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

譯者: 易帆 余 審譯者: Yamei Huang

Imagine that when you walked in here this evening,

想像一下，當各位今晚走進會場時，

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

你發現在場所有的人 看上去幾乎長得一模一樣：

ageless, raceless,

沒有年齡、種族的區別，

generically good-looking.

長得都一樣帥、一樣漂亮。

That person sitting right next to you

而坐在你身旁的人，

might have the most idiosyncratic inner life,

他的內心世界可能是個怪咖，

but you don't have a clue

但你卻看不出來，

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

因為我們臉上總是一號表情。

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

這就是目前在各城市中 發生的詭異變化，

only it applies to buildings, not people.

我說的是建築物，不是人。

Cities are full of roughness and shadow,

城市中遍佈了粗糙與陰影、

texture and color.

紋理與色彩。

You can still find architectural surfaces of great individuality and character

你仍然能夠找到極具個性的外表設計，

in apartment buildings in Riga

在里加、

and Yemen,

葉門這些地區的公寓樓房中、

social housing in Vienna,

維也納的社會住宅中、

Hopi villages in Arizona,

亞利桑那的霍皮村落、

brownstones in New York,

紐約的赤褐色砂石建築、

wooden houses in San Francisco.

舊金山的木屋，它們都極具個性。

These aren't palaces or cathedrals.

它們既不是宮殿，也不是大教堂。

These are just ordinary residences

它們只是一些

expressing the ordinary splendor of cities.

能展現出各個城市魅力的 普通住宅。

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

而這些房屋之所以這麼有特色，

is so bound up with the human desire for beauty.

是因為人們在住宅需求中 也伴隨著對美的渴望。

Their rough surfaces give us a touchable city.

粗糙的表面帶給了我們 一個觸手可及的城市。

Right? Streets that you can read

當你的指尖拂過街邊的一磚一瓦時，

by running your fingers over brick and stone.

彷彿走進了小巷深處的記憶。

But that's getting harder to do,

但這樣的機會已經越來越少了，

because cities are becoming smooth.

因為城市正在變得光滑。

New downtowns sprout towers

高層建築在市中心拔地而起，

that are almost always made of concrete and steel

但卻幾乎都是覆蓋著玻璃的

and covered in glass.

鋼筋混凝土建築物。

You can look at skylines all over the world --

各位可以去看看 世界各地城市的天際線──

Houston,

休斯頓、

Guangzhou,

廣州、

Frankfurt --

法蘭克福──

and you see the same army of high-gloss robots

那些長的一模一樣的 拋光機器人大軍，

marching over the horizon.

佈滿了城市的水平線。

Now, just think of everything we lose

想想，當建築師們

when architects stop using the full range of available materials.

不再使用其它各式各樣的材料時 我們所失去的一切。

When we reject granite and limestone and sandstone

當我們拋棄了 花崗岩、石灰岩、砂岩、

and wood and copper and terra-cotta and brick

木材、銅片、陶瓦、磚、

and wattle and plaster,

籬芭、石膏，

we simplify architecture

我們簡化了建築，

and we impoverish cities.

卻拋光了城市。

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

這就好比把世界各地的美食

down to airline food.

簡化成飛機上的餐食。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Chicken or pasta?

雞肉還是義大利麵？

But worse still,

但，更糟糕的是，

assemblies of glass towers like this one in Moscow

像是在莫斯科的這些玻璃帷幕大樓，

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

暗含著一種對於城市社會生活的歧視。

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

這樣的建築只是為了彰顯 房東或是租客很有錢的樣子，

but not necessarily the lives of the rest of us,

而對於每天穿行其中的我們來說，

those of us who navigate the spaces between the buildings.

卻沒有多大意義。

And we expect to do so for free.

而我們卻放任這樣的建築物存在。

Shiny towers are an invasive species

閃亮亮的大廈像是一種入侵物種，

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

它們掐住了城市的呼吸， 也破壞了我們的公共空間。

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

我們似乎把建築物的外表 當做上妝的表層，

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

最後附上裝飾的一層就算是蓋好了。

But just because a facade is superficial

但是一個膚淺的外表，

doesn't mean it's not also deep.

並不意味著建築本身沒有深度。

Let me give you an example

我舉個例子，

說明一下城市的外觀， 會如何影響人們的生活方式。

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

When I visited Salamanca in Spain,

當我去拜訪位於西班牙的 薩拉曼卡的時候，

I gravitated to the Plaza Mayor

我被馬約爾廣場深深吸引，

at all hours of the day.

於是一整天都呆在了那兒。

Early in the morning, sunlight rakes the facades,

清晨，陽光撒向整棟建築物，

sharpening shadows,

留下清晰的陰影。

and at night, lamplight segments the buildings

到了傍晚時分 燈光將樓房分割成了

into hundreds of distinct areas,

數百個截然不同的小區域。

balconies and windows and arcades,

陽台、窗戶、走廊

each one a separate pocket of visual activity.

都各自造就了獨特的視覺區。

That detail and depth, that glamour

那些細節、深度和它所帶來的魅力，

gives the plaza a theatrical quality.

賦予了廣場擁有一種 大劇場的視覺饗宴。

It becomes a stage where the generations can meet.

它變成了一個 無論男女老少都可以邂逅的舞台。

You have teenagers sprawling on the pavers,

你會看見年輕人 隨意地坐在廣場上，

seniors monopolizing the benches,

老年人佔據著長椅，

and real life starts to look like an opera set.

那真實的生活就像是 戲劇裡的佈景。

The curtain goes up on Salamanca.

揭開了薩拉曼卡的全貌。

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

因為我談的是建築外觀，

not form, not function, not structure,

不是它的形式、功能或是結構，

even so those surfaces give texture to our lives,

但就是這些外觀紋路， 為我們的生活帶來了觸動，

because buildings create the spaces around them,

因為建築物創造了 周圍的空間環境，

and those spaces can draw people in

而這些空間環境 可以吸引人們聚在一起，

or push them away.

或是將人們推向它方。

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

而這些差距往往就是 建築外觀的特質所決定的。

So one contemporary equivalent of the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca

說一個可以與薩拉曼卡的馬約爾廣場 相當的現代廣場，

is the Place de la Défense in Paris,

巴黎的協和廣場，

a windswept, glass-walled open space

是一個吹襲著強風 被玻璃帷幕圍繞的開放空間，

that office workers hurry through

讓辦公白領只想快速通過，

on the way from the metro to their cubicles

從地鐵站直奔他們的小辦公室，

but otherwise spend as little time in as possible.

盡可能地逃離現場。

In the early 1980s, the architect Philip Johnson

在上世紀 80 年代初期 一位叫做菲力普·強生的建築師，

tried to recreate a gracious European plaza in Pittsburgh.

曾嘗試在匹茲堡 重塑一個優雅的歐式廣場。

This is PPG Place,

也就是 PPG 廣場，

a half acre of open space encircled by commercial buildings

半英畝的空地

被玻璃帷幕的商業大樓所包圍著。

made of mirrored glass.

And he ornamented those buildings with metal trim and bays

他運用了金屬鑲邊、間隔排架

還有哥德式的塔樓設計，

and Gothic turrets

which really pop on the skyline.

雖然可以讓建築物 看起來像是真奔天際線，

But at ground level,

但是從一樓往上看，

the plaza feels like a black glass cage.

整個廣場就好像一個 黑色的玻璃籠子。

I mean, sure, in summertime

我的意思是，沒錯，在夏天

kids are running back and forth through the fountain

孩子們還是會在噴泉的周圍來回奔跑，

and there's ice-skating in the winter,

冬天還是會在這裡溜冰，

but it lacks the informality of a leisurely hangout.

但卻少了一種休閑自在感。

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

這個廣場的確不是那種 會讓你想去聚會暢談的地方。

Public spaces thrive or fail for many different reasons.

這些公共空間的成功與失敗 取決於很多不同的原因。

Architecture is only one,

建築的風格雖然只是其中一方面，

but it's an important one.

但卻也是極其重要的一方面。

Some recent plazas

一些最近新建的廣場

like Federation Square in Melbourne

比如墨爾本的聯邦廣場

or Superkilen in Copenhagen

或是哥本哈根的 Superkilen 公園，

succeed because they combine old and new,

它們的成功源於 它們結合了古樸與新潮、

rough and smooth,

粗糙與光滑、

neutral and bright colors,

中性與明亮的色彩，

and because they don't rely excessively on glass.

而且它們沒有過分依賴玻璃。

Now, I'm not against glass.

我並不是反對使用玻璃。

It's an ancient and versatile material.

玻璃畢竟是一種古老且 用途多廣的材料。

It's easy to manufacture and transport

它們易於大量生產、運輸、

and install and replace

安裝、替換

and clean.

和清潔。

It comes in everything from enormous, ultraclear sheets

無論是巨大的超潔凈板 還是簡單的半透明磚，

to translucent bricks.

都有玻璃的存在。

New coatings make it change mood

新式塗層能夠 讓它們在光照的變化中

in the shifting light.

變換色調。

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

在像紐約這樣的高消費力城市， 玻璃擁有神奇的能力，

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

它能擴大視覺空間， 使房地產價格輕鬆翻倍，

which is really the only commodity that developers have to offer

而開發商也只能用玻璃當建材，

to justify those surreal prices.

來平衡高的嚇人的土地成本。

In the middle of the 19th century,

在 19 世紀中期，

with the construction of the Crystal Palace in London,

伴隨著倫敦水晶宮的建成，

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

玻璃一躍成了 現代化建築材料的榜首。

By the mid-20th century,

到了 20 世紀中期，

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

玻璃透過這些壯觀的辦公大樓

largely through some really spectacular office buildings

主導了美國部分城市的市中心。

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

像是在曼哈頓由斯基德莫爾、奥因斯 和梅里爾三人設計的利華大廈。

Eventually, the technology advanced to the point

直到最近，科技進步到達了一種

where architects could design structures so transparent

使建築師們能夠讓設計結構透明到

they practically disappear.

看不見的地步。

And along the way,

這一路走來，

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

玻璃成了高樓城市的既定材料，

and there's a very powerful reason for that.

而這些改變的背後， 卻有著強大的理由。

Because as the world's populations converge on cities,

因為世界人口都聚集於城市之中，

the least fortunate pack into jerry-built shantytowns.

窮人會住進臨時搭建的棚屋中。

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

但數以億計的人

仍是需要越來越高大的 住宅和辦公空間，

in ever-larger buildings,

so it makes economic sense to put up towers

所以從經濟角度考量， 使用便宜耐用的玻璃建材

and wrap them in cheap and practical curtain walls.

作為大樓的外觀是完全合理的。

But glass has a limited ability

但是玻璃的表現力

to be expressive.

畢竟是有局限性的。

This is a section of wall framing a plaza

這是一個廣場的外牆

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

位於墨西哥南部的前西班牙城米特拉，

Those 2,000-year-old carvings

這些歷經 2000 年的雕紋，

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

讓這裡充滿了宗教的歷史氣息。

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

如今，當我們仔細觀察 環繞在山區的這些建築雕刻物，

between those carvings, the mountains all around

我們可以看到建築物 歷史紋路的傳承，

and that church which is built on top of the ruins

建造於廢墟之上的教堂

using stone plundered from the site.

使用了當地的石材。

In nearby Oaxaca, even ordinary plaster buildings

在附近的瓦哈卡 即使是普通的石膏建築

become canvasses for bright colors, political murals

也會成為色彩豐富的政治壁畫

and sophisticated graphic arts.

或是深奧精美的藝術畫布。

It's an intricate, communicative language

這些錯綜覆雜，具有交流性的語言

that an epidemic of glass would simply wipe out.

會因玻璃的盛行而被輕易地替換掉。

The good news is that architects and developers

好消息是，建築師和開發商們

have begun to rediscover the joys of texture

已經開始在不脫離現代化的基礎上

without backing away from modernity.

重新發掘其它材質帶來的樂趣。

Some find innovative uses for old materials like brick

有一些人找到了比如 磚頭或是赤陶瓦等舊材料的

and terra-cotta.

新用途。

Others invent new products like the molded panels that Snøhetta used

還有一些人則是發掘了新建材 比如斯諾赫塔

to give the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

在舊金山的現代藝術博物館， 使用模壓板，

that crinkly, sculptural quality.

讓博物館看起來富有 皺折的雕塑般氣質。

The architect Stefano Boeri even created living facades.

建築師斯特凡諾·博埃里甚至 創造了一種有生命力的建築外觀。

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

這是他在米蘭 「垂直叢林」的雙大樓作品。

whose most visible feature is greenery.

它們最獨特的地方就是綠化。

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

博埃里正在為中國南京 設計一個類似的版本。

And imagine if green facades were as ubiquitous as glass ones

想象一下，如果這種綠色外觀 能夠和玻璃一樣普及的話，

how much cleaner the air in Chinese cities would become.

那麽中國城市的空氣品質 將會得到多麽大的改善啊。

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

但事實上，這些往往都只是

boutique projects,

一次性的精美個案。

not easily reproduced at a global scale.

沒辦法輕易地在全球普及。

And that is the point.

但這也是重點。

When you use materials that have a local significance,

當你去使用這些 具有地方特色的建材時，

you prevent cities from all looking the same.

就能夠避免城市的外觀趨於一致。

Copper has a long history in New York --

在紐約，銅的運用已有 一段很長的歷史──

the Statue of Liberty,

自由女神像、

the crown of the Woolworth Building --

伍爾沃思大廈的樓頂都有銅的存在──

but it fell out of fashion for a long time

但是它已經脫離時尚界多年，

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

直到 SHoP 的建築師， 在設計東河岸的一對折型塔樓──

a pair of twisting towers on the East River.

「美銅大樓」時，再次使用了它。

It's not even finished

它還沒有完工，

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

但你能夠從夕陽中 看到那耀眼的金屬光澤，

which will weather to green as it ages.

它們會隨著時間風化成綠色。

Buildings can be like people.

大樓也可以和人一樣，

Their faces broadcast their experience.

它們的外觀也能有歲月的痕跡。

And that's an important point,

這是很重要的一點，

because when glass ages,

因為當玻璃老化的時候，

you just replace it,

我們只會把它換掉，

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

所以這些建築物

在被打掉重建前， 看起來都跟以前一模一樣。

until eventually it's demolished.

Almost all other materials have the ability

幾乎所有的材料都有能力

to absorb infusions of history and memory,

可以吸收並融合歷史與回憶，

and project it into the present.

並與當代相呼應。

The firm Ennead

Ennead 公司

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

用銅和鋅包裹了位於鹽湖城的 猶他自然歷史博物館，

ores that have been mined in the area for 150 years

這區的礦產開採歷史 已經有 150 年了，

and that also camouflage the building against the ochre hills

這也讓這座建築物巧妙的 隱藏於礦山之中。

so that you have a natural history museum

這樣我們就擁有了一個真正反映

that reflects the region's natural history.

當地自然歷史的自然歷史博物館。

And when the Chinese Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu

當中國建築師王澍 （普利茨克獎獲得者）

was building a history museum in Ningbo,

在寧波建造歷史博物館時，

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

他不僅僅將過去留在建築裡，

he built memory right into the walls

也將回憶帶回了建築當中，

by using brick and stones and shingles

他是利用村莊拆除下來的磚石、木瓦

salvaged from villages that had been demolished.

將它建造而成的。

Now, architects can use glass

當今的建築師也可以 以同樣抒情且別出心裁的方式

in equally lyrical and inventive ways.

利用玻璃來設計建物。

Here in New York, two buildings,

在這裡，紐約，有兩棟樓，

one by Jean Nouvel and this one by Frank Gehry

一棟是楊·努維爾設計的， 這棟則是法蘭克·蓋瑞的作品，

face off across West 19th Street,

它們面朝西十九大道，

and the play of reflections that they toss back and forth

而它們所創造出的光影交錯

is like a symphony in light.

就如同光世界的交響曲。

But when a city defaults to glass

但當玻璃成為一個城市的既定材料，

as it grows,

不斷地被使用時，

it becomes a hall of mirrors,

城市就會變成充滿鏡面的建築，

disquieting and cold.

會讓人感到不安、冰冷。

After all, cities are places of concentrated variety

畢竟，城市應該是一個多元的大熔爐，

匯聚了各國文化、

where the world's cultures and languages and lifestyles

混合了多國語言和生活方式的地方。

come together and mingle.

So rather than encase all that variety

所以我們不應該將這些 不同且多樣性的各國文化

and diversity in buildings of crushing sameness,

局限在這一模一樣的外表下，

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

我們應該讓建築充分反映 豐富多彩的城市體驗。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）