Emotional Landscapes

Emotional Landscapes is a multi-faceted book that pays homage to the renowned Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. Comprised of over 100 photographs captured through the emotive lens of Jonás Romo, the publication itself mirrors the immersive and sensory nature of many of Burle Marx’s projects between Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and São Paulo. Often credited with introducing a modernist aesthetic to landscape architecture, Burle Marx demonstrates a deep sensitivity to his environment, developing unique systems that pay attention to both spaces and species and the ways they bloom together.

Interspersed with essays, photographs and illustrations from global contributors, Emotional Landscapes serves as an experiential archive of Burle Marx’s projects that blend beauty with functionality. In the same way that a Burle Marx garden considers an entire ecosystem of elements, the publication incorporates different layers, inserts and paper stocks, fluidly integrating an array of diverse content.

Reflecting Burle Marx’s timelessness and distinct Brazilian flair, Emotional Landscapes guides the reader through a bilingual experience structured by a two-column layout. The dual narrative is emphasized further by juxtaposing a serif and sans serif typeface for each language.

Oscillating between opposing and complementary elements, the book's bright orange clothbound hardcover pops against an assortment of hypnotic greens as a Heliconia might in a Burle Marx garden. A force of nature himself with a love for designing public urban spaces, Burle Marx brought to life the infinite ways we can understand and combine different forms, scales and senses. Emotional Landscapes emulates that same appreciation for curiosity and experimentation by investigating the relationship between the concrete and the poetic, blending precision, artistry and nature itself.