Imagining the past of an Italian garden: A historical-virtual reconstruction of Villa lo Zerbino

Villa lo Zerbino, built at the end of the 16th century, is an example of an Alessian villa in a suburban area of Genoa. During the centuries, the expanding city reached the villa, later incorporating it completely. As the surrounding urban landscape evolved, the garden was also modified, following the English landscape trends of the era. The main objective of the project discussed in this paper is the creation of a model for the virtual reconstruction of the historic garden of Villa lo Zerbino and its evolution over time. We describe the process that starts from a specific knowledge (based on documents, drawings and maps) and leads to a 3D model focusing on the vegetation elements. A second objective faces the difficulties of the visualization of the uncertainties related to the 16th century virtual garden. When using sources of different qualities and ages, the viewer might not distinguish the difference between the elements that were reconstructed based on documental information and those that result from mere imagination. To give a transparent image of the credibility of the elements, their level of uncertainty has been evaluated and visualized in the virtual representation. The virtual reconstruction methodology has been applied to three areas of the garden. The digital product gives a general image of the 19th century villa. The second part of the paper focuses on the visualization of a 16th century area and the evaluation of its level of uncertainty. This paper contributes to academic research on virtual reconstruction and proposes 3D modeling as a basis for the restoration project, as well as a means to reveal architectural patrimony to the public. Also, providing a 3D representation of the changes of villa over centuries, it aims to stimulate further contributions on the co-evolution of historic heritage and u