Sitio Roberto Burle Marx was magnificent to experience both visually and auditory. Although many of my classmates quickly became walking buffets for the mosquitos, the bugs seemed to not like me very much (maybe i´m just not sweet enough). It was fairly humerous to see my classmates jumping around and swatting at each other as well as themselves in a feble attempt to fend off the air raid of mosquitos. That being said, I was intrigued by the feeling of immersion that overtook me as we walked throughout the site.no matter where we were along the path there was so much foliage that I felt almost consumed by the plants. It was impressive to see the sheer number of species of different plants located on the site. Igor said there were some 3500 different species of which Marx himself discovered 40 species. This was a little shocking but inspiring to hear about such a prominent figure trudging through the forest in hopes of discovery. It was also inspiring to see some of the plants which had been growing since he himself brought them to the site in 1949, meaning some of those plants have been there and continued to grow for more than 65 years. The fact that this was a personal site as well as later being protected by the government allowed the plants to grow without boundaries. There were some plants that I was able to recognize, however they were far larger than I had ever seen before. Some of the leaves of the plants were as large as my torso. I was also impressed by the restoration and incorporation of the previously existing derelict buildings. Roberto Burle Marx was a true Renaissance man in that he was able to successfully incorporate nature, art and architecture into one beautiful site.
