Technical aspects of the reconstruction of historic gardens

Built elements and structures are a prominent component of our historic gardens, both in terms of function and artistic composition and garden scenery. The surveys of historic garden structures are important research tasks, which also underpins and validates restoration work. In most cases, the neglected state of historic gardens and sites and the unavailable archival materials do not allow an authentic restoration of historic gardens to their original state. Nevertheless, there is a real need to reconstruct our historic gardens, based not only on historical authenticity but also on a systematic reinterpretation of the relationship between society and landscape. The objective of this article is to present a general methodology for renewal of historic gardens through examples of specific garden reconstructions. The case studies are the authors' own design works, which demonstrate the application of different design approaches, highlighting details of the reconstruction of specific built garden elements.