The purpose of the course is to provide preservation theory and practice to make the students able to understand the complexity of the historic gardens and to learn how to survey, represent, analyze, evaluate, conserve and reuse them.

The aim of the course is to teach how to recognize the cultural and botanic significance of historic gardens and landscapes and also to consider them like a current urban, architectural, ecological, social resource.

Lectures and in situ surveys will teach how to evaluate, at different scales, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the case study.

The course will provide methodological and theoretical references and operational tools that are necessary to elaborate an historic garden preservation and management plan with a multidisciplinary approach.

 Particularly the Botany and Arboriculture course purposes are:

-To understand trees are living beings, their structure, and their functions.

-To show that urban green areas can add historical, cultural, ecologic, social, environmental, and sanitary values to urban sites.

-To learn how to select species for urban plantings, as well as to how to plant and manage them according to widely recognized best practices.

The two modules of this course are strictly integrated, during the analysis phase and the pro-active design step, to demonstrate the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and cooperation.

According to the Dublin Descriptors (DdD), passing the exam certifies the acquisition of the following results:

DdD 1 – Knowledge and understanding

- Knowledge and understanding about: history of the European gardens, Historic garden Preservation Theory, Historic garden typologies and features, Historic Garden critical analysis methodologies, including multi-temporal analysis.

- Knowledge and understanding about: ability to identify key tree species, plan ecology in Historic Garden, management of trees and shrubs in Historic Garden.

 DdD 2 - ability to apply knowledge and understanding

- ability to recognize in an historic gardens the cultural significance and the current architectural, urban, landscape, ecological and social value;

- ability to analyze the constructive and material components and features of an historical garden, to recognize typologies and construction techniques, to understand the vegetation settlement, recognizing tree and shrub species and roles, to evaluate the level of decay, the connected climatic and microclimatic issues;

- ability to define a SWOT analysis about an historical garden in order to define preservation and management strategies;

- ability to develop conservation plans for historic gardens and to define preservation management plans in order to control the transformations over time;

-ability to quantify ecosystem services provided by vegetation in Historic Garden;

-ability to select suitable species for specific planting sites, based on their ecological characteristics;

-ability to evaluate correct and wrong planting and management techniques;

 -ability to evaluate risk associated to urban trees;

- ability to develop a project involving theoretical aspects and practical tools learned during the course, merging all the issues of the two modules.

DdD 3 - autonomy of judgment and DdD 4 - communication skills

- ability to operate and communicate independently the analysis and design choices made and to explain methods, tools and strategy developed.

CONSERVATION OF HISTORIC GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES

Alberta Cazzani

The course analyses some significant conservation or rehabilitation projects concerned historic gardens and cultural landscapes and examines the current preservation approaches, techniques and treatments, focused on conserving the historic stratification of the architectural/landscape heritage and defining compatible reuses.

Topics of the course:

- Brief overview of the history of the European gardens.

- Preservation of historic parks and gardens: national laws, International Conventions, “Charters” and recommendations.

- Study of historic gardens: historical sources, surveys, thematic maps and interpretations.

- Complexity and vulnerability of the components and issues involved in historic gardens/cultural landscapes and consequent multidisciplinary approach.

- Analysis and evaluation of the environmental, architectural, landscape and perceptive features of the historic garden and its surroundings, in order to identify conservation and management criteria.

- The current theoretical debate on the restoration and conservation of historic gardens and parks: methodological and operational tools compared.

- The practice of management plans and conservation treatments of historic parks and gardens in some significant Italian and international experiences.

- Conservation plan of historic gardens: extraordinary maintenance, ordinary maintenance, use and management of the site.

- Preservation goals to prevent decay, to mitigate impacts, to set up a maintenance program and a management plan considering the site historic stratification and the site context.

-Identification of preservation and design goals, involving aesthetic and symbolic issues, agronomic-productive questions and social needs.

 The course activity will include a direct survey and a planning activity of an historic garden and how it relates to its context. Architectural, botanic and material survey, historic evolution, study of the features, environment and cultural landscape relationships will be considered in the critical analysis in order to define a preservation and management plan.

BOTANY AND ARBORICULTURE

Nicola Noè

 Basics of Botany

I - Taxonomic Classification of Plants.

II - Cells and Tissues.

III - Specific vegetative parts of a plant, stems, leaves - leaf Structure, roots - root structure.

IV - Flowers and Fruit; pollination, fertilization, fruit setting.

V - Seeds, seed structure, germination, plants propagation.

VI - Photosynthesis and Plants Growing, Photosynthesis - the photosynthetic apparatus and process.

VII – Respiration.

VIII - The Role of Water, water movement into the plant, transpiration stream.

IX - Movement of Water and Assimilates through the Plant, nutrient uptake, absorption and transport of mineral nutrients, translocation of sugars, food and water storage organs.

X - Tropisms - Phototropism, Geotropism, plant hormones.

 Basics of Arboriculture

I - Introduction to Arboriculture: trees in the garden, planting site, plant selection, how to plant a tree, planting bare rooted trees, planting advanced trees, helping a tree to get established, how to transplant a tree.

II - Tree Biology and Physiology: tree growth, growth rings; heartwood and sapwood; compartmentalization.

III - Soil in relation to Trees: soil and tree growth, nutrition, compacted soils, drainage, changing soil levels around trees.

IV - Tree Problems: tree disorders and health, frost, wind damage, diagnosing tree health problems, environmental problems, diseases, pests.

V - Pruning of Trees: pruning objectives, branch removal, crown cleaning, thinning, crown reduction, crown lifting, tree surgery, removing trees

 Trees in Historic Gardens

I – Benefits of trees in Historic Gardens: environmental, social, sanitary, ecological, cultural

II – Trees and the Historic Garden environment: factors affecting tree health and survival in Historic Garden sites: soil quality, compaction, water stress, irradiance, pollution, human interference, pests and pathogens

III – Species selection, planting techniques and irrigation

IV – Management in Historic Gardens: pruning, risk assessment

V – Identification of ornamental trees mainly used in Historic Gardens

Non required, although preliminary knowledge in history of gardens is suggested.

Students will be evaluated based on: the knowledge and understanding of theoretical lectures; survey, analysis and planning practices; applied knowledge acquired during the 2 courses lectures and the on site visits.

The final evaluation is the result of the following steps:

- Milestone presentations (involving communication skills) about the on site work, where students will explain their own material, underlining the personal questions and the reflections linked to the lecture themes, their own selection of references and their design purposes (DdD1, DdD2, DdD3, DdD4)

- Final written test focus on the topics discussed during the classes and on the related bibliography, including the technical skills acquired during the field work (DdD1, DdD2, DdD3).

- Group work: it will be evaluated the group result of the on site work considering the survey and analysis phase (map analysis; geometric, botanic, decay survey; critical SWOT analysis), the design activity (preservation strategies, management goals, conservation treatments) (DdD2, DdD3, DdD4).

- Final oral exam will focus on the project developed in group and on the topics discussed during the classes and on the related bibliography. Each student must demonstrate a knowledge of the theoretical topics, showing the relationships between the class lectures and the case study, the coherence among the practical skill acquired and the theoretical objectives of the course applied in the project (DdD1, DdD2, DdD3, DdD4).

Students should attend all lessons, onsite visits and surveys

The attendance of the on site activities is possible only after the following of the on-line Basic Course on Safety and the mandatory submitting of the final certificate

A printed copy and digital copy of the group work (PDF and data source) must be delivered 5 days before the exam date.

Delivered materials will be archived; neither printed nor digital copies (including CD or USB key) will be returned.

Disponibile anche in italiano: G.Van Zuylen, Il giardino. Paradiso del Mondo, Electa-Gallimard, 1998

in M.Brignani, L.Roncai, Giardini cremonesi

OR Roger Phillips, Trees in Britain, Europe and North America, Trans-Atlantic Pubns, 1st Edition 1978