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Praça dos Cristais

1970–1972, Brasília
Also: Praça Cívica do Quartel-General do Exército
Landscape architecture: Roberto Burle Marx
Associates: Haruyoshi Ono, José Tabacow, Vera Gavinho, Leonardo de Almeida

In 1956, the construction of the new capital city Brasília had begun, and in 1960 it was inaugurated. The pilot scheme came from Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer designed the public buildings. In 1965, Burle Marx was brought on to design a series of green spaces for the city, including the zoo and the botanic garden as well as all the gardens of various ministries. However, with the exception of a few ministry gardens, most of these plans were not implemented.

The triangular Praça dos Cristais is located opposite the army headquarters. Burle Marx installed white and black paving stones amongst granite slabs and combined these with rectangular plant beds, which provide colour contrast. The recurrent motif of parallel stripes evokes soldiers marching in formation. Distinctive hexagonal shapes in black and white emphasise the points of the triangle. Burle Marx uses the paving design to give rhythm and structure to the plaza, which is organised around a large central body of water. The concrete sculptures of crystals placed as if on the surface of the water were designed by Haruyoshi Ono. They gesture to the abundance of rock crystals in the region. The planting scheme also draws inspiration from the environment of the Cerrado region, where Brasília is located. For example, the water feature is fringed with Buriti palms (Mauritia flexuosa). This variety of palm tree grows up to 35 meters tall, making it the tallest species of palm native in Brazil.