
Far beyond its decorative features, landscaping brings with it biological and cultural issues that need to be addressed in projects. However, what can be seen in most public, residential, condominium, commercial and business gardens is a series of approaches that distance landscaping from all its attributes, reducing it to a decorative layer in the construction. Next, we have put together strategies to avoid the main problems of landscape design, joining aesthetics with its environmental and cultural possibilities.
According to Ricardo Cardim, in his book Paisagismo Sustentável para o Brasil (Sustainable Landscaping for Brazil), “the usual landscaping in contemporary Brazil is, in general, devoid of major environmental and functional concerns”. He also states that the landscaping market, involving both the projects and the sale of ornamental plants, follows a fad that results in “gardens disconnected from local natural, urban and cultural realities, offering limited ecosystem services and few possibilities of use by people”. Therefore, the garden, whether public or private, whose imagery is connected with the idea of a refuge in the midst of routine, a place for rest, appreciation and health, often goes unnoticed by people or becomes an image to be appreciated instead of a space to be occupied and lived.
