part 1 - Iccrom

MEASURING HERITAGE CONSERVATION PERFORMANCE
6th International Seminar on Urban Conservation
Figure 3. An Indian in the lake, Burle Marx design (Burle
Marx, 1987).
4. Indicators of conservation
of Burle Marx gardens
The restoration in 2004 of Praça Euclides da Cunha
in Recife, a garden that was designed by Roberto
Burle Marx in 1935, represented a landmark in the
debate on the conservation of historic gardens.
Gradually, awareness about the need to preserve
this special type of monument is growing but there
are still great difficulties, beginning with ignorance
by technicians and gardeners about the complexity
of a garden/artwork and need for training by those
responsible for its maintenance.
The garden restoration experience was led by the
Municipality of Recife and by the Landscape Laboratory
at the Federal University of Pernambuco. It
was nationally recognized because it was in Recife
that Burle Marx established his career as a landscape
designer. The inventory of Burle Marx gardens in
Recife was completed in May 2009 and prompted
the discussion between researchers and technicians
with the purpose of recording the valuation of a garden
monument. The heritage values of the gardens
recognized so far are set out, with a view towards
formulating indicators of conservation. In fact these
contain overlapping values, but are directly relevant
considerations for the content of each indicator.
The historical value is understood from steps that
stood out in the course of evolution of a particular
aspect of human activity. It represents something
that is so essential and vital in the evolutionary
chain that it has conditioned what occurred later.
The change of elements of the original design of
some of the Burle Marx gardens is now much more
evident. For example, the sculpture of an Indian in
Praça de Casa Forte (Figure 3) was placed in the
central lake of Amazonian plants and the sculpture
Figure 4. The sculpture of a man from Sertão region in Praça
Euclides da Cunha, 2008.
of a civilized Indian was placed in the centre of cacti
from Praça Euclides da Cunha (Figure 4).
The presence of high-density construction – housing,
commerce and services – in the area surrounding
Praça de Casa Forte induced a new aspect to the
indicator: permanence of constructive typology of
the time of garden construction. From the identification
of species, it is seen that 42% of total species
in the garden today are from the original design of
Praça de Casa Forte. Another indicator then is: presence
of vegetation from the original project.
With regard to historical buildings, in Praça de Casa
Forte and Praça da República various types were
identified. This generated the indicator: presence of
historic buildings or monuments in the square and
in the surrounding area. Legally there is an instrument
protecting special areas of Historic Preservation
such as the old houses of Praça de Casa Forte,
but this makes no mention to the garden. Another
indicator was therefore generated: effectiveness of
implementation of the standard of protection.
Signs for the gardens would demonstrate heritage
education level, but the absence of these in
relation to Burle Marx gardens in surrounding and
other locations of the city was noted. This prompts
development of the following indicator: existence of
signage for historic gardens to Centre-suburb and
signposts in surroundings and within the garden.
A tour is another item of extreme importance
that informs residents and discloses the attractive
aspects of the place. There isn’t an official tour that
provides residents and tourists with the knowledge
of this historical legacy. This indicator is: inclusion
in the tourist circuit as part of the city history.
The architectural value refers to the types of construction
and the materials of the components that
Carneiro, A. R. S.; da Silva, J. M.; Veras, L. M. de S. & A. de F. Silva. 2012. The complexity of historic garden life conservation.
In Zancheti, S. M. & K. Similä, eds. Measuring heritage conservation performance, pp. 33-41. Rome, ICCROM.
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