Roberto Burle Marx

On this cold, snowy, winters day we thought it would be nice to visit a warmer, more tropical climate.  What better place than Brazil!?  The following works were created by Landscape Architect Roberto Burle Marx. Burle Marx was born in 1909 in São Paulo Brazil and died June 4, 1994, in Rio de Janeiro.  He was known as a modern nature artist and a public urban space designer. Burle Marx was fascinated with the natural world and was said to have spent a great deal of time within Brazil’s rain-forests studying the plant communities and structures to inform his design decisions.  It is said that  all of his time spent in the rain forest let to the discovery new rocks and plants; at least 30 plants bear his name.

plant from Roberto Burle Marx’s estate

Roberto Burle Marx’s estate

Roberto Burle Marx’s estate

museum of modern art, Brazil

Roberto Burle Marx’s design of the Copacabana boardwalk in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

unknown

National Congress of Brazil, Brasilia

museum of modern art, Brazil

Our 3 office dogs; Burle, Kiley, and Simon

Hi I’m Burle the two pictures above are of me.  I’m named after Roberto Burle Marx.  I’m really loud and have an irrational fear of hats and stairs.  My favorite things to eat are carrots.  Or maybe it’s just the noise I like.  They’re crunchy.  Anytime someone in the office is eating carrots for lunch I look deep into their eyes willing them to give me one.  They cave every time.  I’m very powerful.
 I’m Kiley, named after Dan Kiley.  I like carrots too, but not as much as Burle.  I’m also afraid of people wearing hats… but not as afraid as Burle.  What I’m really about is playing with wet slimy balls.  A lot of times the humans in the office sit and stare at this big rectangular screen… when they’ve been doing this for a while I take it upon myself to invite them to play with my slimy ball.  I do this by maneuvering my head between their arm and leg always being sure to slime them with my nose to get their attention.  They love it, they simply must.I’m Simon.  I don’t know who I’m named after I should really ask mom.  I’m not afraid of anyone, not even hats and I don’t think I ever have been… but I should probably ask mom about that too.  I love to lean.  I’ll lean on just about anyone.  Sometimes I like to lean my head against people, sometimes my torso, sometimes my bum.  Whatever, if there’s anywhere to lean I’ll be there. Leaning.