Raymond Jungles is making the world a greener place, from Faena House to the Ford Foundation.
Whether you’re enjoying the delicious shade at one of Miami Beach’s best pools or surrounded by verdant vegetation at a luxe oceanfront condo, chances are that landscape architect Raymond Jungles is responsible for the palms and philodendron. The Nebraska native has made his living sprucing up private and public spaces since 1981, elevating landscaping from a menial task to an art form. Jungles’ pursuit of arboriculture has ranged from Mexico to Montana and Manhattan, but the majority of his pruning has been local spanning Faena House, The Confidante, Soho Beach House, Grove at Grand Bay, Apogee, Jade Signature, 1111 Lincoln Road and Miami Beach Botanical Garden.
ROOTED IN DESIGN
Jungles is currently working on 15 new projects, from curating the greenscape for Illa Bimini Resort & Residences to redesigning the public park in North Beach as part of that community’s redevelopment. The scope of the $15-million park runs along the ocean, from 72nd Street to 75th Street, and was essential to securing the Ocean Terrace deal.
“We’re doing a new dune walk and bringing the dune back into the site,” says the aptly named Jungles. “Everything was just hardscaped before. We want to create a nice habitat for people with local flora and fauna.”
Phase 1 of the eco revitalization is underway on the southern half of the area, with phase 2 tied into the new hotel and condo on the northern half. Last summer, Jungles mounted a tropical exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden, inspired by his mentor, world-renowned landscape artist and designer Roberto Burle W Marx. The three-month-long, Brazilian-themed show (the largest in the Botanical Garden’s history) attracted over 250,000 horticulture fans, as well as socialites like Ana Khouri, Marina Larroude, Rafael Azzi, Francisco Costa and Amalia Spinardi. Also, in New York City, Jungles recently renovated the multilevel garden at the Ford Foundation For Social Justice.
The glass-walled atrium, which is open to the public, was originally planted by Dan Kiley in 1967. Jungles updated the trees and plants to better suit the space’s light requirements, extreme slopes, temperature and humidity constraints, resulting in a leafy paradise in the midst of Midtown Manhattan.
“As a landscape architect I get to work with great architects and developers,” notes Jungles. “And 99.9% of the time it works great as a total collaboration and we’re on equal ground. We won’t take a project if the landscaping is only incidental. It has to really be a contributing factor. I like to work with the people at Herzog & de Meuron, Foster + Partners, Bjarke Ingels, Lake Flato, OMA, Chad Oppenheim and Rene Gonzalez because I learn a lot from them and hopefully they get the passion for landscape from me.”
LUSH LIFE
A Coconut Grove resident, Jungles is a walking billboard for the city: His new office and studio is off Aviation Avenue and his Arquitectonica designed home is minutes away.
“I love this city, and the diversity of the people, the plants and the animals. The Grove has amazing amenities for the public. I love Old Cutler Road on Main Highway. I love walking through the Grove, South Grove, North Grove. It’s basically an urban forest.”