10

Copacabana

1970–1971, Rio de Janeiro
Landscape architecture: Roberto Burle Marx
Associates: Haruyoshi Ono, José Tabacow

The Copacabana is another large-scale project in Rio de Janeiro, built on reclaimed land. In contrast to the Parque do Flamengo, which is sheltered in a bay, the Copacabana is exposed to high winds and salt spray. For the planting scheme, Burle Marx thus primarily chose palms and other resistent trees, which are integrated into the design. Even before it was widened by the land reclamation, the road was already much in use as a beach promenade. For this reason, too, Burle Marx took a different approach here, focusing on the design of the pavement. His solution is a paving scheme with red, white and black paving stones. Abstract, three-colour patterns can be seen in front of the houses and on the traffic islands. Burle Marx also had his associates plot the entrances and garages along the building’s facades and incorporated them into his design. The strip of pavement running directly along the beach front incorporates a traditional Portuguese wave pattern that was already used on the Copacabana before it was widened. In particular thanks to the now iconic design of the Copacabana promenade, Burle Marx is firmly anchored in the Brazilian collective consciousness. The beach promenade can be viewed from countless rooftop terraces along the Copacabana.

In the early 1990s, Burle Marx was commissioned to design Praça Júlio de Noronha, which marks the eastern end of the Copacabana.