Garden studies

Gardens have always been of great importance to different civilizations throughout the history of humanity (Paiva, 2008). For each civilization, gardens were created for different purposes such as to express power, mastery of nature, for the welfare and delight of users, embellishment of a space or even for political or religious purposes.

The study of historic gardens allows an understanding of the rich evidence of the relationship between the culture and the natural environment of a place (Andrade, 2008). Considering the Urban Green Areas, the use and appropriation are different for each local, since the climate and, mainly, the habits and culture are completely different in each site. This topic has been the aim of many studies in Europe and some Asian countries, where there are important heritage places that became, with time, important touristic sites. While, in other places in the world, besides the existence of many historic gardens, its history, importance, and relationship with the local community are still unknown.

There are undeniable benefits of gardens, whether private or public, and of different dimensions provide, being related to the environment (temperature reduction, heat islands reduction, saving on electricity consumption, improve air quality, noise reduction, shelter and wildlife feed, the effect on air humidity); or physical environment (runoff improve, reduce the impact of winds, effect on solar incidence in pavements and buildings, carbon storage, soil conservation, protection of springs and watercourses). Added to these, there are the psychological benefits (reduced stress, increased personal satisfaction, feeling of peace and tranquility, and feeling of freedom, calm, respect and union with nature). In some specific situations, plants and gardens have been used in offices in order to stimulate creativity or in hospitals to cause well-being, contributing to the recovery of patients or to unstress doctors, nurseries and visitors.

Nowadays, garden studies have been performed in research centers, as Dombarton Oaks Research Library that supports research and learning internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies. Indeed, Universities have been performing several studies in this area, which are very important since they contribute to city and regional development, in addition to allowing students -undergraduate and graduate- to practice.

Therefore, the evaluation and the understanding of the importance and necessity of green areas in urban environments - including origin, landscaping planning, plants used, effects on the well-being and relations of the users - have been being a source of inspiration and a subject for many researches.

Understanding the historical origin, uses, and costumes of gardens can as well, consequently, help protecting the gardens and enrich their historical value (Oliveira, 2011; Andrade and Terra, 2016). Garden studies show results that besides leading to knowledge and document registration, also have effects on the quality of life within society. Therefore, garden studies and researches are a wonderful and thrilling subject that should have researches ideas and purposes encouraged and invested.

• ANDRADE, I.E. Construção e desconstrução do conceito de jardim histórico. Risco: Revista de Pesquisa em Arquitetura e Urbanismo, v.8, p.138-144, 2008. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1984-4506.v0i8p138-144
  » https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1984-4506.v0i8p138-144
• ANDRADE, R.; TERRA, C. A historiography on the gardens of Brazil. Ornamental Horticulture, v.22, n.1, p.7-19, 2016. https://doi.org/10.14295/oh.v22i1.879
  » https://doi.org/10.14295/oh.v22i1.879
• DOMBARTON OAKS. https://www.doaks.org/
  » https://www.doaks.org/
• OLIVEIRA, M.A. Jardins coloniais brasileiros, lugares do útil ao agradável. Revista de História da Arte e Arqueologia, v.16, p.5-16, 2011.
• PAIVA, P.D.O. Paisagismo - Conceitos e aplicações. Lavras: Editora UFLA, 2008. 608p.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  11 May 2020
• Date of issue
  Jan-Mar 2020