By
Álvaro De Benito
DIALOGUES WITH THE LEGACY OF BURLE MARX, AT MAC/CCB
Lugar de estar: o legado Burle Marx (A Place to Be: The Legacy of Burle Marx) is the exhibition presented by Lisbon’s MAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Center, showcasing an extensive selection of landscape projects for public spaces developed by Roberto Burle Marx (São Paulo, Brazil, 1909 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1994) and his collaborators over nearly seventy years.
March 23, 2026
BurleMarx. MACCCB. Crédito Fabio Cunha.
Inextricably linked to landscape design and urban projects carried out in emblematic Brazilian locations such as Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, his work played a critical role in shaping modern cities, while also creating a distinctive visual language that soon became collective cultural imagery. His passionate knowledge and scientific devotion to local flora made him highly receptive to the protective sensibility of botany and to the inclusion of endemic species in his designs.
This approach gave his work a certain disruptive quality, moving away from rigid, prevailing geometries to give greater prominence to organic forms. This very emphasis on the natural allowed him to connect with the aesthetics and designs of contemporary visual arts. The exhibition unfolds through studies, sketches, photographs, and press materials that trace several key threads in his oeuvre—from the construction of public space to the ecological activism he maintained until the end of his life.
Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion in the exhibition of works by six artists who engage in dialogue with Burle Marx’s concepts and ideas. Visitors can explore the critical approach to modern architecture by Juan Araujo (Caracas, Venezuela, 1971), as well as reflections by Portuguese artists Filipe Feijão, Mónica de Miranda, Fernanda Fragateiro, Lourdes Castro, and João dos Santos Martins on the relevance and impact of the themes presented in the show on contemporary urbanism.
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BurleMarx. MACCCB. Crédito Fabio Cunha.
Lugar de estar: o legado Burle Marx is on view until March 22, 2026, at the MAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Center, Império, 1499-003, Lisbon (Portugal).
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