Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

Translator: Morton Bast Reviewer: Thu-Huong Ha

翻译人员: Jie Hong 校对人员: Jing Li

It's time to start designing for our ears.

是时候为我们的听觉感官设计了。

Architects and designers tend to focus

建筑师和设计师常常只注重

exclusively on these.

某些方面（视觉效果）。

They use these to design with and they design for them,

他们从视觉的角度来审视设计，以提升视觉感官作为设计目标。

which is why we end up sitting in restaurants that look

这解释了为什麽餐厅看起来是这样，

like this — (loud crowd noise) — and sound like this,

但听起来却是这样 (嘈杂声)；

shouting from a foot away to try and be heard

我们需要大声说话

by our dinner companion,

才能让共进晚餐的朋友听见。

or why we get on airplanes -- (flight attendant announcements) -- which cost 200 million pounds,

也解释了我们坐在在造价2亿元的飞机上 (空服员广播声)

with somebody talking through an old-fashioned telephone handset

却要听到年久失修的传声筒中

on a cheap stereo system,

发出廉价立体声系统的噪音。

making us jump out of our skins.

这感觉绝不会是让人舒心的。

We're designing environments that make us crazy. (Laughter)

正是我们自己设计的环境，在把我们自己逼疯（笑声）。

And it's not just our quality of life which suffers.

不只我们的生活素质受影响，

It's our health,

我们的健康，

our social behavior, and our productivity as well.

社会行为, 以至生产力亦会下降。

How does this work? Well, two ways.

这是怎么发生的? 有两个原因。

First of all, ambience. I have a whole TEDTalk about this.

第一是周遭声音对我们的影响。我曾就此问题做过一个TED讲演。

Sound affects us physiologically, psychologically,

声音无时无刻都在影响

cognitively and behaviorally all the time.

我们的生理、心理、认知力和行为。

The sound around us is affecting us

我们无时无刻不受四周声音的影响，

even though we're not conscious of it.

即便我们没有意识到它们的存在。

There's a second way though, as well.

另一个原因是干扰。

That's interference. Communication requires sending

沟通意味着发送和接收。

and receiving, and I have another whole TEDTalk

我有另一个完整的TED讲演介绍了

about the importance of conscious listening,

有意识地聆听的重要性。

but I can send as well as I like,

可是，即便我能把讯息完整地发出，

and you can be brilliant conscious listeners.

你也是位卓越的有意识倾听者，

If the space I'm sending it in is not effective,

若我们身处的空间不理想

that communication can't happen.

便无法成功沟通。

Spaces tend to include noise and acoustics.

空间包括噪音及传声效果。

A room like this has acoustics, this one very good acoustics.

像这样的房间有很好的传声效果，

Many rooms are not so good.

很多的房间却没有这么好。

Let me give you some examples from a couple of areas

我来举两个领域的例子，

which I think we all care about: health and education.

是两个大家都关注的领域: 健康和教育。

(Hospital noises) When I was visiting my terminally ill father

(医院的嘈音) 当我到医院探望我病危的父亲时，

in a hospital, I was asking myself,

我就在问自己一个问题：

how does anybody get well in a place that sounds like this?

谁能在这样的环境康复起来呢?

Hospital sound is getting worse all the time.

医院正在变得愈来愈嘈杂，

Noise levels in hospitals have doubled

其噪音水平在过去数年翻番增长，

in the last few years, and it affects not just the patients

这不仅影响了病人，

but also the people working there.

也影响了在医院工作的人。

I think we would like for dispensing errors to be zero,

我们都希望把配方差错降至零，

wouldn't we? And yet, as noise levels go up, so do

对吧? 但随着噪音水平的上升，

the errors in dispensing made by the staff in hospitals.

医院员工的配方差错亦随之增长。

Most of all, though, it affects the patients,

而这一切，都将首先影响到病人，

and that could be you, it could be me.

然后就可能是你，也可能是我。

Sleep is absolutely crucial for recovery.

睡眠质量对康复的过程有着重要的作用。

It's when we regenerate, when we rebuild ourselves,

通过睡眠，我们的身体重建自身、得到康复。

and with threatening noise like this going on,

然而，在不断的噪音威胁下，

your body, even if you are able to sleep, your body

即使你能入睡, 你的身体也会告诉你:

is telling you, "I'm under threat. This is dangerous."

「我受到了威胁。这儿有危险。」

And the quality of sleep is degraded, and so is our recovery.

睡眠素质和康复速度都会因此下降。

There are just huge benefits to come

针对听觉感官进行设计

from designing for the ears in our health care.

会对我们的健康带来巨大的好处。

This is an area I intend to take on this year.

这是我今年打算研究的一个领域。

Education.

再看看教育。

When I see a classroom that looks like this,

当看到像这样的教室，

can you imagine how this sounds?

你认为上课听起来会怎样呢?

I am forced to ask myself a question.

我忍不住问自己一个问题：

("Do architects have ears?") (Laughter)

「建筑师有耳朵吗?」 (笑声)

Now, that's a little unfair. Some of my best friends

当然，这有点不公平，我有一些挚友就是建筑师。

are architects. (Laughter) And they definitely do have ears.

他们显然有耳朵，

But I think sometimes they don't use them

但他们在设计时, 似乎忘记了用他们的耳朵。

when they're designing buildings. Here's a case in point.

这里有个更具体的例子。

This is a 32-million-pound flagship academy school

这是耗资3200万镑的旗舰学校，

which was built quite recently in the U.K. and designed

它刚在英国落成，

by one of Britain's top architects.

是由一位英国顶级建筑师来设计的。

Unfortunately, it was designed like a corporate

不幸地是， 学校设计得像个企业总部，

headquarters, with a vast central atrium

有一个大型中庭，

and classrooms leading off it with no back walls at all.

所有的教室都背向中庭，而且没有背墙。

The children couldn't hear their teachers.

孩子们听不清老师讲课，

They had to go back in and spend 600,000 pounds

因此他们要另花60万镑建造背墙。

putting the walls in. Let's stop this madness

请停止建造开放式教室这种疯狂念头吧！

of open plan classrooms right now, please.

立刻！拜託！

It's not just these modern buildings which suffer.

不只新派设计有这方面的问题，

Old-fashioned classrooms suffer too.

旧式教室也不能幸免。

A study in Florida just a few years ago found

几年前在佛罗里达州的一项研究指出，

that if you're sitting where this photograph was taken

坐在图中教室的第四排，

in the classroom, row four, speech intelligibility

语音清晰度只有

is just 50 percent.

50%。

Children are losing one word in two.

孩子每两个字就会漏听一个，

Now that doesn't mean they only get half their education,

当然，这并不是说他们只接受了一半的教育，

but it does mean they have to work very hard

但是，他们要更加努力地去听讲

to join the dots and understand what's going on.

才能明白内容。

This is affected massively by reverberation time,

这种现象主要是受回音时间的影响，

how reverberant a room is.

即房间有多大的回音效果。

In a classroom with a reverberation time of 1.2 seconds,

在一间回音时间长达1.2秒的教室，

which is pretty common, this is what it sounds like.

（这是很常见的），身处其中听起来是这样：

(Inaudible echoing voice)

(模煳的回音声)

Not so good, is it?

听不清，对吧？

If you take that 1.2 seconds down to 0.4 seconds

通过添置一些声学处理设备和声音吸收材质，

by installing acoustic treatments, sound absorbing materials

我们就能将回音时长从1.2秒降至0.4秒，

and so forth, this is what you get.

而这时候的音响效果是这样的：

Voice: In language, infinitely many words can be written

（背景声音）在语言里，一小组字母可以构造出

with a small set of letters. In arithmetic,

无穷多的单词。而在算术学中，

infinitely many numbers can be composed

几个数字，再加上0，

from just a few digits with the help of the simple zero.

也可以组合成无穷多的数。

Julian Treasure: What a difference.

Julian Treasure：区别太大了！

Now that education you would receive,

这才是有质量的教育！

and thanks to the British acoustician Adrian James

刚才的模拟实验是

for those simulations. The signal was the same,

由英国声学家Adrian James提供的。

the background noise was the same.

两个试验中，信号和背景杂音都没变；

All that changed was the acoustics of the classroom

变化的只是

in those two examples.

教室的传声效果。

If education can be likened to watering a garden,

如把教育比喻为在花园浇水，

which is a fair metaphor, sadly, much of the water

这是合理的比喻。遗憾地是，

is evaporating before it reaches the flowers,

大部分水在未落在花朵前已蒸发。

especially for some groups,

特别对某些组别来说，

for example, those with hearing impairment.

例如： 听力受损的人

Now that's not just deaf children. That could be any child

（这不只包括失聪者， 也包括那些患感冒、

who's got a cold, glue ear, an ear infection,

胶耳、耳道感染， 甚至花粉热的孩子）。

even hay fever. On a given day, one in eight children

每一天，八个孩子中便有一个

fall into that group, on any given day.

属于这个人群。

Then you have children for whom English is a second language,

还有英语为第二语言的孩子，

or whatever they're being taught in is a second language.

或任何以第二语言学习的孩子。

In the U.K., that's more than 10 percent of the school population.

在英国，他们占所有学生中的比例超过10%。

And finally, after Susan Cain's wonderful TEDTalk in February,

还有， 感谢Susan Cain在二月的TED讲演，

we know that introverts find it very difficult to relate

我们得以了解知道性格内向的人

when they're in a noisy environment doing group work.

在嘈杂环境下，很难做好团体工作。

Add those up. That is a lot of children

这说明很多孩子

who are not receiving their education properly.

正在不理想的情况下接受教育。

It's not just the children who are affected, though.

然而受影响的不单是孩子。

(Noisy conversation) This study in Germany found

（嘈杂声）德国的一项研究指出，

the average noise level in classrooms is 65 decibels.

教室里的平均噪音水平是65分贝。

I have to really raise my voice to talk over 65 decibels

在这样的环境下，我需要要很大声才让你们听见我说话。

of sound, and teachers are not just raising their voices.

老师们不仅提高了音量。

This chart maps the teacher's heart rate

这图表显示教师的心率

against the noise level.

与噪音水平的关系。

Noise goes up, heart rate goes up.

随着噪音水平的上升，心率也随着上升。

That is not good for you.

这对身体不是好消息。

In fact, 65 decibels is the very level at which this big survey

事实上，这项关于噪音与健康的调查显示

of all the evidence on noise and health found that, that is

65分贝正是

the threshold for the danger of myocardial infarction.

可能引致心肌梗塞（即心脏病）

To you and me, that's a heart attack.

的分贝临界值。

It may not be pushing the boat out too far to suggest

教师每天在这种环境下授课，

that many teachers are losing significant life expectancy

寿命期望因而大大缩短，

by teaching in environments like that day after day.

这说法可没有夸张。

What does it cost to treat a classroom

把教室的回响时间降至0.4秒

down to that 0.4-second reverberation time?

成本是多少?

Two and a half thousand pounds.

2,500镑。

And the Essex study which has just been done in the U.K.,

刚在英国埃塞克斯完成的研究表明，

which incidentally showed that when you do this,

把回响时间降至0.4秒

you do not just make a room that's suitable

不但让有听力障碍的孩子

for hearing-impaired children, you make a room

听得清晰，

where behavior improves, and results improve significantly,

学童的行为和成绩亦明显进步。

this found that sending a child out of area to a school

如你的区域的学校没有这种教室，

that does have such a room, if you don't have one,

孩子须跨区上学，

costs 90,000 pounds a year.

每年开支是90,000镑。

I think the economics are pretty clear on this.

从经济角度看，潜在的收益是很明显的吧。

I'm glad that debate is happening on this.

我很高兴这引起了广泛的关注和讨论。

I just moderated a major conference in London

数星期前我在伦敦主持了一个会议，

a few weeks ago called Sound Education,

主题为「声音教育」。

which brought together top acousticians,

会议集合顶尖的声学家、

government people, teachers, and so forth.

政府人员和老师等等。

We're at last starting to debate this issue, and the benefits

讨论终于开始触及在教学环境中

that are available for designing for the ears in education,

针对听觉进行设计，

unbelievable.

它的益处是惊人的。

Out of that conference, incidentally, also came

而在会议之外，

a free app which is designed to help children study

一款用以协助那些需要在家庭嘈杂环境中（例如厨房）

if they're having to work at home, for example,

学习的孩子们的软件

in a noisy kitchen.

也问世了。

And that's free out of that conference.

这款软件是免费的。

Let's broaden the perspective a little bit

再看另一个领域：

and look at cities.

城市。

We have urban planners.

我们有城市规划者。

Where are the urban sound planners?

那城市声音规划者呢？

I don't know of one in the world, and the opportunity is there

我从未遇到过一个。

to transform our experience in our cities.

他们能让城市生活更美好。

The World Health Organization estimates

世界卫生组织估计

that a quarter of Europe's population is having its sleep

城市噪音影响1/4欧洲人的睡眠质量。

degraded by noise in cities. We can do better than that.

而这一切都是可以改善的。

And in our offices, we spend a lot of time at work.

再谈办公室，我们花很多时间在工作上。

Where are the office sound planners?

那办公室声音设计师呢？

People who say, don't sit that team next to this team,

有些人说，别把这两组人放在一起，

because they like noise and they need quiet.

因为一组喧闹，一组爱静。

Or who say, don't spend all your budget on a huge screen

有人说，别花太多钱

in the conference room,

在会议室的屏幕上，

and then place one tiny microphone

然后在30人的大桌中央

in the middle of a table for 30 people. (Laughter)

放一个微型麦克风。（笑声）

If you can hear me, you can understand me

如你听见我，不须看到我

without seeing me. If you can see me without hearing me,

也会明白我。如你只看到我却听不清我，

that does not work.

这是不奏效的。

So office sound is a huge area, and incidentally,

所以办公室声效是个大领域，

noise in offices has been shown to make people

而嘈杂的工作环境令人

less helpful, less enjoy their teamwork,

变得冷漠和难以享受团队工作，

and less productive at work.

生产力也会随之下降。

Finally, we have homes. We use interior designers.

最后，再谈家居环境。我们有室内设计师，

Where are the interior sound designers?

那室内声音设计师呢？

Hey, let's all be interior sound designers,

我们全都可以做室内声音设计师呀！

take on listening to our rooms and designing sound

开始听听我们的房间，

that's effective and appropriate.

设计有效和适当的声响。

My friend Richard Mazuch, an architect in London,

我的朋友Richard Mazuch，在伦敦当建筑师，

coined the phrase "invisible architecture."

提出了一个名词叫做「看不到的建筑」。

I love that phrase.

我喜欢这词语。

It's about designing, not appearance, but experience,

意思是为感官设计，而非外表。

so that we have spaces that sound as good as they look,

让我们的空间听起来跟看起来一样好，

that are fit for purpose, that improve our quality of life,

以满足我们对于生活的需求，改善生活素质、

our health and well being, our social behavior

健康水平、社交行为，

and our productivity.

以及生产力。

It's time to start designing for the ears.

是时候为听觉感官而设计了！

Thank you. (Applause)

多谢 (掌声)

(Applause)

(掌声)

Thank you. (Applause)

多谢 (掌声)