garden

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hen Sao Paulo-based architect and landscape designer
Paulo Pratti was hired to design the garden of this
condo in Laranjeiras, some two hours south of Rio
de Janeiro, he was inspired by the gardens of Burle Marx, a great
influence on his work, yet he also visualized the cascading jungle
of Rio's hills as a dramatic backdrop straight out of a Margaret Mee
painting. In the world of the great English botanical artist who
explored the Amazon region in the late-ig5os and ig6os, giant
fuchsia blossoms erupt from tree branches in inky forests growing
on river hollows. Mee, a great influence on Pratti, captures
the elusive spirit of the forest and makes us want to get lost in it,
even without mosquito repellent. The design fuses Marx's gardens
with Mee's essence of the Amazon and hybridizes it with a pinch
of Indonesian simplicity.
After Pratti was hired to design the house and garden in 2006,
his client asked him to look at the Four Seasons resorts in Bali for
inspiration. The rooms in the home are built as open bungalows
around an enormous g5,ioo-gallon swimming pool, which in turn
cools the house in summer. This is not just a pool to be seen lounging
beside wearing a tiny piece of stretchy material, without ever
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