In the heart of the 18th-century park of Villa da Schio in Castelgomberto (Vicenza) a biopond has emerged, harmoniously blending respect for the site’s identity with ecological innovation. This dialogue between past and future redefines water’s role in garden art.
The PNRR Project: Gardens as Ecological Infrastructure
The Villa da Schio biopond is integral to a comprehensive historic park restoration project funded by Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) under Investment 2.3 “Programs to Enhance Place Identity: Historic Parks and Gardens,” promoted by the Ministry of Culture with NextGenerationEU funds.
Villa da Schio is one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture of Veneto. The 17th‑century monumental complex is set within a 9‑hectare park laid out in the Italian garden tradition: avenues lined with lime and hornbeam trees, panoramic terraces, geometric parterres, and a sculptural system of 35 statues by the Marinali workshop that animate every corner with allegorical and mythological figures.
Water is the garden’s defining feature. The monumental Vicenza‑stone fishpond, the scenic heart of the park, is fed by the Poscola stream, which the Venetian Republic diverted to preserve the symmetry of the design. The basin originally had a dual function: an irrigation reservoir for the surrounding fields, essential to the villa’s agricultural activity, and a decorative element with strong perspectival, theatrical impact.
It is within this tradition that the biopond is set, as a contemporary, natural evolution of the historic relationship between garden, water, and landscape.
This intervention reflects a new approach to restoration: moving beyond the preservation of historic forms to relaunch the garden’s ecosystem functions. The guiding principle is DNSH (Do No Significant Harm), which requires that no significant environmental damage be caused over the entire project life cycle.
For historic gardens, this translates into:
- Sustainable water management, eliminating the use of chemicals
- Protection and enhancement of biodiversity through the creation of aquatic habitats
- Microclimate regulation and improved air quality
- Integration of historic value with environmental performance
The garden thus becomes an active ecological device, capable of responding to today’s climate challenges without betraying its cultural identity.
The biopond at Villa da Schio covers 91 square metres (65 m² open water surface and 26 m² phytodepuration zone), with depths ranging from 0.50 to 1.5 metres and a total capacity of about 94,000 litres. The water is purified exclusively through natural and mechanical processes, with no chlorine or other chemicals.
Aquatic Plants
The biopond hosts a selection of aquatic plants chosen for their purifying capacity, climate resilience, and ornamental value, including:
- Iris pseudacorus (yellow flag iris): showy yellow spring flowers, oxygenating roots
- Carex pendula (pendulous sedge): strong filtering capacity, elegant arching clumps
- Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife): pink‑violet summer blooms, high nutrient uptake
- Hibiscus moscheutos: large white and pink flowers
- Nymphaea (water lilies): surface shading, algae reduction, high aesthetic value
- Typha minima: absorbs heavy metals and phosphates
- Juncus (rushes): habitat for microfauna
- Equisetum palustre (marsh horsetail): oxygenation, striking vertical architectural form
This plant community evolves with the seasons, providing blooms from spring to autumn and offering shelter and food for pollinators, small amphibians and mammals, and birds.
Dialogue with the Historic Fabric
One of the project’s most delicate challenges was to introduce the biopond into the historic setting without interfering with the monumental fishpond, the garden’s iconic feature.
The biopond does not compete scenographically: it is placed in a more secluded position and woven into the path system, expanding the villa’s water infrastructure without altering its compositional hierarchy. If the fishpond represents water as Baroque theatrical artifice, the biopond restores its ecological, living dimension. This balance between conservation and innovation is the core of the project: a living garden that preserves its historic identity while adapting to contemporary needs.
Ecosystem Services and Environmental Functions
The biopond is far more than an ornamental feature; it is genuine green infrastructure with multiple functions:
- Biodiversity: It creates and maintains rich aquatic habitats, contributing to the recovery of wetland environments that are increasingly rare in the Veneto agricultural landscape.
- Sustainable water management: Naturally purified water can be reused as an additional irrigation reservoir for the garden, reducing withdrawals from the mains supply.
- Microclimate regulation: The water surface mitigates summer temperatures, increases air humidity on hot days, and creates a favourable microclimate for surrounding vegetation.
- Educational and recreational value: The biopond is a permanent “living laboratory” where visitors can observe phytodepuration processes, plant succession, and the life cycles of aquatic flora and fauna up close—a valuable resource for schools, universities, and the wider public.
Replicability and a Model for Other Gardens
One of the PNRR’s strategic goals is to generate replicable best practices. The Villa da Schio biopond is a fully documented technical model that can be transferred to other historic gardens wishing to integrate ecological solutions into the restoration of their water systems.
This experience is part of a broader renewal of Italy’s historic gardens which, supported by European funding, are rediscovering their role as laboratories for sustainability and climate resilience.
Biopond – Technical Data
- Total surface area: 91 m² – two integrated earth basins
- Swimmable open water surface: 65 m² – deep free‑water zone
- Phytodepuration area: 26 m² – planted with aquatic species
- Depth: 0.50 – 1.50 m
Location: Villa da Schio, Castelgomberto (Vicenza)
Project: Arch. Giacomo di Thiene (Th&Ma Architettura)
Landscape collaboration: Pamela Nichele – landscape architect & garden designer
Biopond construction: Vera Luciani with Officine Marchesi 1815
Funding: PNRR M1C3, Investment 2.3 “Programs to Enhance Place Identity: Historic Parks and Gardens” – Italian Ministry of Culture, NextGenerationEU
Photos © Villa da Schio / Vera Luciani
With thanks to Villa da Schio for the images.
