The powerful Hamilton-Jacobi theory is used for constructing regularizations and error estimates for optimal design problems. The constructed Pontryagin method is a simple and general method for optimal design and reconstruction: the first, analytical, step is to regularize the Hamiltonian; next the solution to its stationary Hamiltonian system, a nonlinear partial differential equation, is computed with the Newton method. The method is efficient for designs where the Hamiltonian function...