of the Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion led to carry out a critical reading in its regards. Through my interpretation and the support of fundamental literature, I selected themes and crucial nodes inherent to understand the work.

1. Doherty, G., & Finot ti, L. (2020). Roberto Burle Marx Lectures: Landscape as Art and Urbanism. Lars Müller Publishers, p. 169

Finally, the most fundamental concept to recognize from this analysis, as mentioned previously, was the relation between the observer and the architecture. The architecture of the dining hall and the garden placed man as protagonist of the space, considering the sensations and feelings reactive to the surrounding. The centrality of the composition is expressed through the volumes, surfaces, lines, analogies, contrasts, color, texture, and form of both artificial and organic matter. Through the words of Burle, the aspiration of the architecture is to conduct man through these elements in a way they feel part of a unity, “as the richness of detail reveals itself as in music, space, and time.”

1 The Pavilion is to be seen as a garden, or an architecture of open spaces; it is “linked with all the functions that exist in nature to form an organic unity; and also bound up in it are the lives of human beings, in search of equilibrium, happiness, or identification with their surroundings.” The balance, or rather, the sense of unity between man, built form, and landscape embodied through the garden “shows itself in the many small nuances that can awake poetic feelings; and these feelings of pleasure, or the awareness of beauty, with those even of simply feeling hot or cold, come down to the physical and chemical processes which are the basis of all vital manifestations.”

Adams, W. H. (1991). Roberto Burle Marx: The unnatural art of the garden. Distributed by H.N. Abrams.

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Bognar, B. (1989). [Review of Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens: Design Principles, Aesthetic Values., by D. A. Slawson]. The Journal of Asian Studies, 48(3), 627–628.

Boifava, D. B. M. (2014). Roberto Burle Marx. Verso un moderno paesaggio tropicale Il Poligrafo.

Doherty, G., & Finotti, L. (2020). Roberto Burle Marx Lectures: Landscape as Art and Urbanism Lars Müller Publishers.

Goodwin, P. L., Smith, G. E. K., Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), & Jay I. Kislak Reference Collection (Library of Congress). (1943). Brazil builds: Architecture new and old, 1652-1942. New York: The Museum of Modern Art.

Holl, S., Pallasmaa, J., & Perez-Gomez, A. (2007). Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture. William K Stout Pub.

Leopardi, G. (2015). Zibaldone - edizione completa (Emozioni senza tempo Vol. 246) (Italian Edition). Fermento.

McCarter, R., & Pallasmaa, J. (2012). Understanding Architecture. Phaidon Press. Rizzo, G. G. (2009). Il giardino privato di Roberto Burle Marx. Gangemi.

Pallasmaa J. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, Jhon Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichster (2005).

Pallasmaa, J. (2012). The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Wiley.

Zevi, B. (1971). Cronache di architettura: Vol. VI (dalla scomparsa di F. L. Wright all’inaugurazione di Brasilia ed.). Universale Laterza.

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Articles

Gallanti, F. (n.d.). Political Concrete: New Materials and Architecture for Brazilian Modernity

Istituto de Arquitetos do Brasil escolhe os melhores projetos entre os de 63. (1963). JORNAL DO BRASIL, Ano LXXIII (N° 279), 8.

Marx, R. B., (1954), A Garden Style in Brazil to Meet Contemporary Needs: With Emphasis on The Paramount Value of Native Plants. American Society of Landscape Architects. Vol. 44, No. 4

Marx, R. B. (1969). Jardim e Ecologia. Revista Brasileira de Cultura. n1, 1969

O pavilhão do sítio de Roberto. H. Laus. (1964). JORNAL DO BRASIL, Ano LXXIII (N° 1), 4.

Piccaroli, G. Topics in Landscape Architecture History And Theory

Siqueira, V. B. (2009), Burle Marx: paisagens transversas, 2nd Edition. Cosac Naify.

IPHAN. (2019). Nomination of Sítio Roberto Burle Marx for the Inscription of the World Heritage List

Sitography

Cultural, I. I. (2022). Harry Laus. Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural. https://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/ pessoa10957/harry-laus

Guerra, A. (2006). entrevista 028.02: José Tabacow | vitruvius.Vitruvius. https://vitruvius.com.br/revistas/ read/entrevista/07.028/3299?page=3

Schmidt, C. (2022, April 14). Tapestried Landscape: The Queer Influence of Roberto Burle Marx on Elizabeth Bishop’s Brazil | Modernism / Modernity Print+. Modernism/ Modernity. https://modernismmodernity.org/articles/ schmidt-tapestried-landscape-queer-influence-robertoburle-marx-elizabeth-bishops-brazil

Gorlin, A. (2016, January 30). Burle Marx Garden Tour in Rio de Janeiro with Alexander Gorlin. Architectural Digest. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/alexandergorlin-visits-burle-marx-gardens

Gorlin, A. (2016b, January 30). Burle Marx Garden Tour in Rio de Janeiro with Alexander Gorlin. Architectural Digest. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/alexandergorlin-visits-burle-marx-gardens

Budick, A. (2016, May 27). Jewish Museum honours Roberto Burle Marx. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/ content/3db659e6-1867-11e6-b197-a4af20d5575e

Graham Foundation > Grantees > Catherine Seavitt Nordenson. (2018). Depositions: Roberto Burle Marx and Public Landscapes under Dictatorship. http:// grahamfoundation.org/grantees/5618-depositionsroberto-burle-marx-and-public-landscapes-underdictatorship

List of Figures

Fig. 01 Fig. 02-04 Fig. 05 Fig. 06 Fig. 07 Fig. 08 Fig. 09 Fig. 10 Fig. 11 Fig. 12-13 Fig. 14 Fig. 15-16 Fig. 17-18

© Zara Muren Asla

© Filippo Poli

©Carlotta Mazzola

© Patty Lundeen

© Bercy Chen Studio

©Museo Nacional del Prado Archives

© Filippo Poli

©Burle Marx/Giulio Rizzo

© Filippo Poli

© Bercy Chen Studio

©Claudio Zieger

© Bercy Chen Studio ©Jackie Zannetti

Fig. 19-20 Fig. 21 Fig. 22 Fig. 23 Fig. 24-25 Fig. 26-27 Fig. 28 Fig. 29 Fig. 30-31 Fig. 32-W33 Fig. 34 Fig. 35-37 Fig. 38 Fig. 39 Fig. 40-42 Fig. 43 Fig. 44 Fig. 45-46 Fig. 47 Fig. 48-49 Fig. 50 Fig. 51 Fig. 52 Fig. 53 Fig. 54-56 Fig. 57-58 Fig. 59 Fig. 60-61 Fig. 62 Fig. 63 Fig. 64 Fig. 65 Fig. 66 Fig. 67

© Bercy Chen Studio

© Riotur.Rio © unknown author ©Chris Ferreira

© Filippo Poli © Bercy Chen Studio

©RIOSOLIDARIO ©Jackie Zannetti © Filippo Poli © Eric Roger Stone

© Alexander Gorlin

© Bercy Chen Studio ©Jackie Zannetti © Filippo Poli ©Jackie Zannetti

© Bercy Chen Studio

© Alexander Gorlin

© Bercy Chen Studio Cultural ©Jackie Zannetti

©2001-2022 Itaù Cultural ©Jackie Zannetti

©Instituto Moreira Salles ©Jackie Zannetti ©Burle Marx/Giulio Rizzo ©Jackie Zannetti

©Museo do Ingá ©Jackie Zannetti ©Museo do Ingá ©Jackie Zannetti ©Museo do Ingá ©Jackie Zannetti ©Museo do Ingá

© Bercy Chen Studio Cultural ©Tyba

acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to my professor, Luka Skansi, for his invaluable patience and feedback. I need to give my thanks to the director of the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx, Claudia Storino; without her help, this work wouldn't have been possible. I am grateful to be able to divulge in a subject I find so very interesting, that looking for the words and ways to express that was an exercise I appreciated to learn from. I am also thankful to my colleagues Giacomo, Andres, Christopher, Lee Hom, and Yihe for their help, late-night feedback, moral support and for the company in various brief visits to Milano. Thanks should also go to the librarians, and the beautiful places that they inhabit, inspiring me everyday to entertain my curiosity through research and discovery, without having the necessity to travel very far. My thanks to my friends whose company I've had the pleasure to keep while working and sharing meals with for what seems endless amount of days. Lastly, I would be remiss in not mentioning my Mother who has helped me infinitely, in all her ways possible.

final page: Fig. 67 Burle Marx is holding a Heliconia Hirsuta Burle Marxii

Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

Roberto Burle Marx Pavilion

ROBERTO BURLE MARX PAVILION

The Pavilion is to be seen as a garden, or an architecture of open spaces; it is “linked with all the functions that exist in nature to form an organic unity; and also bound up in it are the lives of human beings, in search of equilibrium, happiness, or identification with their surroundings.” The balance, or rather, the sense of unity between man, built form, and landscape embodied through the garden “shows itself in the many small nuances that can awake poetic feelings; and these feelings of pleasure, or the awareness of beauty, with those even of simply feeling hot or cold, come down to the physical and chemical processes which are the basis of all vital manifestations.”