Alastair Parvin: Architecture for the people by the people

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Julia Xu 校对人员: Ying Wang

When we use the word "architect" or "designer,"

当我们提到建筑师或者设计师

what we usually mean is a professional,

通常是指专业的人员

someone who gets paid,

以专业水平收取报酬

and we tend to assume that it's those professionals

我们就认为是那些专业人员

who are going to be the ones to help us solve

会帮助解决

the really big, systemic design challenges that we face

我们所面对的巨大的系统设计难题

like climate change, urbanization and social inequality.

比如气候变化,城市化和社会不平等问题

That's our kind of working presumption.

这是我们想当然的看法

And I think it's wrong, actually.

但我认为事实并非如此

In 2008, I was just about to graduate from architecture school

2008年时，我正准备从建筑学院毕业

after several years, and go out and get a job,

经过几年的学习之后 准备出去找份工作

and this happened.

而这就是当时的现状

The economy ran out of jobs.

经济形式导致就业市场低迷

And a couple of things struck me about this.

这使我意识到几件事

One, don't listen to career advisers.

第一点 不要听信职业顾问的话

And two, actually this is a fascinating paradox for architecture,

第二点 同时也是一个有趣的建筑学驳论

which is that, as a society, we've never needed design thinking more,

即社会史无前例地需要更深思熟虑的设计

and yet architecture was literally becoming unemployed.

而当时建筑学专业却逐渐呈失业状

It strikes me that we talk very deeply about design,

我意识到关于建筑设计我们讲的很深

but actually there's an economics behind architecture

但实际上 建筑背后的经济学

that we don't talk about, and I think we need to.

我们却没有讨论到，而我认为是值得关注的

And a good place to start is your own paycheck.

首先谈谈我们的工资

So, as a bottom-of-the-rung architecture graduate,

作为一名最底层的建筑学专业毕业生

I might expect to earn about 24,000 pounds.

我预期能够赚到2万4千英镑

That's about 36,000, 37,000 dollars.

约合美元3万6，3万7左右

Now in terms of the whole world's population,

以全世界的人口来看

that already puts me in the top 1.95 richest people,

这已经使我居于前1.95%的富人当中

which raises the question of, who is it I'm working for?

我不禁要问，我究竟在为谁工作？

The uncomfortable fact is that

令人不安的事实是

actually almost everything that we call architecture today

如今几乎所有我们可以称之为建筑的建筑

is actually the business of designing

事实上都在为

for about the richest one percent of the world's population,

世界上最富有的1%的人而设计建造

and it always has been.

一直如此

The reason why we forgot that

我们之所以忽略这一点

is because the times in history when architecture

是因为历史上

did the most to transform society were those times

因建筑造成社会转型

when, actually, the one percent would build

事实上，都是那些1%的人

on behalf of the 99 percent, for various different reasons,

就代表了99%的人，出于不同原因而造的

whether that was through philanthropy in the 19th century,

不管是因为19世纪的慈善活动

communism in the early 20th,

或是20世纪前期的共产主义

the welfare state, and most recently, of course,

或是福利国家，当然还有近年来的

through this inflated real estate bubble.

膨胀的房地产泡沫

And all of those booms, in their own various ways,

所有这些建筑繁荣的时期，尽管各自方式不同

have now kicked the bucket,

如今都已消逝殆尽了

and we're back in this situation

于是我们退回到这种情形

where the smartest designers and architects in the world

世界上最棒的设计师和建筑师

are only really able to work for one percent of the population.

只能为那1%的人工作

Now it's not just that that's bad for democracy,

这不仅有害于民主政治

though I think it probably is,

虽然我认为可能性很大

it's actually not a very clever business strategy, actually.

事实上这不是个明智的商业战略

I think the challenge facing the next generation of architects

我想下一代建筑学家所面临的挑战是

is, how are we going to turn our client

怎样将这我们的客户

from the one percent to the 100 percent?

从那1%扩展到所有人

And I want to offer three slightly counterintuitive ideas

我来跟大家说三个略微有些反常规的想法

for how it might be done.

解释如何实现这一目标

The first is, I think we need to question this idea

第一，我觉得我们得质疑

that architecture is about making buildings.

建筑就是盖楼这一观点

Actually, a building is about the most expensive solution

事实上，盖楼大概是你能想到的

you can think of to almost any given problem.

解决问题最昂贵的方法

And fundamentally, design should be much, much more interested

设计应该更注重在解决问题和创建新环境上

in solving problems and creating new conditions.

在解决问题和创建新条件上

So here's a story.

给大家讲一个故事

The office was working with a school,

有个团队正在和一所学校合作

and they had an old Victorian school building.

学校有一栋维多利亚时代的老建筑

And they said to the architects, "Look,

然后他们跟建筑师说:“看，

our corridors are an absolute nightmare.

我们的走廊真是惨不忍睹

They're far too small. They get congested between classes.

实在是太小了，课间的时候就会特别挤

There's bullying. We can't control them.

因此有学生被欺负，我们实在是没办法

So what we want you to do is re-plan our entire building,

所以我们希望你们能重新设计整个建筑

and we know it's going to cost several million pounds,

我们也知道会耗资数百万英镑

but we're reconciled to the fact."

但我们也接受现实了

And the team thought about this, and they went away,

然后这个团队想了一下就走了

and they said, "Actually, don't do that.

他们说，”其实，没必要

Instead, get rid of the school bell.

只需在校铃上做文章即可

And instead of having one school bell that goes off once,

与其让校铃敲响一次

have several smaller school bells that go off

倒不如分几个小的校铃

in different places and different times,

在不同的时间和地点分批响

distribute the traffic through the corridors."

对走廊实行交通分流。”

It solves the same problem,

问题就迎刃而解了

but instead of spending several million pounds,

相比耗资几百万英镑

you spend several hundred pounds.

你们只需几百英镑就搞定

Now, it looks like you're doing yourself out of a job,

这样看起来似乎你砸了自己的饭碗

but you're not. You're actually making yourself more useful.

其实不然，你实际上让自己的价值提升了

Architects are actually really, really good

建筑师其实都是非常非常擅长

at this kind of resourceful, strategic thinking.

这种足智多谋和具有策略性的思考方式

And the problem is that, like a lot of design professions,

问题是，像很多专业设计师

we got fixated on the idea of providing

我们总会自我禁锢在

a particular kind of consumer product,

“要做出某一种特定的产品”这一想法上

and I don't think that needs to be the case anymore.

我觉得这种想法是时候改变了

The second idea worth questioning is this 20th-century thing

第二个值得质疑的，是关于20世纪

that mass architecture is about big --

大众建筑离不开大型二字

big buildings and big finance.

大型建筑和庞大的资金

Actually, we've got ourselves locked into this

其实是我们自己挣脱不出

Industrial Era mindset which says that

工业时代这一思维定势，即

the only people who can make cities are large organizations

只有那些大型组织才能建造城市

or corporations who build on our behalf,

或是那些以我们的名义而建造的公司企业

procuring whole neighborhoods

把我们的整个社区

in single, monolithic projects, and of course,

押在单一的，大型的项目上，当然

form follows finance.

形式要服从财政

So what you end up with are single, monolithic neighborhoods

所以我们看到的是那些单一大型的社区

based on this kind of one-size-fits-all model.

建造格局都是通用型的

And a lot of people can't even afford them.

并且有很多人还负担不起

But what if, actually, it's possible now for cities

但如果，其实现在已经有可能

to be made not just by the few with a lot

让城市不再由那些少数持巨资的人所建造

but also by the many with a bit?

而是由大众平民取而代之？

And when they do, they bring with them

一旦成真了，他们就他们想要的居住环境

a completely different set of values about the place that they want to live.

引入一套完全不同的价值观

And it raises really interesting questions about,

这就引发了很有趣的问题

how will we plan cities? How will finance development?

如我们将如何规划城市？资金要如何开发？

How will we sell design services?

我们将如何推销设计服务？

What would it mean for democratic societies

这对民主社会为市民提供创城机会来说

to offer their citizens a right to build?

意味着什么？

And in a way it should be kind of obvious, right,

这应该是显而易见的，对吧

that in the 21st century, maybe cities can be developed by citizens.

在21世纪，也许城市可以由市民来发展规划

And thirdly, we need to remember that,

第三点，我们需要记住

from a strictly economic point of view,

从经济学角度严格来说

design shares a category with sex and care of the elderly --

设计和性还有老年人的护理是同个类别的

mostly it's done by amateurs.

大部分都是由业余人士来完成的

And that's a good thing.

这是个好事

Most of the work takes place outside of the monetary economy

大部分都不是发生在货币经济体系之内

in what's called the social economy or the core economy,

而是在社会经济体系或核心经济体系内

which is people doing it for themselves.

即人们是为了他们自身而做

And the problem is that, up until now,

问题就是，到目前为止

it was the monetary economy which had

拥有全部设施和工具的

all the infrastructure and all the tools.

是货币经济体系

So the challenge we face is, how are we going

那么我们面临的挑战就是

to build the tools, the infrastructure and the institutions

我们将如何建造这些工具，设施和机构

for architecture's social economy?

来实现建筑学的社会经济体系？

And that began with open-source software.

这从开源软件而开始

And over the last few years, it's been moving

在过去的几年里，它逐渐过渡到

into the physical world with open-source hardware,

开源硬件的物质世界状态

which are freely shared blueprints

即免费分享的蓝图

that anyone can download and make for themselves.

人人都可以下载自行建造

And that's where 3D printing gets really, really interesting.

而3D打印技术也因此变得有趣

Right? When suddenly you had a 3D printer

当你突然有台3D打印机

that was open-source, the parts for which

资源开放，其零件可通过

could be made on another 3D printer.

另外一台3D打印机上制作出来

Or the same idea here, which is for a CNC machine,

或者同样原理，放到数控机床上，

which is like a large printer that can cut sheets of plywood.

好像一个可以切割夹板的大型打印机

What these technologies are doing is radically

这些技术所做的是大幅度地

lowering the thresholds of time and cost and skill.

降低了时间、成本和技能的门槛

They're challenging the idea that

他们挑战了传统的观点

if you want something to be affordable it's got to be one-size-fits-all.

即你想要便宜就得接受通用的模型

And they're distributing massively

它们也大规模地传播

really complex manufacturing capabilities.

非常复杂的生产制造能力

We're moving into this future where the factory is everywhere,

我们将要步入的未来是到处都有工厂

and increasingly that means

同时也意味着

that the design team is everyone.

每个人都是设计师

That really is an industrial revolution.

那真是一场工业革命

And when we think that the major ideological conflicts

当我们思考我们继承的主要意识形态冲突

that we inherited were all based around this question

都是基于这样一个问题

of who should control the means of production,

即谁应该控制生产途径

and these technologies are coming back with a solution:

而这些技术给出了答案：

actually, maybe no one. All of us.

实际上，不是一个人，而是我们大家

And we were fascinated by

我们也惊讶于

what that might mean for architecture.

这对建筑学意味着什么

So about a year and a half ago,

大约一年半以前

we started working on a project called WikiHouse,

我们开始了一个项目叫做维基之家

and WikiHouse is an open-source construction system.

这是一套开放性的建筑系统

And the idea is to make it possible for anyone

旨在让每个人都能够

to go online, access a freely shared library

上网查找免费共享的资源库

of 3D models which they can download and adapt in,

寻找能够下载并适用的3D模型

at the moment, SketchUp, because it's free, and it's easy to use,

目前SketchUp由于其免费、使用方便

and almost at the click of a switch

几乎只需点一下按钮

they can generate a set of cutting files

就能生成一套切割文件的特点

which allow them, in effect,

使得他们

to print out the parts from a house using a CNC machine

能够通过数控机床打印出各部件

and a standard sheet material like plywood.

以及标准的板材如夹板

And the parts are all numbered,

各部件都有标号

and basically what you end up with is a really big IKEA kit.

基本上你得到的就是一个超大的宜家工具箱

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And it goes together without any bolts.

无需任何螺栓就能组装

It uses wedge and peg connections.

它用的是楔子和挂钩来连接

And even the mallets to make it

甚至制作它的木槌

can be provided on the cutting sheets as well.

都能通过板材来制作

And a team of about two or three people,

一个由两三人组成的团队

working together, can build this.

就能合作制造

They don't need any traditional construction skills.

他们无需任何传统的建筑技能

They don't need a huge array of power tools or anything like that,

无需任何大马力的工具

and they can build a small house of about this size

就能制造这样大小的一间房子

in about a day.

只需大约一天时间

(Applause)

（掌声）

And what you end up with is just the basic chassis of a house

你只需要关于建房的一些基本知识

onto which you can then apply systems like windows

比如如何安装窗户

and cladding and insulation and services

如何覆盖外墙，铺设绝缘层和其他功能区

based on what's cheap and what's available.

根据价格和适用的材料而定

Of course, the house is never finished.

当然，房子没有完成

We're shifting our heads here, so the house is not a finished product.

我们看这里，房子还没有完工

With the CNC machine, you can make new parts for it

有了数控机床，你还可以制作其他新的部件

over its life or even use it to make the house next door.

甚至用它来造隔壁的房子

So we can begin to see the seed of a completely open-source,

我们可以看到开放性资源为

citizen-led urban development model, potentially.

市民引导的城市发展模型播下了种子

And we and others have built a few prototypes around the world now,

我们和同行们已经在世界各地建造了一些原型

and some really interesting lessons here.

有一些非常有趣的知识

One of them is that it's always incredibly sociable.

其中一点就是这是相当大众化的

People get confused between construction work and having fun.

人们分不清盖楼和找乐的区别

But the principles of openness go right down

但开放性的原理直接涉及

into the really mundane, physical details.

平凡的物理细节

Like, never designing a piece that can't be lifted up.

比如，永远不要设计一块抬不起来的材料

Or, when you're designing a piece,

或者，当你设计材料的时候

make sure you either can't put it in the wrong way round,

要么确保怎么放都不会错

or, if you do, it doesn't matter, because it's symmetrical.

或者放错了也没关系，因为是对称的

Probably the principal which runs deepest with us

也许最深入我们内心的原理

is the principal set out by Linus Torvalds,

是来自于林纳斯·托瓦兹

the open-source pioneer,

开放性的先驱

which was that idea of, "Be lazy like a fox."

那种“像狐狸一样懒惰”的理念

Don't reinvent the wheel every time.

不要每次都重新发明一种轮子

Take what already works, and adapt it for your own needs.

拿现行的，稍作改进符合自己的需要

Contrary to almost everything that you might get taught

和你在建筑学院里学的恰恰相反

at an architecture school, copying is good.

抄袭是好事

Which is appropriate, because actually,

这很合适，因为实际上

this approach is not innovative.

这种方法并不创新

It's actually how we built buildings

这其实就是工业革命前数百年来

for hundreds of years before the Industrial Revolution

我们盖楼的方式

in these sorts of community barn-raisings.

用那些社区谷仓筹集的钱

The only difference between traditional

传统地方建筑和开放性建筑的

vernacular architecture and open-source architecture

唯一区别就在于

might be a web connection,

网络连接

but it's a really, really big difference.

但两者却大相径庭

We shared the whole of WikiHouse

我们分享维基之家的所有一切

under a Creative Commons license,

基于创作共用授权的精神

and now what's just beginning to happen

而现在逐渐开始看到

is that groups around the world are beginning to take it

世界各地的人们开始使用它

and use it and hack it and tinker with it, and it's amazing.

进行各种改造利用，非常的神奇

There's a cool group over in Christchurch in New Zealand

在新西兰克赖斯特彻奇有一群非常酷的人

looking at post-earthquake development housing,

在研究地震后的房屋发展设计

and thanks to the TED city Prize,

由于TED城市奖的存在

we're working with an awesome group in one of Rio's favelas

我们与里约贫民窟的一个很棒的群体合作

to set up a kind of community factory

建立一种社区工厂

and micro-university.

和微型大学

These are very, very small beginnings,

这些是很小很小的开端

and actually there's more people in the last week

事实上在上一周

who have got in touch and they're not even on this map.

与彼此建立了联系，而他们还都不在这幅地图上

I hope next time you see it, you won't even be able to see the map.

我希望下一次你甚至都看不到这幅地图

We're aware that WikiHouse is a very, very small answer,

我们意识到维基之家只是一个很小很小的答案

but it's a small answer to a really, really big question,

但却回答了一个很大很大的问题

which is that globally, right now, the fastest-growing cities

即现在全球发展最迅速的城市

are not skyscraper cities.

并非那些拥有摩天大楼的城市

They're self-made cities in one form or another.

他们是各种自力更生的城市

If we're talking about the 21st-century city,

要说21世纪的城市谁会成功

these are the guys who are going to be making it.

这些人会取得成功

You know, like it or not, welcome to the world's biggest design team.

不论你是否喜欢，欢迎来到世界最大的设计团队

So if we're serious about problems

如果我们真正想要解决问题

like climate change, urbanization and health,

如气候变化、城市化和健康问题

actually, our existing development models aren't going to do it.

其实我们现有的发展模式并不能解决

As I think Robert Neuwirth said, there isn't a bank

我记得罗伯特．纽沃夫曾说过：

or a corporation or a government or an NGO

“没有一间银行或企业或政府或非政府组织

who's going to be able to do it

能够解决这些问题

if we treat citizens only as consumers.

如果我们依然把市民当做是消费者”

How extraordinary would it be, though, if collectively

试想一下那会多神奇，如果

we were to develop solutions not just to the problem

我们不仅能够找到

of structure that we've been working on,

解决结构优化的方法

but to infrastructure problems like solar-powered air conditioning,

而且还能找到解决如太阳能空调

off-grid energy, off-grid sanitation --

自给自足能源、环境卫生等基础设施问题

low-cost, open-source, high-performance solutions

价格低廉、开放性、高效能的方法

that anyone can very, very easily make,

每个人都方便地制造

and to put them all into a commons

所有都能为大众公用

where they're owned by everyone and they're accessible by everyone?

归大众所有，为大众所用

A kind of Wikipedia for stuff?

一种物质的维基百科

And once something's in the commons,

一旦有东西为大众公用

it will always be there.

它就会一直存在

How much would that change the rules?

那将如何改变世界规则？

And I think the technology's on our side.

我认为技术也站在我们这一边

If design's great project in the 20th century

如果20世纪设计的伟大项目

was the democratization of consumption --

是对消费的民主化

that was Henry Ford, Levittown, Coca-Cola, IKEA —

如亨利福特、莱维顿、可口可乐、宜家-

I think design's great project in the 21st century

我认为21世纪设计的伟大项目

is the democratization of production.

即是生产的民主化

And when it comes to architecture in cities,

而谈到城市的建筑时

that really matters.

那真的是至关重要

Thank you very much.

谢谢大家

(Applause)

（掌声）