Rio de Janeiro (RJ), 1951
Landscape architect: Roberto Burle Marx
Reform proposal | 1996
Burle Marx Office
Landscape architect: Haruyoshi Ono
Municipal listing
Armando Gonzaga Theatre was inaugurated in April 1954, designed by architect Affonso Eduardo Reidy. The landscaping that accompanies the building, located in a square, was developed by Burle Marx and included flowerbeds with trees and shrubs, as well as a seating area with benches. The landscape designer also created the theatre’s curtain. The project is a work of integration between architecture and landscaping, the result of the approach that guided Brazil’s modern project, focused on progress and the attempt to shape society through standards of functionality and aesthetics, and is also the result of the creative exchange between modernists artists: in addition to Reidy and Burle Marx, Paulo Werneck contributed with the side panels.
Located in the neighbourhood of Marechal Hermes, in the north of the city of Rio de Janeiro, close to the train station, the theatre aimed to encourage artistic expression within the community, offering acting, dance and video courses. It was part of a public policy of decentralisation of the city’s cultural facilities during the administration of Paschoal Carlos Magno. In the 1970s, it was part of the city’s theatre scene. The building was listed by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage (Inepac) in 1989, after its first renovations. In 2008, the latest renovation was carried out and, in the following year, the garden was listed by the city.
