Why glass towers are bad for city life -- and what we need instead | Justin Davidson

翻译人员: Junyi Sha 校对人员: Clover Lee

Imagine that when you walked in here this evening,

想象一下当你在今晚步入这里时

you discovered that everybody in the room looked almost exactly the same:

你发现所有在场的人 看上去几乎都一模一样

ageless, raceless,

没有年龄和种族的区别

generically good-looking.

而且个个天生丽质

That person sitting right next to you

那个坐在你右手边的人

might have the most idiosyncratic inner life,

他的内心世界可能极其怪僻

but you don't have a clue

而你却根本看不出来

because we're all wearing the same blank expression all the time.

因为我们始终都是同样面无表情

That is the kind of creepy transformation that is taking over cities,

这就是正在城市中 发生着的诡异转变

only it applies to buildings, not people.

只不过不是对公众 而是建筑

Cities are full of roughness and shadow,

城市中遍布粗糙与阴影

texture and color.

但也有和谐与色彩

You can still find architectural surfaces of great individuality and character

你仍然能够在里加和也门 这些地区的公寓楼房中

找到极具个性的

in apartment buildings in Riga

and Yemen,

外表设计

social housing in Vienna,

维也纳的社会住房

Hopi villages in Arizona,

亚利桑那的霍皮村落

brownstones in New York,

纽约的赤褐色砂石建筑

wooden houses in San Francisco.

旧金山的木屋

These aren't palaces or cathedrals.

它们既不是宫殿 也不是大教堂

These are just ordinary residences

它们只是一些展现各自城市魅力的

expressing the ordinary splendor of cities.

普普通通的住宅房

And the reason they're like that is that the need for shelter

这些房屋之所以会千奇百丽正是因为

is so bound up with the human desire for beauty.

人们生存本能中所附带的 对美（生活）的追求

Their rough surfaces give us a touchable city.

那些粗糙的表面带给了我们 一个触手可及的城市

Right? Streets that you can read

当你的手指拂过街边的

by running your fingers over brick and stone.

一砖一瓦时 你仿佛走进了 小巷深处的记忆

But that's getting harder to do,

但这样的机会已经越来越少了

because cities are becoming smooth.

因为城市正在变得光滑

New downtowns sprout towers

高塔在市中心拔地而起

that are almost always made of concrete and steel

但却几乎全是有着被玻璃覆盖表面的

and covered in glass.

钢筋混凝土

You can look at skylines all over the world --

看看世界各地的城市天际线吧——

Houston,

休斯顿

Guangzhou,

广州

Frankfurt --

法兰克福——

and you see the same army of high-gloss robots

你会看见那些一模一样的 高抛光机器人大军

marching over the horizon.

正在水平面上前行

Now, just think of everything we lose

现在 让我们想想 当建筑师们

when architects stop using the full range of available materials.

不再使用那么多可用的材料时 我们将失去的一切

When we reject granite and limestone and sandstone

当我们抛弃了 花岗岩 石灰岩 砂岩

and wood and copper and terra-cotta and brick

木材 铜片 陶瓦和砖

and wattle and plaster,

篱枝或是石膏

we simplify architecture

我们简化了这些建筑

and we impoverish cities.

我们抛光了整个城市

It's as if you reduced all of the world's cuisines

这就好比把世界各地的美食

down to airline food.

简化成飞机餐

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Chicken or pasta?

鸡肉和通心粉二选一

But worse still,

但是更槽糕的是

assemblies of glass towers like this one in Moscow

那些像是在莫斯科的 这种玻璃高楼的组合

suggest a disdain for the civic and communal aspects of urban living.

其实暗含着一种对于 城市社会生活的歧视

Right? Buildings like these are intended to enrich their owners and tenants,

像这样的建筑都成为了 招揽开发商或是入驻公司的手段

but not necessarily the lives of the rest of us,

而它们对于每天穿行其中的我们来说

those of us who navigate the spaces between the buildings.

却没有太多存在的意义

And we expect to do so for free.

而我们正在自觉接受这样免费的存在

Shiny towers are an invasive species

亮晶晶的高塔是一种入侵物种

and they are choking our cities and killing off public space.

而它们的存在窒息了我们的城市 也碾压了我们的公共空间

We tend to think of a facade as being like makeup,

我们趋向于把建筑的外表 当作被粉饰的门面

a decorative layer applied at the end to a building that's effectively complete.

最后附上的装饰层 会让建筑看起来很完整

But just because a facade is superficial

但是一个轻薄的外表

doesn't mean it's not also deep.

并不意味着建筑本身没有深度

Let me give you an example

我来举个例子看看

一个城市的外观是如何 影响人们生活方式的吧

of how a city's surfaces affect the way we live in it.

When I visited Salamanca in Spain,

当我去拜访位于西班牙的 萨拉曼卡的时候

I gravitated to the Plaza Mayor

我被那里的马约尔广场深深吸引

at all hours of the day.

于是一整天都呆在了那儿

Early in the morning, sunlight rakes the facades,

清晨 阳光撒向整个建筑

sharpening shadows,

留下清晰的阴影

and at night, lamplight segments the buildings

到了傍晚时分 灯光将楼房分割成了

into hundreds of distinct areas,

数百个截然不同的小区域

balconies and windows and arcades,

阳台 窗户 还有走廊

each one a separate pocket of visual activity.

都造就了各自独特的视觉区

That detail and depth, that glamour

那些细节 深度和它所带来的魅力

gives the plaza a theatrical quality.

赋予了整个广场以大剧场的视觉效果

It becomes a stage where the generations can meet.

它变成了一个 无论男女老少都可以邂逅的舞台

You have teenagers sprawling on the pavers,

你会看见少年躺在路边

seniors monopolizing the benches,

老年人垄断长椅

and real life starts to look like an opera set.

那真实的生活就像是 戏剧里所布景的那样

The curtain goes up on Salamanca.

这就是关于萨拉曼卡的全貌

So just because I'm talking about the exteriors of buildings,

好了 我们讨论的是一个建筑的外观

not form, not function, not structure,

不是它的组成 功能或是结构

even so those surfaces give texture to our lives,

但仅仅就是这些外观 给我们的生活带来了触动

because buildings create the spaces around them,

因为建筑创新了周围的空间环境

and those spaces can draw people in

这些空间环境可以吸引人们聚集其间

或是将人们驱逐

or push them away.

And the difference often has to do with the quality of those exteriors.

而这些差距往往就是 由建筑外观的质量决定的

So one contemporary equivalent of the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca

说一个与萨拉曼卡的马约尔广场 相较衡的现代广场

is the Place de la Défense in Paris,

巴黎的协和广场

a windswept, glass-walled open space

一个大风贯通 被玻璃墙围绕的开放空间

that office workers hurry through

办公室白领会迅速从中通过

on the way from the metro to their cubicles

从地铁站直奔属于他们的办公室

but otherwise spend as little time in as possible.

除此之外 他们也会尽可能的 少花时间呆在里面

In the early 1980s, the architect Philip Johnson

在上世纪80年代初期 一个叫做Philip Johnson的建筑师

tried to recreate a gracious European plaza in Pittsburgh.

曾尝试在匹兹堡 重塑一个优雅的欧式广场

This is PPG Place,

这就是PPG Place（地点名称）

a half acre of open space encircled by commercial buildings

半英亩空地就这样 被由玻璃组成的

商业建筑包围着

made of mirrored glass.

And he ornamented those buildings with metal trim and bays

他运用了金属镶边 间隔排架

还有哥特式的塔楼设计

and Gothic turrets

which really pop on the skyline.

这些使得整栋建筑确实冲破了天际线

But at ground level,

但是从平地的角度来看

the plaza feels like a black glass cage.

整个广场就好像一个黑色的玻璃笼子

I mean, sure, in summertime

我的意思是 是的 在夏日的午后

kids are running back and forth through the fountain

孩子们还是会在喷泉的周围来回跑动

and there's ice-skating in the winter,

冬天还是会在这里滑冰

but it lacks the informality of a leisurely hangout.

但是却少了这种娱乐的休闲与自在

It's just not the sort of place you really want to just hang out and chat.

这个广场的确不是那种 会让你想去聚会畅谈的地方

Public spaces thrive or fail for many different reasons.

这些公共空间的成功与失败 取决于很多不同的原因

建筑虽然只是其中一方面

Architecture is only one,

but it's an important one.

但却也是极其重要的一方面

Some recent plazas

一些最近新建的广场

like Federation Square in Melbourne

比如墨尔本的联邦广场

or Superkilen in Copenhagen

或是哥本哈根的Superkilen线性公园

succeed because they combine old and new,

它们的成功源于 它们结合了古朴与新潮

rough and smooth,

粗糙与光滑

neutral and bright colors,

色彩的中性与明亮

and because they don't rely excessively on glass.

并且它们没有过分依赖玻璃

Now, I'm not against glass.

我并不是反对使用玻璃

It's an ancient and versatile material.

玻璃毕竟是一种古老且通用性强的材料

It's easy to manufacture and transport

它们易于大量生产 运输

and install and replace

安装 替换

and clean.

和清洁

It comes in everything from enormous, ultraclear sheets

无论是巨大的超洁净面板 还是简单的透明砖

to translucent bricks.

都有玻璃的存在

New coatings make it change mood

新式涂层能够 让它们在光照的变化中

in the shifting light.

变换色调

In expensive cities like New York, it has the magical power

在像纽约这样的高消费城市 玻璃拥有神奇的能力

of being able to multiply real estate values by allowing views,

通过扩大视觉空间 使房地产价格轻松翻倍

which is really the only commodity that developers have to offer

而玻璃也是开发商唯一能够用来

to justify those surreal prices.

对离奇高的地产价格做出解释的理由

In the middle of the 19th century,

在19世纪中期

with the construction of the Crystal Palace in London,

伴随着伦敦水晶宫的建成

glass leapt to the top of the list of quintessentially modern substances.

玻璃一跃到了 标准现代化材料清单的榜首

By the mid-20th century,

到了20世纪中期

it had come to dominate the downtowns of some American cities,

玻璃主要通过这些壮观的写字楼

largely through some really spectacular office buildings

主导了美国部分城市的市中心

like Lever House in midtown Manhattan, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

像是在曼哈顿的由Skidmore Owings 和Merrill三人设计的利华大厦

Eventually, the technology advanced to the point

直到最后 科技进步到达了一种

where architects could design structures so transparent

使建筑师们能够让设计结构透明到

they practically disappear.

看不见的地步

And along the way,

在这个过程中

glass became the default material of the high-rise city,

玻璃成为了高楼耸立的 城市中的默认材料

and there's a very powerful reason for that.

其实这些改变的背后 有着强大的理由来支持

因为世界人口都聚集于城市之中

Because as the world's populations converge on cities,

the least fortunate pack into jerry-built shantytowns.

最穷的那批人会住进 偷工减料建造的棚户区当中

But hundreds of millions of people need apartments and places to work

而数以亿计的人 还是会需要越来越高大的

in ever-larger buildings,

公寓和办公楼

so it makes economic sense to put up towers

所以从经济角度考虑 建立高塔并用便宜且实用的

and wrap them in cheap and practical curtain walls.

玻璃帘幕作为墙壁的举措 是完全合理的

But glass has a limited ability

但是玻璃的表现力

to be expressive.

毕竟是有局限的

This is a section of wall framing a plaza

这是在墨西哥南部 前西班牙城米特拉

in the pre-Hispanic city of Mitla, in southern Mexico.

一个广场外墙的一部分

Those 2,000-year-old carvings

这些历经2000年的雕纹

make it clear that this was a place of high ritual significance.

让这里看起来充满了宗教仪式气息

Today we look at those and we can see a historical and textural continuity

现今，当我们看向这些建筑 我们能够清晰地感受到

四周的山脉和 取材于当地的石材并建造于

between those carvings, the mountains all around

and that church which is built on top of the ruins

废墟之上的教堂之间

using stone plundered from the site.

为历史与构造留存的一脉相承的连续性

In nearby Oaxaca, even ordinary plaster buildings

在附近的瓦哈卡 即使是普通的石膏建筑

become canvasses for bright colors, political murals

也会成为丰富多姿的 色彩表达 政治壁画

and sophisticated graphic arts.

或是复杂精美的图案艺术的画布

It's an intricate, communicative language

这些错综复杂的 具有交流性的语言

that an epidemic of glass would simply wipe out.

会因玻璃的盛行而被轻松抹杀

The good news is that architects and developers

好消息是，建筑师和开发商们

have begun to rediscover the joys of texture

已经开始在不脱离现代化的基础上

without backing away from modernity.

重新发掘其他材质带来的乐趣

Some find innovative uses for old materials like brick

有一些人找到了比如 砖头或是赤陶瓦等旧材料的

and terra-cotta.

新用途

Others invent new products like the molded panels that Snøhetta used

还有一些人则是发掘了新的建材 比如Snøhetta在旧金山现代艺术博物馆

to give the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

外观建设中用到的模压板

that crinkly, sculptural quality.

使得博物馆看起来富有 皱巴巴的雕塑般的气质

The architect Stefano Boeri even created living facades.

建筑师Stefano Boeri甚至 创造了这种活着的表面纹理

This is his Vertical Forest, a pair of apartment towers in Milan,

这是“垂直丛林” 在米兰的一对公寓高楼

whose most visible feature is greenery.

它们最显眼的特征便是那外表的绿色

And Boeri is designing a version of this for Nanjing in China.

Boeri正在为中国南京 设计一个类似的版本

And imagine if green facades were as ubiquitous as glass ones

想象一下，如果这种绿色外观 能够和玻璃一样普及的话

how much cleaner the air in Chinese cities would become.

那么中国城市的空气质量 将会得到多么大的改善啊

But the truth is that these are mostly one-offs,

但事实是 这些往往都只是个例

boutique projects,

精品工程

not easily reproduced at a global scale.

没办法轻易的在全球范围内普及

And that is the point.

但这也就是它的意义所在

When you use materials that have a local significance,

当你去使用这些具有地方特色的建材时

you prevent cities from all looking the same.

就能够避免城市外观趋于一致

Copper has a long history in New York --

在纽约 铜的运用已有很长的历史了

the Statue of Liberty,

自由女神像和

the crown of the Woolworth Building --

伍尔沃思大厦的楼顶都是如此

but it fell out of fashion for a long time

但是它已经脱离时尚界多年

until SHoP Architects used it to cover the American Copper Building,

直到SHoP建筑师们在建造 东河岸的一对扭曲塔楼

a pair of twisting towers on the East River.

American Copper Building时 再次使用了它

It's not even finished

它还没有完工

and you can see the way sunset lights up that metallic facade,

但你仍能够从夕阳中 看到那耀眼的金属光泽

which will weather to green as it ages.

知道它们会随着时间风化成绿色

Buildings can be like people.

楼房也可以和人一样

Their faces broadcast their experience.

它们的脸上写满了沧桑

And that's an important point,

这是很重要的一点

because when glass ages,

因为当玻璃老化的时候

you just replace it,

我们就会把它换掉

and the building looks pretty much the same way it did before

这样那些楼房看起来始终都是一个样子

直到最终销毁

until eventually it's demolished.

Almost all other materials have the ability

几乎所有的材料都有能力去

to absorb infusions of history and memory,

吸收并融纳历史和记忆

and project it into the present.

并把这些都呈现于当代

The firm Ennead

Ennead公司

clad the Utah Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City in copper and zinc,

用铜和锌包裹了位于盐湖城的 犹他自然历史博物馆

ores that have been mined in the area for 150 years

在这里 开采这些矿产的历史 已经有150年了

and that also camouflage the building against the ochre hills

这也将这座建筑巧妙的 隐藏于了矿山之中

so that you have a natural history museum

这样我们就拥有了一个真正反映了

that reflects the region's natural history.

当地自然历史的自然历史博物馆

And when the Chinese Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu

当中国建筑师王澍 （普利茨克奖获得者）

was building a history museum in Ningbo,

在宁波建造一个历史博物馆的时候

he didn't just create a wrapper for the past,

他将从村庄废墟中 存留下来的砖石木瓦

he built memory right into the walls

加入到了外墙当中

by using brick and stones and shingles

他不仅仅是包装了历史

salvaged from villages that had been demolished.

也以此将回忆注入了建筑当中

Now, architects can use glass

现今的建筑师们可以用同样抒情

in equally lyrical and inventive ways.

而富有创造性的方式去使用玻璃

Here in New York, two buildings,

在这里 纽约 有两栋楼

one by Jean Nouvel and this one by Frank Gehry

一栋是Jean Nouvel设计的 图中的这个则是Frank Gehry的作品

face off across West 19th Street,

它们面朝西十九大道

and the play of reflections that they toss back and forth

而它们所创造的光与影的前后交错

is like a symphony in light.

就如同光世界的交响曲

But when a city defaults to glass

但当玻璃成为一个城市的默认材料

as it grows,

不断地被增加用量

it becomes a hall of mirrors,

城市就会变成巨大的镜厅

disquieting and cold.

让人感到不安 冰冷

After all, cities are places of concentrated variety

毕竟城市理应是一个充满了

where the world's cultures and languages and lifestyles

多样的世界文化 语言和生活方式的

come together and mingle.

大熔炉

So rather than encase all that variety

所以我们不应该将这些多样性

and diversity in buildings of crushing sameness,

局限在这一模一样的外表下

we should have an architecture that honors the full range of the urban experience.

我们应该让建筑充分反映 丰富多彩的城市体验

Thank you.

谢谢大家

（掌声）

(Applause)