Square Crystals

Praça Cívica , better known as Praça dos Cristais , is a landscaping project designed by architect and urbanist Roberto Burle Marx and his assistant Haruyoshi Ono.It is located in the Urban Military Sector , in front of the General Headquarters of the Army, in Brasilia .

The square was inaugurated in 1970, after five years of construction and is a geometric garden constructed in the form of a triangle that counts on a space of 102 thousand square meters, being an ideal place for an afternoon of rest and leisure  .

Conception of the Square of the Crystals

Its creation came from an inspiration of Burle Marx when visiting the municipality of Cristalina . There, he and the wizard found many rock crystals, being delighted. On that occasion, Marx asked that the pieces that are today in the main water mirror be drawn in concrete, thus representing, through the work, the riches existing in the Central Plateau  . In addition to the crystals, there are also several "islands" that can be accessed by concrete tracks. Several gardens are dotted around. In the initial project Burle Marx used 53 plant species, most of them native to the Cerrado . Some have not survived, but others have resisted and are part of the scenario  .An example is the buriti of approximately 12 meters that has been in the place almost 40 years  .

The restoration and conservation of the place

The Square of the Crystals is called so because of four sets of huge concrete blocks that simulate the shape of crystals inside a mirror of water.

The square is not a well-known place for Brasília residents, perhaps because it is far from the avenues and surrounded by silence, in front of the Acústico Concha and the Army General Headquarters . Thus it is little visited and one can imagine that it is not well preserved, however, those who know it find a place quite conserved. This is due to the fact that the square was restored in 2009  and is currently being patrolled and patrolled by Army Headquarters 

The Crystals Square, which at the time was 38 years old, won a restoration for two reasons: the area was registered by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN) and in 2009, the centenary of Roberto Burle Marx , creator of the work. This restoration allowed the recovery of water mirrors, which had not worked for 20 years, and which now have several species of fish, as well as gaining illumination that allows nocturnal visitation, also assured by military patrols. The square does not have benches for the visitors to sit down, since they are not included in the original design

Source: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praça_dos_Cristais