GARDENS ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE FEATURE

 

"Roberto Silva has spent a good many of his years studying but is now
carving a name for himself as one of London's brightest young designers."

 

 

Born in Pernambuco in northern Brazil, Roberto Silva spent his childhood weekends on his father's farm. "I was surrounded by nature and learned to love plants from an early age", he says. This led to his decision to study agronomy when he left school and he spent the next five years learning about crops and soil science.

At the end of the course, however, Roberto decided that farming wasn't for him - "I wanted to be more creative" - and he took himself to off to Sao Paulo to do a year's specialisation in landscape architecture. During the year, he discovered the work of Roberto Burle Marx, and became fixated with it, visiting every garden he'd designed in the area. Subsequently, he remained in Sao Paulo to work for a company specialising in garden restoration, but had to go back home when his father became ill. This was when his career took an unexpected turn. "I wanted to be near my parents during my father's illness, so I opened a cosmetic shop with my mother," he says. He juggled this with being a farm manager.

Two years later, in 1992, he was on his way to Britain, with the intention of becoming a garden designer set firmly in his mind. But first he had some more studying to do. Learning English was a priority, and Roberto also wanted to develop his knowledge of plants and garden design. Between 1995-96 he studied horticulture and landscape design at Caple Manor, working part-time in the Fulham Palace Garden Centre. As if he hadn't taken enough exams already, in 1997 he started a three-year MA course in Landscape Design at the University of Greenwich, managing to find time in between to start his own design company. Today Roberto's business is thriving. Most of his commissions are in London, but he hopes to expand his business by designing gardens in Brazil. "Working in two countries would be exciting. I'd be working with completely different palettes of plants and completely different sensibilities. Because there isn't a strong garden tradition in Brazil, they are more open to design-led gardens, especially in cities like Sao Paulo." Roberto works from home in North London. "I'm more relaxed at home, so my ideas flow better. My designs would be too rigid if I was in an office."

 

Design Philosophy

"I think garden design should be a cross-fertilisation of all the other arts and media, like painting, sculpture, theatre, architecture and graphic design," says Roberto. One of the most distinctive aspects of his work is that he approaches design from an artistic stance - like Roberto Burle Marx, who designed his gardens as if they were paintings. You won't find Roberto Silva working out measurements on his first visit to the garden - he's more likely to be soaking up the atmosphere. "I think I'm quite intuitive in the way I work," he says. "I don't want to be restricted." He presents his first ideas to the client in the form of a fluid, abstract sketch, usually coloured with felt tip pens. "I always draw a design first, I never use a computer - I was brought up to use my hands." He favours a bold approach, with strong simple lines and architectural foliage plants. Colour is used in a painterly way with dabs and splashes of intense colour rather than large blocks, and colour schemes are planned carefully for each season.

 

Influences

Landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx (1909 - 1994): " I like the way that he approached gardens in a free form way. He used lots of bold shapes and bold lines, and was really the first at that time to think like that."

The artist Jackson Pollock: "I like the spontaneity in his paintings. He was an artist completely in touch with his involuntary memory. I think to create something completely new we have to learn how to forget".

The architect Zahar Hadid: "Her work is very powerful, with shapes that could easily be adapted to gardens."

Different media: Everything from theatre to graphic design. He collects photographs and cutting of architecture, sculpture, paintings and objects: "Sometimes it is just the shape of a cup that inspire me."

Books and magazines: Roberto has a bookcase devoted to garden books that he uses frequently.

 

Trademarks

Long lines: "I like to work with long lines. It is a simple idea, but the line can become a seat, or it could turn into a flight of steps. The line could be anything from the edge of the lawn to a long, low wall".

Bold architectural foliage and interesting textures. "Plants can work as sculpture."

Traditional materials used in modern ways. "Things like brick or York stone can be used in contemporary ways."

 

Working methods

Roberto does not charge for his initial visit. The first meeting with the client is crucial, and he spends as much time as possible talking and finding out what they like and dislike. He enjoys listening to people's ideas and interpreting them, but finds that clients can be shy about expressing themselves. "Sometimes they don't know how to express what they want, and I have to be a bit of psychologist", he says.

On this first visit, he will spend a few hours on his own outside, making sketches and notes and taking photographs. At this early stage, he will start building up an abstract visual idea of the garden in his head, which finds it way onto paper almost the moment he gets back to his desk. He then sends a cost estimate to the client. If this is accepted, he returns with his sketches. Most people find his abstract sketches difficult to understand, so he also takes along photographs of plants and gardens that reflect the style he has in mind, sometimes in the form of a collage. Once the client has agreed the design concept, Roberto prepares a masterplan. These are works of art; meticulous hand-drawn using coloured pencils. If clients still need convincing, he can prepare other visuals (at extra cost): a 3-D axonometric drawing, tilted at 45 gives an extra idea of how the space works, and a cross-section of the planting to show different textures and heights. With the client's go-ahead, he starts getting quotes from three or four contractors, and in due course the hard landscaping begins. "I always monitor the hard landscaping begins", says Roberto. "There have been times when things have started to go wrong, and they've had to be put right. It's amazing how people interpret instructions in different ways." When it comes to the planting, he will place the plants in position, and after completion, he arranges monthly visits for replanting and advice.

© Gardens Illustrated Magazine

 

media reviews

1. Gardens Illustrated
2. New Eden
3. The Garden Book
4. The Sunday Times
5. Jardim do Brazil
6. Paisagismo jardinagem