Carioca Square
Rio de Janeiro (RJ), 1981 – 1985
Burle Marx Office
Landscape architect: Roberto Burle Marx
Associated architects: Haruyoshi Ono and José Tabacow
Reform | 1991 – 1996
Burle Marx Office
Landscape architect: Roberto Burle Marx
Associate architect: Haruyoshi Ono
Collaborating landscape architect: Vera Lúcia Gavinho de Paula Freitas
Municipal listing
Inaugurated in 1981, the Largo da Carioca project was carried out by Burle Marx with the collaboration of Haruyoshi Ono, José Tabacow and their team, in a place historically known to facilitate meetings and host everyday social events. Located in the centre of Rio de Janeiro, the Largo was built at a time when the city was undergoing significant urban renewal, mainly due to the construction of the underground system. In 1985 a space connecting the construction with the National Development Bank (BNDES), whose garden was also designed by Burle Marx and his team, was built. Largo da Carioca integrates previous projects by Burle Marx, developed in its surroundings after the dismantling of the Santo Antônio hill and the opening of República do Chile and República do Paraguay Avenues: the garden of the Petrobras building, the Santa Teresa Tram Station and the Metropolitan Cathedral (unrealised).
The Largo was designed to be an axis for public circulation. Its composition features gardens with flowerbeds and paving with a design made in Portuguese stones. In 1991, on the occasion of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio 92), the exhibition project “Terra Brasilis” was developed inside the subway station, but was never completed. It consisted of an floor design that continued the project of the external area and which, after the forum was completed, would be maintained as a legacy for the city. In 2009, the centenary of Burle Marx’s birth, the area was listed along with other projects developed by the landscap artist.
