by Isabel Duprat

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The landscape of Rugendas, with all its gentle pictorial details, was there toasting us on my first visit to the site. Being in Rio de Janeiro and suddenly, looking this way and that, we were moved with the view of Corcovado, Morro Dois Irmãos and the forest, all in the same piece of land. 

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What a privilege to make a garden amid so much beauty!

 

This envelope of urban forest going up the hill and which fascinates us so much suggested that, in order to revere this thriving nature, we needed some distance, a void that could accommodate our gaze.

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I took advantage of the area with little vegetation at the point where the old building was. That construction was going to be demolished, as would be the existing car access. I thus designed a grassy plateau, spotless, at the level of the house designed by Bernardes Arquitetura. This plateau is connected by a winding staircase to a slightly larger second plateau that sits on the lap of the existing trees, near the edge of the forest. As we cross this void, we feel the presence and strength of a huge wall of trees climbing the mountain. It is an unforgettable experience!

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In this context I placed the pool, which was meant to be on the same face of the water mirror on the opposite side for several reasons. Among them, the fact that the sun incidence is better at that point, and the pool would be buitl over natural soil and not over a slab. This allowed for better accommodation of the level of the annexes. In addition it conquered a privileged place in the garden that had the vocation to serve as a living space that would otherwise be reduced to merely a passage. This position of the pool allowed me to work the vegetation like a live painting, permeating the trees with colorful foliage, shades and hues of green, palm trees, ferns and philodendrons tangling in the native forest that is being calmly perceived while the water is enjoyed. A distinct feeling is experienced when one is next to the water mirror with an infinite edge.

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I used the cobblestone to make the car access next to the house, playing with the forms of architecture and extending them along the paths through the woods to the tennis court and the annex.

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Near the entrance to the house, I designed a staircase that leads to the grassy plateau, surrounded by plants and colored by shades of green punctuated by a pink crowned sapucaya (Lecythis Pisonis) and by long palm trees (Carpentaria acuminata). These appear decorated as they yield their bunches of deep red nuts above the upper levels of the forest canopy.

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To enjoy the garden in the moments of just being there, I created three patios as stone rugs for different situations and ways of using: one next to the water mirror with plant beds interspersed on the floor, to receive the Samaneas, and to enjoy the water mirror; one next to the pool, as a deck; and another more private one, next to the living room.

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Slightly inclined concrete walls were built bordering the cat access in order to contain erosion points that were beginning to show in the existing slopes. This is a feature that the Japanese use for technical reasons and with a beautiful aesthetic result. All along the slope that accompanies the path the vegetation was recovered with the introduction of native trees and plant coverings, as was the entire property with the management of young jackfruit trees.

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The generous scale of the property along with the different ambiences, areas of forest and sub-forests, sunlit and shaded patches, and open and closed areas, provided us with a multitude of uses of trees, shrubs, foliage and coverings that have been introduced over the years on many visits, with all gentleness and respect for the beautiful landscape that welcomes the garden.

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There passed some years, between design and execution, with many landings and takeoffs, doing a job that gave me great joy shared by the clients, great garden lovers and with enormous respect for the people involved in this project.

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