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Residência Walther Moreira Salles

1951, Rio de Janeiro
Today: Instituto Moreira Salles
Landscape architecture: Roberto Burle Marx
Architecture: Olavo Redig de Campos

In the garden of the modernist residence of Walther Moreira Salles, one can speak of several distinct gardens arranged around the house. In the front garden, screening the house from the street (on the plans you can see it at the bottom), Burle Marx sets out a small woodland with pathways running through it. Under the trees grow shade-loving plants of varying textures and numerous shades of green. On the eastern side is a rare example of the reinterpretation of a traditional Baroque parterre garden: form-cut boxwood trees provide a geometrical frame for herbal plants in lively colours. From the house’s central patio, another garden extends to the northwest. For the protrusion at the end of the garden, Burle Marx designed a small courtyard with a semicircular bench, as can be seen in the sketch. The curved forms stand in contrast to the architecture of the house, which is modern and inspired by Italian classicism. Burle Marx brings art and nature into dialogue, incorporating a water feature into the garden that includes a tile mural of his own design, depicting women carrying water. The artwork clearly illustrates Burle Marx’s movement toward abstraction, with its figures reduced to geometric shapes.