Inspired by Midcentury: Raymond Jungles is part 4 of the 5-part series featured in our July 2019 Special Edition newsletter.

Since 1985, Raymond Jungles, Inc. (RJI), has developed a dynamic practice inspired by the ethic of stewardship of the land under the leadership of Raymond Jungles. The firm’s work is innovative yet timeless, proposing design solutions that respond to surrounding natural systems while restoring nature’s balance and harmony on a micro-scale. 

Here, RJI shares how their approach to landscape is informed by the work and philosophies of landscape architects Roberto Burle Marx and Dan Kiley, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and nature itself.

The surrounded island projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude has been one of Raymond's inspirations for the Grove at Grand Bay project.  The garden features curving forms, gracious ramps and twisting palm trees which complement the spiraling geometry of the dynamic, multi-use towers designed by renowned architecture firm Bjarke Ingels. The garden seamlessly melds modern construction with the surrounding historic village community of Coconut Grove, the same way Christo's bright pink islands are surrounded by the vast blue ocean.

___________________________

The Brazilian Garden, located at the Naples Botanical Garden in Florida, was inspired by the internationally famous garden-making style of Roberto Burle Marx. It displays a vibrant deference for Brazil's passion for art in the landscape. The interplay between people and plants creates an inimitable botanical, cultural, and educational venue for garden enthusiasts and botanists. Water as a predominant element in the design. Enlivens the space through movement and sound, a multi-sensory experience.

You can see more of both RJI and Burle Marx this summer at the New York Botanical Garden's exhibition,  Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx, which features a specially planted “Modernist Garden” created by Jungles that is reminiscent of the Copacabana Beach walkways.

___________________________

The restoration of the Ford Foundation implied a deep understanding of Dan Kiley's original design intent. The main inspiration for Kiley's design was a New England forest landscape. The plantings were reinterpreted by Jungles, and the diversity of height, color, and texture created the effect of dappled light through the canopies and the sound of water in the pool, in keeping with the original design.

___________________________

The design for 1111 Lincoln Road bridges the urban dweller with nature, affording vantage points and multi-functional areas for the users of this foremost historic pedestrian mall in Florida. The roadway turned greenway and waterway is an Everglades-inspired environment where specimen Cypress trees anchor the urban glades within the plaza. The repedestrianized block of Lincoln Road has created an unparalleled variant of civic space in Miami Beach.

___________________________

At this wind-blown, mountain-side retreat for the soul, all of the elements that define the art of garden creation are in harmony; light, stone, water, plants, structure, landforms, and sky. The distant soul-searching views towards Montserrat and Antigua through the sculpted ficus tree integrates the sea with the garden experience.