Brazilian gardens in historical perspective
Notes on the origins, functions, and design of Recife’s squares
Keywords:
Gardens, Lanscape architecture, History, Nineteenth and twentieth centuries, BrazilAbstract
This text investigates Brazilian public gardens, considering their origins, functions, and design in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. In particular, it examines the garden squares built in the city of Recife, taking into account their relationship with pre-existing urban spaces and surrounding buildings, as well as the role of vegetation, walkways, water features, sculptures, and other ornaments and equipment. Thus, the text is divided into four parts. First, it presents the context of the development of public gardens in Brazilian cities, which included promenades, squares, and parks. Second, it discusses the origins of the concept of “squares” and its dissemination abroad. Third, it analyzes Recife’s garden squares drawing analogies between them and their European counterparts. In conclusion, it is our intention to cast light on Brazil’s garden culture, as well as on the importance of preserving public gardens today, due to their historic, cultural, social, and ecological significance, especially considering the high level of urbanization of post-industrial cities.
References
ANDRADE, Gilberto Osório de. Pequena História da Praça da República. In: ARQUIVO PÚBLICO ESTADUAL (Org.). Um Tempo do Recife. Recife: Arquivo Público Estadual. p. 179-208.
ARRAIS, Raimundo Pereira Alencar. Recife, culturas e confrontos: as camadas urbanas na Campanha Salvacionista de 1911. Natal: Editora da UFRN, 1998.
CORONA, Eduardo; LEMOS, Carlos A. C. Dicionário da Arquitetura Brasileira. São Paulo: Edart, 1972.
DIARIO DE PERNAMBUCO. Vaccina excelente, 1871/08/24.
DIARIO DE PERNAMBUCO. Jardim do Campo das Princezas, 1872/10/21.
DIARIO DE PERNAMBUCO. Inauguração do jardim Conde d’EU, 1875/10/16.
FREYRE, Gilberto. Os Ingleses no Brasil: aspectos da influência britânica sobre a vida, a paisagem e a cultura do Brasil. 2 ed. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria José Olympio, 1977.
GIEDION, Sigfried. Space, time and architecture: the growth of a new tradition. 5 ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1967.
GOODMAN, Phebe S. The garden squares of Boston. Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2003.
JUNQUEIRA, João José de Oliveira. Falla com que o Exm. presidente da provincia abrio a Assembléa Legislativa Provincial de Pernambuco no dia 1º de março de 1872. Typ. de M. Figueiroa de Faria & Filhos, Pernambuco, 1872.
LAROUSSE, Pierre. Nouveau Larousse illustré: dictionnaire universel encyclopédique. Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1898-1904 (publié sous la direction de Claude Augé).
LIMIDO, Luisa. L’art des jardins sous le second empire: Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps (1824-1873). Seyssel: Éditions Champ Vallon,2002.
LITTRÉ, Émile. Dictionnaire de la langue française: contenant la nomenclature, la grammaire, la signification des mots, la partie historique, l’étymologie. Paris, Londres: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1876.
LONGSTAFFE-GOWAN, Todd. The London Square: gardens in the midst of town. New Haven: Published for The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 2012.
LOUDON, John Claudius. Hints on the formation of gardens and pleasure grounds. London: John Harding, 1812.
_______. An encyclopedia of gardening. 2nd edition. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1824.
MURRAY, James Augustus Henry, Sir. The compact edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
PANZINI, Franco. Per i piaceri del popolo: l’evoluzione del giardino pubblico in Europa dalle origini al XX secolo. Bologna: Zanichelli, 1993.
REPTON, Humphry. An enquiry into the changes of taste in landscape gardening: to which are added, some observations on its theory and practice, including a defence of the art. J. London: Taylor, 1806.
ROBINSON, William. The parks, promenades, & gardens of Paris, described and considered in relation to the wants of our own cities, and the public and private gardens. London: J. Murray, 1869.
SETTE, Mario. Maxambombas e Maracatus. 4 ed. Fundação de Cultura Cidade do Recife: Prefeitura da Cidade do Recife, Recife, 1981.
SILVA, Aline de Figueirôa. Jardins do Recife: uma história do paisagismo no Brasil (1872-1937). Recife: Cepe, 2010.
_______. El square y la difusión de los jardines públicos brasileños. Diseño en Síntesis: Reflexiones sobre la Cultura del Diseño, v. 55, p. 92-103, 2016.
_______. Entre a implantação e a aclimatação: o cultivo de jardins públicos no Brasil nos séculos XIX e XX. 2016. 406f. Tese (Doutorado em Arquitetura e Urbanismo) – Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2016.
SILVA, Antonio de Moraes. Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado por Antonio de Moraes Silva natural do Rio de Janeiro. Lisboa: Officina de Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, 1789. Disponível em: <<http://www.bbm.usp.br>>. Acesso em: 24 jul. 2012.
________. Diccionario da Lingua Portugueza. 7 ed. Lisboa: Typographia de Joaquim Germano de Sousa Neves, 1878.
SIMPSON, J. A.; WEINER, E. S. C. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
TEIXEIRA, Manuel Luís. Dicionário Ilustrado de Belas-Artes. Lisboa: Editorial Presença, 1985.
VIEIRA, Domingos. Grande Diccionario Portúguez ou Thesouro da Lingua Portugueza pelo Dr. Frei Domingos Vieira dos eremitas calçados de Santo Agostinho. Porto: Casa dos Editores Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moares, 1874.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Patrimônio e Memória
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All the content of the journal, except where noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY attribution license.
