The Brazilian landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx is a synonym of modern landscape construction. His projects, both in his private and urban interventions, have a number of traits that mark the beginning of a new era of landscape design in Brazil. Amongst its features are the use of free geometric shapes inspired by the cultural currents of the time – as the European avant-garde –, the emphasis on the tropicality of the country, the treatment of surfaces with colors and textures of coating plant species and his personal concept of public space linked with the city and the citizen. This text intends to think about these issues and identify them through a methodology which in detail considers his work process from the conception of the idea to its realization in the public space. Also, by walking through the interventions of Burle Marx in Rio de Janeiro, we will identify those cultural values that, on the one hand, define and distinguish them and, on the other, allow his interventions to be considered from the perspective of the public heritage.Key words: Rio de Janeiro, landscape, public space, intervention.