IT-FR cooperation in Heritage Science

Preparing historical gardens for the future

Learning from the Potager du Roi, the urban historical kitchen garden of the Ecole nationale supérieure de paysage, Versailles

Potager du Roi is a remarkable garden that fits into a unique urban composition. Since its creation starting in 1678, the site has undergone many changes without ever losing its original structure. Many architectural and plant structures of large gardens, such as walls, fountains and many linear tree plantings or parterres, have a life cycle that is approximately centennial. Potager du Roi was completed in 1683. The first major restoration occurred in the 1780’s and the second began in the 1880’s. Today, Potager du Roi suffers from a fourty-year deficit of sustained investment.

This presentation will describe how an agroecological approach, based both on historical and on contemporary practices, is being applied to conserve and share the unique and exceptional atmosphere of the garden designed by La Quintinie; to position the site as a living heritage at the heart of contemporary debates and in particular sustainable practices concerning food and health issues in an urban environment.

The Plant Blindness is defined as “the inability to see plants in the surrounding environment”, with the consequence of failing to recognize their importance. Concept dating back to 1998, it is the result of years of research by James Wandersee and Elizabeth Schussler.

Historic gardens, like archaeological parks, are often hot spots of biodiversity and refugia. Places within which many rare or legally protected plant species are saved from the incessant advance of urbanization. The management conditions linked to the conservation of monuments allow these species to survive. Within these places, therefore, the right balance must be found for the conservation and enhancement not only of the monuments present but also of the biodiversity present which therefore adds value to the site itself. Only correct conservation and targeted enhancement can defeat the plant blindness not only of visitors but also of those who manage and maintain the site. In my speech today we will see a series of problems related to the conservation and enhancement of the plant component within historic gardens but also in archaeological parks, scrolling through some emblematic case studies.

Le jardinier et le projet, pour une adaptation aux changements climatiques

To see climate change as a death knell is a simplistic view of the garden as a work. Even if it is worrying, the disappearance of certain plants cannot be considered impossible for the survival of gardens. In contrast to the forest, it must be remembered that the issues at stake in a garden are primarily landscape issues. Of course, replanting has a high cost, but we must pay attention to the experimental dimension of the garden and the trials to be multiplied.

Landscape designers are thus led to rethink gardens to create other forms which enrich the garden with different meanings. The history of gardens and the structures still in place confirm that this research is familiar. The experience of plants becoming unsuitable, obliging us to redesign entire structures, reminds us that the answer is always in the project, that the historic garden is also composed of the surrounding landscape, of axes, of full and empty spaces, of buildings, of uses and practices, of the economy. This requires excellent capacities of intellectual openness and pedagogy to question certain historical forms and compositions. We, therefore, choose to be optimistic, to think of ourselves as being at the dawn of a new way of thinking about the historic garden, which trusts in the capacity of living organisms to adapt to the project and in garden management.

Monitoring and safeguarding of cultural heritage: the case of Italian parks and gardens