Tropical Modernism: Designing the Tropical Landscape

The tropical gardens and landscape designs of the Brazilian landscapist, Roberto Burle Marx, are examined in relation to the historical development of the European concept of “the tropical”. The argument is made that Burle Marx's pared down, austere, and abstract designs, which incorporate tropical plants in innovative fashion, yet make no effort to recreate or imitate a jungle experience, can be interpreted as offering a possible solution to the dialectic of nature and culture in a country burdened historically by the designation “tropical”.