Benedito Abbud

Who he is

An architect and urban planner who graduated from FAU-USP, where he also did postgraduate studies, a master’s degree and taught landscape design between 1980 and 1985, Benedito Abbud is one of the most recognised names in Brazilian landscape design. His predilection for greenery began in the 1970s, still during his undergraduate studies, in an internship at landscape designer Luciano Fiaschi’s office. In 1981 he founded his own firm, which today gathers more than six thousand projects in practically every state of Brazil and in countries such as Argentina, Uruguay and Angola.

He was president of the Associação Brasileira de Arquitetos Paisagistas (ABAP) for two terms (1987–1988 and 1999–2000) and is the author of Criando Paisagens: guia de trabalho em arquitetura paisagística (2006), the result of his master’s thesis and one of the main references on the subject in the country. He names Burle Marx as the personality he most admires in the field.

Language and signature

• Philosophy: landscape design as quality of life — bringing people closer to nature by uniting the beautiful with the functional, with a strong bias towards social and environmental sustainability and vegetation that reproduces local ecosystems.
• Typical vegetation: tree clusters, shade and textures that favour socialising and leisure; rooftop-garden solutions for vertical buildings.
• Awards and innovations: winner of the 2013 Greening Award (sustainable office of the year). He developed permeable pavement for sidewalks (2006, with ABCP) and the Tec Garden system (2010) for rooftop gardens.

Reference works

• Landscaping for the Estádio Nacional de Brasília, with a rainwater-harvesting solution.
• Cidade Matarazzo, in São Paulo.
• Vila Olímpica do Rio de Janeiro (athletes’ housing in 2016).
• Praça Victor Civita and the landscaping of Shopping Cidade São Paulo, on Avenida Paulista.
• Parque Jefferson Peres, in Manaus.