Aris Venetikidis: Making sense of maps

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: Yu-Sheng Lin 審譯者: Yuguo Zhang

What I do is I organize information.

我的工作, 是組織資訊。我是一個平面設計師。

I'm a graphic designer.

Professionally, I try to make sense

從專業面來說, 我努力讓

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

一些不太有條理的事情, 能夠比較容易被理解.

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

也許我的父親並不能了解

我所賴以為生的工作

他和我的祖先一直都是農民

His part of my ancestry has been farmers.

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

屬於一個少數民族-旁提克希臘人(在土耳其北部)

世居在小亞細亞, 後來遷徙到希臘

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

在約100年前經歷了一場種族屠殺(1915~1922)

about a hundred years ago.

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

從那之後, 遷徙似乎就變成了

我的家庭的一個主題。

我的父親搬到了德國、 在那裏就學, 在那裡結婚

My father moved to Germany, studied there and married,

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

因為這樣, 我的腦袋, 有一半是德國式的

具備了分析性的思維

with all the analytical thinking and that slightly dorky demeanor

也附帶染上了一些老學究的古怪氣質

that come with that.

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

這當然也意味著, 我對這兩個國家, 都算是外國人

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

所以對我而言, 遷徙一點都不難

你也可以說, 這是我的家族的優良傳統.

in good family tradition, if you like.

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

當然啦, 我們所經歷的遷徙旅程, 絕大部分

是我們每天在居住的城市裡發生的, 特別來談談

are within a city.

And, especially if you know the city,

如果你對這個城市算熟，從 A地點 到 B地點

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

應該是很簡單明瞭的，對嗎？

But the question is, why is it obvious?

但問題是，為什麼會很簡單明瞭呢？

How do we know where we're going?

我們怎麼知道我們要怎麼走？

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

在大約12年前, 我踏上了都柏林的渡輪碼頭

身為一個專業的外來客, 若你想這樣叫我也行

a professional foreigner, if you like,

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

我相信你們也都有過這樣的經驗，是吧？

You arrive in a new city,

你到達一個新的城市，然後你的大腦在嘗試

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

弄清這個新的地方。

Once you find your base, your home,

一旦你找到你的基地，你的家，

你會開始建立對於你的週遭環境的認知地圖

you start to build this cognitive map of your environment.

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

基本上這樣的虛擬地圖, 只存在於

你的腦袋裡面。所有的動物物種都是這樣的.

All animal species do it,

even though we all use slightly different tools.

不過我們與動物所使用的工具會有些不同。

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

我們人類，當然，我們不要到處移動

像狗那樣用味道標誌我們的領域。

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

我們也不會到處跑並且發射超聲波，像蝙蝠那樣。

We just don't do that,

我們根本不會那樣做

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

雖然在聖殿區的酒吧的夜晚可能也相當的狂野啊...（笑聲） (聖殿區: 都柏林的一區, 夜晚的酒吧是觀光客常去的)

(Laughter)

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

我們會做兩個重要的事情，來搞清楚一個地方.

First, we move along linear routes.

第一，我們沿直線路線移動。

Typically, we find a main street,

通常我們會先找到主要街道, 把這條主街

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

當成我們腦袋裡頭的線條狀的地圖

But our mind keeps it pretty simple, yeah?

而且我們的腦袋用很簡單的方式來記

Every street is generally perceived as a straight line,

每一條街道通常都被當作是一條直線，

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

我們通常都會忽略街道常會有的小曲折。

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

但是, 當我們打算彎到一條次要街道的時候

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

我們的腦袋傾向於把這個彎當成是90度角

這個當然就會產生不少有趣的情況了

This of course makes for some funny moments

when you're in some old city layout

比方說, 你若是在一個老城市, 街道的布局是依照

that follows some sort of circular city logic, yeah?

圓城的邏輯，會很有趣吧?

也許你也曾有過這樣的經驗吧?

Maybe you've had that experience as well.

比如說, 你正位於邊街上的某個點

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

that projects from a main cathedral square,

邊街是從主要教堂廣場幅射出來的，而你打算

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

到另一條邊街上的某個點去。

The cognitive map in your mind may tell you,

你腦袋裡的認知圖可能會這樣告訴你: "阿里斯,

"Aris, go back to the main cathedral square,

回到主要教堂廣場去, 然後

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

轉個 90 度的彎, 向另一條邊街走下去。"

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

但是不知何故, 你那一天覺得想冒險

你突然發現這兩個景點

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

其實只是隔了一棟房子

Now, I don't know about you,

我不知道你會怎麼想, 但我遇到這樣的狀況時

but I always feel like I find this wormhole

總覺得像是發現了跨越空間的門戶或是蟲洞。

or this inter-dimensional portal.

(Laughter)

So we move along linear routes

我們總是沿著直線路徑前進

而我們的腦袋會把街道當成直的, 並且把轉彎

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

都當作 90 度角。

第二件事我們會做的事情，來搞清楚一個地方.

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

是我們會把 意義與情感附加到事物上

is we attach meaning and emotions to the things

that we see along those lines.

當我們看待這些路線的時候

如果你去到愛爾蘭農村，你問一位老太太

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

怎麼走，要準備好會聽到一些詳細的

brace yourself for some elaborate Irish storytelling

愛爾蘭故事, 關於每一個地標。是吧!

about all the landmarks, yeah?

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

她會告訴你，她的妹妹曾經工作過的酒吧

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

然後經過那個我結婚的教堂，諸如此類的故事。

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

所以我們會用這些有意義的標記來填補我們的認知地圖。

除此之外，我們還會抽象化，

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

重複各種模式，並且理解他們。

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

我們用自己的經驗來建立認知地圖

我們把認知地圖抽象化成符號

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

當然了, 我們都能夠

瞭解這些符號。（笑聲）

(Laughter)

更重要的是，我們都能夠理解

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

這樣的認知地圖，而你也有能力

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

自行建立這樣的認知地圖。

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

所以下一次，當您想要告訴你的朋友怎麼去你的地方，

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

你會拿一個啤酒杯墊紙, 或一張餐巾紙

然後你就會看到你自己畫出這種令人敬畏的

create this awesome piece of communication design.

溝通的圖樣設計。它有一些直線。

It's got straight lines.

It's got 90-degree corners.

它有一些 90 度轉角。

您可能會沿路增加一些小符號。

You might add little symbols along the way.

當你看著你剛才畫出來的，

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

你會意識到它不像市區街道地圖。

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,

要是你試著把實際的街道地圖

疊蓋在你剛剛畫的地圖上，你會意識到你畫的街道

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

跟距離，跟實際的會差很多

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

其實, 你所畫出的地圖

是更像一個關係圖或示意圖。

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

它是一種視覺的組成, 有 線條、 圓點、 字母

採用我們大腦的語言來繪製的。

designed in the language of our brains.

So it's no big surprise

所以, 這一點都不會意外, 當你看到上個世紀最大的

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

資訊設計典範，讓大家知道如何從 A地 到 B地的

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

資訊顯示的巔峰設計，就是 倫敦地鐵的地圖，

the London Underground map --

並不是由製圖員或城市規劃師所畫的。

was not designed by a cartographer or a city planner;

it was designed by an engineering draftsman.

它是由一個工程繪圖員設計的。

In the 1930s,

在 1930 年代，哈利 · 貝克採用了

Harry Beck applied the principles of schematic diagram design

示意圖的設計原則, 永遠地改變了

and changed the way public transport maps are designed forever.

公共交通工具的地圖設計的方式。

Now the very key to the success of this map

這張地圖的成功關鍵要素

就是省去了不太重要的資訊

is in the omission of less important information

and in the extreme simplification.

並且將資訊極度地簡化.

所以拉直的街道，90 和 45 度角的轉角

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

也因此會在該地圖上有極端的地理失真。

but also the extreme geographic distortion in that map.

如果你有機會看看這些車站的實際位置

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

you'd see they're very different.

您會看到它們非常的不同。是吧？

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

但這全是為了讓公共交通地鐵圖的簡明易懂性.

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

是吧？如果你，比方說，想從攝政公園站

to Great Portland Street,

到 大波特蘭街 去, 這個地圖就會告訴你，

the Tube map would tell you:

坐地鐵，轉到貝克街，轉車，搭另一線的地鐵。

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

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

當然，你不知道的是，其實這兩個站

相距僅約一百米。

are only about a hundred meters apart.

現在我們進到了公共交通的主題

Now we've reached the subject of public transport,

and public transport here in Dublin

而都柏林的公共交通

是有點棘手的話題。（笑聲）

is a somewhat touchy subject.

(Laughter)

簡單說明一下, 以免有些人不知道都柏林這裡的公共交通

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.

基本上我們有一套本地巴士系統

隨著城市擴展。每個新發展出來的周邊區域

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

就會新增一條巴士路線

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

從周邊區域一直走到市中心，

當這些周邊地方的巴士開進市中心的時候

And as these local buses approach the city center,

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

他們並排開進來, 然後大部分都匯流到

一條主要街道上。

So when I stepped off the boat 12 years ago,

所以，當我12 年前走下了船的時候 ，

I tried to make sense of that.

我就嘗試著要了解這套系統，

因為只用步行探索城市走不了多遠

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

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

當你開始探索一個國外的陌生的公共交通系統的時候

在你腦袋裡建構的認知地圖的方式

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

大致上也會是完全相同的.

Typically, you choose yourself a rapid transport route,

通常，您幫自己選擇一條快速運輸路線(捷運)，

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

然噢在你腦袋裡這條路線被當做是一條直線，

And like a pearl necklace,

就像一條珍珠項鍊那樣、 所有的車站和停靠點

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

都整齊地排在這條線上

And only then you start to discover some local bus routes

然後你開始發現一些地方的巴士路線

可以填補捷運路線間的空白，並讓你能夠用上這些

that would fill in the gaps,

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

蟲洞，跨空間門戶的捷徑

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

所以當我來到這裡的時候, 我試著搞懂

I was looking for some information leaflets

我想找一些資訊折頁能夠

that would help me crack this system and understand it,

幫我破解此個系統並且理解它，

and I found those brochures.

而我找到的是這些摺頁。（笑聲）

(Laughter)

They were not geographically distorted.

這些並沒有在地理空間上做了扭曲

這些有很多的資訊被簡略掉了，

They had a lot of omission of information,

but unfortunately, the wrong information.

很不幸的是, 簡略掉不該被簡略的了，比如說, 市中心的部份.

Say, in the city center --

there were never actually any lines that showed the routes.

這些折頁根本就沒有顯示這些路線

(Laughter)

There are actually not even any stations with names.

這些折頁也根本沒有任何的車站和站名

(Laughter)

Now, the maps of Dublin transport have gotten better,

現在的都柏林公共運輸地圖已經變得更好了，

當我完成了這個專案之後，這些地圖還會變得更好些

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

but still no station names, still no routes.

但仍沒有車站名稱，仍沒有路線。

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

所以，身為一個天真的, 一半德國血統的人，我決定，

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

"阿里斯，你為什麼不做一張你自己的地圖？"

So that's what I did.

這就是我做的事。我研究了每一條

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

巴士路線如何移動穿過城市

完善而合乎邏輯的, 每條巴士路線都是一條獨立的線條

every bus route a separate line.

I plotted it into my own map of Dublin,

我把路線畫到我自己的都柏林地圖上

結果在市中心，

and in the city center ...

I got a nice spaghetti plate.

我畫得像是一盤義大利麵條。（笑聲）

(Laughter)

這看起來有點亂, 所以當然了, 我決定要

Now, this is a bit of a mess,

so I decided, of course,

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

用上示意圖的畫圖規則

cleaning up the corridors,

清空走廊，拉大那些有巴士經過

widening the streets where there were loads of buses

的街道，並且把每條街道畫成

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

直的、 90 度角、 45 度角或再平分下去的角度

or fractions of that,

and filled it in with the bus routes.

把每條巴士路線填上去。我畫出了這張城市中心

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

的巴士系統地圖，這是它五年前的樣子。

how it was five years ago.

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

我會再放大進去, 讓你能感受到完全的震撼

of the quays and Westmoreland Street.

關於這些碼頭和 威斯特摩蘭 街。（笑聲）

(Laughter)

現在我可以自豪地說 — — （掌聲） — —

Now I can proudly say --

(Applause)

I can proudly say, as a public transport map,

我可以自豪地說，作為公共交通工具的地圖，

this diagram is an utter failure.

這張圖是一個徹底的失敗 — — （笑聲） — —

(Laughter)

Except, probably, in one aspect:

除了, 也許還有點用處的是：

I now had a great visual representation

我畫出了一個很棒的視覺化呈現

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

展現出這個市中心是多麼的雍塞而且過度負載了

Now, call me old-fashioned,

你可以說我是老式的, 可以, 但我認為

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

一個公共交通路線地圖應該用線條

because that's what they are, yeah?

因為交通路線就是線條啊, 對吧?

這些路線就像一條條的線纏繞著

They're little pieces of string that wrap their way

through the city center or through the city.

通過市中心，或通過這座城市。

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

也許你會覺得, 像我自己的希臘血統就會覺得, 不用線條的話

就像是走進了牛頭怪(希臘神話)的迷宮

it's like entering the labyrinth of the Minotaur

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

卻沒有 阿麗亞德妮 給你那條引路的線 (神話中 特休斯靠此線走出迷宮)

So the outcome of my academic research,

所以我的學術研究

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

包括了 大量的調查問卷，案例研究

還看了很多地圖，的研究結果是, 很多的問題

was that a lot of the problems and shortcomings

還有缺點, 在關於 都柏林的公共交通系統的部份

of the public transport system here in Dublin

was the lack of a coherent public transport map --

是因為缺乏一個 一致性的公共運輸地圖-

a simplified, coherent public transport map --

一種 簡化的、 一致的公共交通工具地圖-

because I think this is the crucial step to understanding

因為我認為這是一個關鍵的步驟, 來了解

一個 公共交通網絡 的實體層面

a public transport network on a physical level,

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

而這也是一個關鍵的步驟, 來畫出

一個 視覺上能理解的 公共交通網絡地圖。

on a visual level.

So I teamed up with a gentleman called James Leahy,

所以我與一位叫 詹姆斯 · 萊希 的人合作

a civil engineer and a recent master's graduate

他是一個 土木工程師, 最近拿到碩士學位

of the Sustainable Development program at DIT,

剛從 DIT 的永續發展學程畢業

and together we drafted the simplified model network,

我們一起草擬了這個簡化的模型網路

which I could then go ahead and visualize.

然後，我可以進行視覺化的呈現

So here's what we did.

這就是我們做出來的

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

我們把這些捷運走廊分散到

整個城市中心，再把它們延伸到周邊郊區

and extended them into the outskirts.

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

捷運，因為我們想讓大家能夠搭乘

捷運交通工具，對吧？

They would get exclusive road use, where possible,

這些捷運應該會有專屬的用路權，如果可能的話，

這也會是將高運量的、 高品質的運輸。

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

James wanted to use bus rapid transport for that,

詹姆斯 想要為 快捷巴士運輸 來達到這樣的目的

rather than light rail.

而不是用輕軌捷運。而對我來說，重要的是

For me, it was important

這些運行在快速運輸走廊的交通工具

that the vehicles that would run on those rapid transport corridors

可以直接用看的就區分出來, 跟地區性的巴士是不同的

would be visibly distinguishable from local buses on the street.

Now we could take out all the local buses

現在，我們可以拿掉所有地區性的巴士路線

that ran alongside those rapid transport means.

跟這些快速交通路線並行的都可以拿掉

Any gaps that appeared in the outskirts were filled again.

而在郊區的空缺區域仍然可以用 區域性巴士來填補

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

所以, 換句話說, 如果原本在這個郊區的街上

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

有巴士路線，我們就把巴士放回去，

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

不同的是, 現在這些區域性巴士不會一路開到市中心去了

but connect to the nearest rapid-transport mode,

只會開到最近的一個捷運站點銜接轉運

one of these thick lines over there.

串連到這些地方的這些粗線

所以, 剩下的只是幾個月的工作

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

and a couple of fights with my girlfriend,

還有幾場我跟女朋友的小吵架, 因為我們的地方

of our place constantly being clogged up with maps,

一直都塞滿了好多的地圖

and the outcome, one of the outcomes,

產出的結果, 其中之一, 是這張地圖

was this map of the Greater Dublin area.

涵蓋了大都柏林區。我會放大一點。

I'll zoom in a little bit.

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

這張地圖只顯示了捷運的銜接點

沒有區域性巴士，很像常見的捷運地圖

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

就像在倫敦的很成功的地鐵圖，而且也

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

已經被輸出運用在其他許多大城市

and therefore is the language that we should use

所以也是我們應該採用的方式, 當我們在畫

公共交通的地圖的時候。

for public transport maps.

同樣也很重要的, 當有這樣的簡化的網絡的時候

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

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

我就變得有辦法可以

對付這個終極挑戰，

來畫出市中心的公共運輸地圖了

and make a public transport map for the city center,

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

不僅是畫出快捷運輸的連線

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

也會有所有的區域性巴士路線、 街道和諸如此類的

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

而這就是像這樣的地圖會長什麼樣子。

I'll zoom in a little bit.

我會放大一點。

我在這張地圖，包括了各種運輸模式，

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

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

包括快捷運輸、 巴士、 都柏林快車、 有軌電車和諸如此類的。 (DART: Dublin Area Rapid Transit:)

Each individual route is represented by a separate line.

每一條路線用一條獨立的線條來表示

地圖顯示了所有的每一個車站

The map shows each and every station,

each and every station name,

每個車站的名稱

而且我也標上了 一些 邊街

and I'm also displaying side streets.

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

事實上，大部分的小街甚至與街的名字，

and for good measure, also a couple of landmarks,

為了方便，還標示了幾個重要地標，

其中的一些用代表符號來凸顯

some of them signified by little symbols,

others by these isometric three-dimensional

另外一些用這種等視圖式的立體的

bird's-eye-view drawings.

鳥瞰圖來呈現

The map is relatively small in overall size,

地圖的整體尺寸相對來說較小，

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

大小可以讓你拿在手上, 像是折頁地圖般

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

或是用在公車亭, 顯示在合理大小的顯示器上

I think it tries to be the best balance

我認為這樣的地圖盡可能去平衡兩者

between actual representation and simplification --

一邊是實際的表示形式, 另一邊是

簡化的方式. 也就是我們的大腦中找路的描述方式。

the language of way-finding in our brain.

So, straightened lines, cleaned-up corners,

所以拉直的線條、 乾淨的轉角，

and of course, that very, very important geographic distortion

還有，當然，這非常、 非常重要

地理區域上的扭曲, 讓公共交通地圖變得容易懂.

that makes public transport maps possible.

如果你，比方說，看看這兩個主要的

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

穿過市區的通道

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

在這邊的黃色跟橘色的通道, 再看看

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

他們在實際的、 準確的街道地圖上的樣子

and this is how they would look in my distorted,

再對比這兩個通道在我的版本的扭曲過的

simplified public transport map.

簡化的公共交通工具的地圖。

So for a successful public transport map,

所以, 一張成功的公共交通工具的地圖，

we should not stick to accurate representation,

我們不應堅持在正確無誤的街道呈現，

而是應該設計成符合但我們的大腦的運作的方式。

but design them in the way our brains work.

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

我得到的反應是非常多的。這是我所樂見的

當然了, 對我自己而言, 我也非常高興能夠

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

that my folks in Germany and Greece finally have an idea

讓我在德國和希臘的親朋好友, 終於能夠搞懂

我是靠什麼工作過活的。（笑聲）謝謝。（掌聲）

what I do for a living.

(Laughter)

Thank you.

(Applause)