Aris Venetikidis: Making sense of maps

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Karen SONG 校对人员: 嘉宇 王

What I do is I organize information.

我是一名平面设计师，我的工作是组织信息。

I'm a graphic designer.

Professionally, I try to make sense

从专业的角度来说，我尝试理解那些

often of things that don't make much sense themselves.

本身没什么意义的事物。

So my father might not understand what it is that I do for a living.

因此我父亲可能并不理解我是依靠什么

来谋生的。

我父辈的祖先都是农民。

His part of my ancestry has been farmers.

He's part of this ethnic minority called the Pontic Greeks.

他们这些少数民族被称作庞塔斯希腊人（居于土耳其北部）。

他们原本聚居在小亚细亚，后来逃难到希腊

They lived in Asia Minor and fled to Greece after a genocide

来躲避一场大约发生在一百年前的种族灭绝（遭受奥斯曼帝国的屠杀 1914-1923），

about a hundred years ago.

And ever since that, migration has somewhat been a theme in my family.

并且从此以后，移民在某种程度上成为了

我们家庭的一个主题。

我父亲移民到德国，在那儿接受教育，并且成家立室，

My father moved to Germany, studied there and married,

and as a result, I now have this half-German brain,

所以，我现在拥有一半的德国人头脑

擅长分析与逻辑思考

with all the analytical thinking and that slightly dorky demeanor

同时也伴随着有点古怪的行为方式。

that come with that.

And of course it meant that I was a foreigner in both countries,

当然，这同样意味着，我在两个国家都是外国人

and that of course made it pretty easy for me to migrate as well,

对我来说搬来搬去很容易

这可是我们家的好传统

in good family tradition, if you like.

But of course, most journeys that we undertake from day to day

不过当然，我们每天所进行的大部分旅行

都是在一个城市里的，特别是

are within a city.

And, especially if you know the city,

如果你熟悉这座城市，从A地前往B地

getting from A to B may seem pretty obvious, right?

可能是相当简单的，对吧？

But the question is, why is it obvious?

可是问题在于，为什么它就这么理所当然呢？

How do we know where we're going?

我们怎么知道我们正前往何处？

So I washed up on a Dublin ferry port about 12 years ago,

大约12年前，作为一位完全的外国人

我曾经在都柏林渡轮码头从事洗碗碟的工作

a professional foreigner, if you like,

and I'm sure you've all had this experience before, yeah?

我相信你们曾经也有过这样的体会，是吧？

You arrive in a new city,

你到达了一个陌生的城市，你的大脑开始运作

and your brain is trying to make sense of this new place.

去理解记忆这个全新的地方。

Once you find your base, your home,

一旦你找到落根的地方，你的家

你便开始绘制一张你对所处环境的认知地图。

you start to build this cognitive map of your environment.

It's essentially this virtual map that only exists in your brain.

实质上，这个虚拟的地图仅仅存在于

你的脑袋里。所有的动物都会这样，

All animal species do it,

even though we all use slightly different tools.

尽管我们的方式方法有一点点的不同。

Us humans, of course, we don't move around marking our territory by scent, like dogs.

我们人类当然不会像犬类动物那样

走来走去，依靠气味来标记我们的领地。

We don't run around emitting ultrasonic squeaks, like bats.

我们也不会像蝙蝠那样，四处乱窜，叽叽地叫，发送超声波。

We just don't do that,

我们肯定不这么干。

although a night in the Temple Bar district can get pretty wild.

虽然在特普吧区（都柏林一个城区）待上一晚可以使人变得相当狂野。

(Laughter)

No, we do two important things to make a place our own.

我们会做两件重要的事来把一个地方标注在我们的认知地图上。

First, we move along linear routes.

首先，我们沿着线型路径移动。

Typically, we find a main street,

我们往往会找到一条主街，而这条主街

and this main street becomes a linear strip map in our minds.

就成为我们意识里的线型条带状地图。

But our mind keeps it pretty simple, yeah?

不过我们的大脑会将它绘制得相当简易，对吧？

Every street is generally perceived as a straight line,

每一条街总体上都被看作是一条直线，

and we kind of ignore the little twists and turns that the streets make.

我们会在一定程度上忽略那些街道间形成的弯弯绕绕的小路。

When we do, however, make a turn into a side street,

然而，当我们要拐弯进入一条小巷时，

our mind tends to adjust that turn to a 90-degree angle.

我们的意识倾向于将这种拐弯调整为90度的直角。

这样做当然会引发一些有趣的事情，

This of course makes for some funny moments

when you're in some old city layout

当你身处一座古老的城市，而这座城市的布局是依据

that follows some sort of circular city logic, yeah?

环形城市理念来规划的。

也许你也曾经有过相同的经历，不是吗？

Maybe you've had that experience as well.

假设你处在一条小巷的某一点上，这条小巷

Let's say you're on some spot on a side street

that projects from a main cathedral square,

是从天主堂广场延伸出来的，而你想去

and you want to get to another point on a side street just like that.

另一个地方，它处于另一条从那广场延伸出来的小巷上。

The cognitive map in your mind may tell you,

你的意识中的认知地图可能会告诉你，“艾利斯，

"Aris, go back to the main cathedral square,

回到那个天主堂广场，

take a 90-degree turn and walk down that other side street."

来一个90度转弯，然后沿着另一条小巷走下去。”

But somehow you feel adventurous that day, and you suddenly discover

但是那天你不知怎么就觉得挺冒险，

然后你突然发现那两个地方

that the two spots were actually only a single building apart.

实际上只是一幢建筑物之隔。

Now, I don't know about you,

现在，我不知道你们怎么想，但是我总是想我找到了

but I always feel like I find this wormhole

这个虫洞或者说是互联维度的入口。

or this inter-dimensional portal.

(Laughter)

So we move along linear routes

那就是我们是沿线性路线移动的，

同时我们的意识会将街道视为直线的，转角视为

and our mind straightens streets and perceives turns as 90-degree angles.

90度的直角。

为了将一个地方标注在我们的认知地图上，我们做的第二件事

The second thing that we do to make a place our own

是将意义与情绪赋予那些

is we attach meaning and emotions to the things

that we see along those lines.

我们沿路所看到的事物。

如果你去爱尔兰的乡村，向一位老婆婆问路

If you go to the Irish countryside and you ask an old lady for directions,

你就要准备好接下来滔滔不绝的

brace yourself for some elaborate Irish storytelling

爱尔兰式的关于她与沿路地标的故事。

about all the landmarks, yeah?

She'll tell you the pub where her sister used to work,

她将会跟你说那个她姐姐曾经工作过的酒吧，

and "... go past that church where I got married," that kind of thing.

以及你经过的那个她举行婚礼的教堂这一类的故事。

So we fill our cognitive maps with these markers of meaning.

所以我们使认知地图具备这些特定的意义。

甚至于，我们会抽象化，

What's more, we abstract repeat patterns and recognize them.

重复那些图案，并识别它们

We recognize them by the experiences and we abstract them into symbols.

我们依靠经历来识别它们，

同时我们将它们抽象为符号。

And of course, we're all capable of understanding these symbols.

不过当然，我们都可以

理解这些符号。

(Laughter)

而且，我们都能够理解

What's more, we're all capable of understanding the cognitive maps,

这些认知地图，同时你们自己也都能够

and you are all capable of creating these cognitive maps yourselves.

构建这些认知地图。

So next time, when you want to tell your friend how to get to your place,

所以下次，当你想告诉你朋友怎么到你家时

you grab a beermat, grab a napkin, and you just observe yourself

你拿出一张啤酒杯垫子，一张纸巾，

然后你就会发现自己画的东西成为了很棒的

create this awesome piece of communication design.

交流设计。它有着笔直的线条。

It's got straight lines.

It's got 90-degree corners.

它有着90度的拐角。

你也许会在沿路添加些小符号。

You might add little symbols along the way.

而当你看着你所画的东西时，

And when you look at what you've just drawn,

你会发现它并不像一张街道地图。

you realize it does not resemble a street map.

If you were to put an actual street map on top of what you've just drawn,

如果你将要把一张真正的街道地图放在

你刚刚画的那张的上面，你会发现你所画的街道

you'd realize your streets and the distances -- they'd be way off.

和距离，它们与实际都相差甚远。

No, what you've just drawn is more like a diagram or a schematic.

这不是错误，你刚所画的

更像是图解或示意图。

It's a visual construct of lines, dots, letters,

它是由线条、点和字母组成的虚拟建构，

是以我们头脑语言设计的

designed in the language of our brains.

So it's no big surprise

所以，这就没什么让人大吃一惊的：上世纪的信息设计杰作，

that the big information-design icon of the last century --

那个向人们展示如何从A地前往B地的顶峰设计——

the pinnacle of showing everybody how to get from A to B,

伦敦地铁线路地图（1931）

the London Underground map --

不是由地图绘制员或城市规划师设计的。

was not designed by a cartographer or a city planner;

it was designed by an engineering draftsman.

而是由一名工程制图员设计的。

In the 1930s,

在20世纪30年代，哈里·贝克应用了

Harry Beck applied the principles of schematic diagram design

原理图设计理念，

and changed the way public transport maps are designed forever.

从此改变了公共交通线路图的设计方式。

Now the very key to the success of this map

现在看来，这个地图最重要的成功之处是

它省略了那些次要的信息

is in the omission of less important information

and in the extreme simplification.

形成极其精简的版本。

也就是直线化的街道，90度和45度的转角

So, straightened streets, corners of 90 and 45 degrees,

还有图上那些极致的地理变形

but also the extreme geographic distortion in that map.

如果要去查查这些车站的实际位置

If you were to look at the actual locations of these stations,

you'd see they're very different.

你们会发现与图上的有很大不同。对不对？

But this is all for the clarity of the public Tube map.

但这都是为了公交地铁图的明确性

If you, say, wanted to get from Regent's Park station

比如说，如果你要从摄政公园站

to Great Portland Street,

到大波特兰街站，地铁图会告诉你

the Tube map would tell you:

上车，到贝克街，换乘另一条地铁线

take the Tube, go to Baker Street, change over, take another Tube.

Of course, what you don't know is that the two stations

你不知道的是两站之间

仅仅距离一百来米

are only about a hundred meters apart.

我们已经谈到了公共交通这个话题

Now we've reached the subject of public transport,

and public transport here in Dublin

都柏林这里的公共交通

可是一个敏感话题（笑声）

is a somewhat touchy subject.

(Laughter)

对于不了解都柏林公共交通的人们来说，

For everybody who does not know the public transport here in Dublin,

essentially, we have this system of local buses that grew with the city.

根本上我们拥有的是随着城市一同发展的

公交系统。每增加一个郊区

For every outskirt that was added, there was another bus route added,

就会多增加一条公交线路

running from the outskirt all the way to the city center.

连接这个郊区和市中心

当这些郊区公交车进入市中心

And as these local buses approach the city center,

they all run side by side and converge in pretty much one main street.

他们一辆挨着一辆，拥挤地行驶在

主街上

So when I stepped off the boat 12 years ago,

当我12年前从下船的时候

I tried to make sense of that.

我尝试着了解这些东西

因为徒步探索一座城市走不了多远

Because exploring a city on foot only gets you so far.

But when you explore a foreign and new public transport system,

但当你探索异国的新公交系统

你会在脑中形成一幅认知地图

you will build a cognitive map in your mind in pretty much the same way.

方式都差不多

Typically, you choose yourself a rapid transport route,

典型的方式是：你为自己选择一条快速的线路

and in your mind, this route is perceived as a straight line.

它在你脑中就会自动转化成一条直线

And like a pearl necklace,

就像一条珍珠项链，所有的车站

all the stations and stops are nicely and neatly aligned along the line.

都在同一条线上整齐排列

And only then you start to discover some local bus routes

然后你才开始去找那些区间车

填补车站之间的空白

that would fill in the gaps,

and that allow for those wormhole, inter-dimensional portal shortcuts.

于是你找到了那个虫洞，那个互联维度的入口。

So I tried to make sense, and when I arrived,

我想掌握这一切，所以当我到达目的地时

I was looking for some information leaflets

就会找一些传单

that would help me crack this system and understand it,

让我能分解这个系统并理解它

and I found those brochures.

我找到了这些小册子（笑声）

(Laughter)

They were not geographically distorted.

它们没有进行地理上的扭曲

省略了很多信息

They had a lot of omission of information,

but unfortunately, the wrong information.

但不幸的是，错误地省略了一些信息。比如在市中心，

Say, in the city center --

there were never actually any lines that showed the routes.

没有什么表示路线的线条

(Laughter)

There are actually not even any stations with names.

甚至没有标明站点的名字

(Laughter)

Now, the maps of Dublin transport have gotten better,

都柏林现在的交通图进步多了

在我完成我的项目之后，它们改善了一些

and after I finished the project, they got a good bit better,

but still no station names, still no routes.

但还是没有站名、没有路线

So, being naive, and being half-German, I decided,

所以，作为半个天真的德国人，我决定

"Aris, why don't you build your own map?"

“阿里斯，你为什么不自己弄张地图？”

So that's what I did.

于是，我调查了

I researched how each and every bus route moved through the city, nice and logical,

城市里每一条巴士线路是怎样的

把每一条巴士线路分别画出来，工整又符合逻辑

every bus route a separate line.

I plotted it into my own map of Dublin,

我把它结合到我自己的都柏林地图上

在市中心

and in the city center ...

I got a nice spaghetti plate.

我画了个漂亮的意面盘子（笑声）

(Laughter)

这看上去有点乱了，所以我决定

Now, this is a bit of a mess,

so I decided, of course,

"You're going to apply the rules of schematic design,"

应用原理图设计的原则

cleaning up the corridors,

去掉杂物，加宽街道

widening the streets where there were loads of buses

画上一排排的巴士线路

and making the streets at straight, 90-degree corners, 45-degree corners

把街道线拉直，转角画成90度、45度，或成比例的角度

or fractions of that,

and filled it in with the bus routes.

画上巴士路线。这是我

And I built this city center bus map of the system,

画出来的五年前的公交线路图

how it was five years ago.

I'll zoom in again so that you get the full impact

我放大这里，这样你们就能充分看出

of the quays and Westmoreland Street.

码头和威斯特摩兰街的完整效果（笑声）

(Laughter)

现在我可以自豪地说（鼓掌）

Now I can proudly say --

(Applause)

I can proudly say, as a public transport map,

我可以自豪地说，作为一张公交图

this diagram is an utter failure.

这张图是个彻头彻尾的失败（笑声）

(Laughter)

Except, probably, in one aspect:

只除了一点好处

I now had a great visual representation

我现在有了一个强有力的视觉展示

of just how clogged up and overrun the city center really was.

来显示市中心是多么的拥挤、超负荷

Now, call me old-fashioned,

你可以说我这样太老土，但我认为

but I think a public transport route map should have lines,

公交线路图必须要有线条

because that's what they are, yeah?

因为它们就是线。对不对？

它们各自进行线性运动

They're little pieces of string that wrap their way

through the city center or through the city.

穿过市中心，或穿过整个城市

If you will, the Greek guy inside of me feels if I don't get a line,

我体内的那半个希腊人觉得，如果没有线条，

我就会像（希腊神话里的）阿里阿德涅公主

it's like entering the labyrinth of the Minotaur

without having Ariadne giving you the string to find your way.

进入牛头怪的迷宫，却没有带线团。

So the outcome of my academic research,

所以我的学术研究、

loads of questionnaires, case studies and looking at a lot of maps,

成堆的问卷、案例研究、

还有地图查看的结果，就是

was that a lot of the problems and shortcomings

都柏林公交系统的问题和不足在于

of the public transport system here in Dublin

was the lack of a coherent public transport map --

缺少一张条理清楚的公交图

a simplified, coherent public transport map --

一张简化的、条理清晰的地图

because I think this is the crucial step to understanding

我认为这是非常重要的一步

来从物理层面理解公共交通网络

a public transport network on a physical level,

but it's also the crucial step to make a public transport network mappable

也是至关重要的一步

来让公交网络可以用视觉地图来展示

on a visual level.

So I teamed up with a gentleman called James Leahy,

我与一位叫做詹姆士.李的绅士合作

a civil engineer and a recent master's graduate

他是一名土木工程师，也是都柏林理工学院

of the Sustainable Development program at DIT,

可持续发展硕士项目最近的毕业生

and together we drafted the simplified model network,

我们共同起草了这个简化的网络模型

which I could then go ahead and visualize.

我可以进一步去做视觉化的工作

So here's what we did.

这是成果

We distributed these rapid-transport corridors throughout the city center,

我们分派了这些快速公交换乘点

覆盖了整个市中心区域，并延伸到郊区

and extended them into the outskirts.

Rapid, because we wanted them to be served by rapid-transport vehicles.

叫它们“快速”，因为我们希望它们

能够使用快速的交通工具，对吧？

They would get exclusive road use, where possible,

如有可能，它们可以享有优先行驶权，

这样它将会成为高数量、高质量的交通方式。

and it would be high-quantity, high-quality transport.

James wanted to use bus rapid transport for that,

詹姆士希望使用快速公交

rather than light rail.

而非轻轨。而我认为重要的是

For me, it was important

通过这些快速交通换乘站的交通工具

that the vehicles that would run on those rapid transport corridors

与街道上行驶的一般公交车要有显著区别

would be visibly distinguishable from local buses on the street.

Now we could take out all the local buses

我们去掉所有的区间车

that ran alongside those rapid transport means.

以免与同一路线上的快速公交方式混淆

Any gaps that appeared in the outskirts were filled again.

郊区出现的空档再次被填满

So, in other words, if there was a street in an outskirt

换句话说，如果郊区有一条路

where there had been a bus, we put a bus back in,

从前有巴士经过，就把这条线路放回去

only now these buses wouldn't run all the way to the city center,

只是这些巴士线路不再画到市中心去了

but connect to the nearest rapid-transport mode,

只是连接到最近的快速换乘点

one of these thick lines over there.

就像这里的一条粗线

剩下的活儿只需要在干几个月

So the rest was merely a couple of months of work,

and a couple of fights with my girlfriend,

我跟女朋友还为住处的布置吵过几架

of our place constantly being clogged up with maps,

因为到处都堆满了地图

and the outcome, one of the outcomes,

这份地图是其中的一个成果

was this map of the Greater Dublin area.

大都柏林区域的地图。我放大一点

I'll zoom in a little bit.

This map only shows the rapid transport connections, no local bus,

这张图只显示快速线路

没有区间车，采用了与地铁图相近的风格

very much in the "metro map" style that was so successful in London,

伦敦那种非常成功的地铁图的风格

and that since has been exported to so many other major cities,

被其他许多大城市借鉴采用

and therefore is the language that we should use

所以这应该是我们

绘制公交地图使用的语言

for public transport maps.

还有一点很重要，像这样一个简化的网络

What's also important is, with a simplified network like this,

it now would become possible for me to tackle the ultimate challenge

让我有可能去

挑战那个终极的困难

为市中心绘制公交图

and make a public transport map for the city center,

one where I wouldn't just show rapid transport connections,

它不只是快速交通网络

but also all the local bus routes, streets and the likes,

同样也包括区间车和街道

and this is what a map like this could look like.

这就是样品

I'll zoom in a little bit.

我放大一些

这张地图囊括了每一种交通模式

In this map, I'm including each transport mode,

so rapid transport, bus, DART, tram and the likes.

快速交通、公交车、DART、有轨电车、等等

Each individual route is represented by a separate line.

每一条线路都用一条单独的线来表示

地图显示出每一个站点

The map shows each and every station,

each and every station name,

每一个站点名

我也标示了次要街道

and I'm also displaying side streets.

In fact, most of the side streets even with their name,

事实上我甚至标注了大部分街道的名称，

and for good measure, also a couple of landmarks,

并且为了增加准确度，我也标注了一些地标，

有一些被小的符号标记，

some of them signified by little symbols,

others by these isometric three-dimensional

另外的标上等大的三维

bird's-eye-view drawings.

鸟瞰图

The map is relatively small in overall size,

整张地图的大小可以略小一些

so something that you could still hold as a fold-out map

这样你就能像一般的折叠地图一样随身携带

or display in a reasonably-sized display box on a bus shelter.

或者在巴士站以合适的尺寸展示

I think it tries to be the best balance

我认为它很好地达到了

between actual representation and simplification --

真实与简化之间的平衡

那是我们脑中找路方法的语言

the language of way-finding in our brain.

So, straightened lines, cleaned-up corners,

直线，转角

and of course, that very, very important geographic distortion

还有最最重要的

让公交图成为可能的地理变形

that makes public transport maps possible.

比如说，当你看这两个贯穿城市的

If you, for example, have a look at the two main corridors

主要线路

that run through the city -- the yellow and orange one over here --

黄色的和橙色的

this is how they look in an actual, accurate street map,

这是他们真实的位置

and this is how they would look in my distorted,

这是经过我的变形后

simplified public transport map.

简化了的公交图

So for a successful public transport map,

要想做出一张成功的公交图

we should not stick to accurate representation,

我们不应拘泥于标注绝对真实

而要顺应大脑的原理来设计

but design them in the way our brains work.

The reactions I got were tremendous, it was really good to see.

我得到的回应是巨大的，这太好了

当然了，对于我自己来说，我非常高兴能看到

And of course, for my own self, I was very happy to see

that my folks in Germany and Greece finally have an idea

我在德国和希腊的家人

终于知道我是干什么的了。（笑声）谢谢你们。（鼓掌）

what I do for a living.

(Laughter)

Thank you.

(Applause)