How to build a resilient future using ancient wisdom | Julia Watson

譯者: Amanda Zhu 審譯者: Regina Chu

When you imagine the architectural wonders of the world,

當你想到世界建築奇觀時，

what do you see?

你看到了什麼?

The greatness of the Pyramids of Giza

吉薩金字塔的偉大，

or maybe the amazing aqueducts of Ancient Rome?

或古羅馬驚人的輸水道?

Both of these are amazing feats of human innovation.

這兩者都是人類創新的驚人壯舉。

As an architect,

身為一名建築師，

I've often wondered why do we monumentalize the ancient wonders

我常想知道，為什麼我們要紀念

崩壞已久的古代文明奇觀的遺跡?

of civilizations that collapsed such a long time ago?

I've traveled the world studying ancient innovation,

我周遊世界研究古代發明，

and what I've found are Indigenous technologies from living cultures

我發現土著技術 在現存的文明中仍在使用。

that are still in use.

And some of these cultures you may have never heard of.

其中有些文明你可能從來沒有聽說過。

They live in the most remote places on earth,

他們生活在地球上最偏遠的地方，

facing environmental extremes like desert drought and frequent flooding

歷代面臨著沙漠的乾旱

和頻繁的洪水等極端環境。

for generations.

A couple of years ago, I traveled to northern India

幾年前，我前往印度北部

to a place overlooking the plains of Bangladesh

一個俯瞰孟加拉平原的地方，

where the Khasi people live

那裡的卡西族人生活在一片森林中，

in a forest that receives more rainfall than anywhere else on earth.

降雨量比地球上任何地方都多。

And during the monsoon season,

在季風季節，

travel between villages is cut off by these floods,

村莊之間的交通被洪水阻斷。

which transform this entire landscape

洪水將整個地景

from a forested canopy into isolated islands.

從一片森林變成孤立的島嶼。

This hill tribe has evolved living root bridges

這個山地部落已經發展出活根橋，

that are created by guiding and growing tree roots

這些橋樑是經由引導樹根

that you can barely wrap your arms around

攀附在精心建構的鷹架來築成的，

through a carefully woven scaffolding.

樹根粗到幾乎無法用雙臂環抱。

Multiple generations of the Khasi men and the women and the children,

好幾代的卡西族男人、女人和小孩

they'll take care of these roots

一直照顧著這些樹根，

as they grow to the other side of that bank,

讓它們長到水流對岸，

where they're then planted to make a structure

然後把根種到土裡， 讓這座橋越老卻越堅固。

that will get stronger with age.

This 1,500-year-old tradition of growing living root bridges

栽培活根橋是個 延續了 1,500 年的傳統，

has produced 75 of these incredible structures.

已建造出 75 座 這種不可思議的結構。

And while they take 50 years to grow,

雖然它們需要 50 年才能長成，

in this landscape they actually last for centuries.

但在這地形中能夠持續好幾個世紀。

All across the globe,

在世界各地，

I've seen cultures who have been living with floods for thousands of years

我看到了幾千年來 生活在洪水中的文明，

by evolving these ancient technologies that allow them to work with the water.

他們因發展這些古老技術 而得以與洪水共存。

In the southern wetlands of Iraq,

在伊拉克南部，

which are formed by the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers,

由底格里斯河和幼發拉底河 匯合而形成的濕地

a unique, water-based civilization lives.

孕育著一個水域文明。

For 6,000 years, the Maʿdān have floated villages

六千年來，阿拉伯的馬丹人 (Ma'dān) 生活在人造島嶼上漂浮的村莊，

on man-made islands that are constructed from a single species of reed

這些島嶼是由一種 生長在它們周圍的蘆葦建造的。

that grows around them.

And the Qasab reed is integral to every aspect of life.

這種卡薩布蘆葦 是他們生活不可或缺的一部分。

It is food for water buffalo,

它是水牛的食物，

flour for humans

也可做成人吃的麵粉。

and building material for these biodegradable, buoyant islands

這些可生物分解的漂浮島嶼

and their cathedral-like houses

和他們在三天內 就蓋好的大教堂般的房子

that they construct in as little as three days.

也是用這種蘆葦當建築材料。

And this dried Qasab reed,

乾燥的卡薩布蘆葦

it can be bundled into columns,

可以捆成柱子，

it can be woven into floors or roofs or walls,

可用來編織成地板、屋頂或牆壁，

and it can also be twisted into a rope

也可以搓成繩索，

that's used to bind these buildings without the use of any nails.

用來固定這些建築， 而不需要任何釘子。

The Maʿdān villages are constructed in the marsh,

這些馬丹村莊

歷代都建在沼澤地裡

as they have been for generations,

on islands that stay afloat for over 25 years.

漂浮了 25 年的島嶼上。

Although global attention is focused on the pandemic,

當下全球的注意力 都集中在新冠病毒疫情上，

cities are still sinking and sea levels are still rising.

但城市仍在下沉，海平面仍在上升。

And high-tech solutions

高科技當然能幫我們解決部分問題，

are definitely going to help us solve some of these problems,

but in our rush towards the future,

但在我們急於走向未來時，

we tend to forget about the past.

往往會忘記過去。

In other parts of the world, where rivers are contaminated with sewage,

在世界的另一些地方， 河流被人類污水污染，

a city of 15 million people cleans its waste water with its flood plains.

有個 1,500 萬人口的城市 用洪泛平原清理廢水。

On the edges of Calcutta,

在加爾各答邊緣，

flanked by a smoking escarpment of the city's trash

傍著山坡下冒著煙的垃圾場，

and ribboned by its highways,

並有公路貫穿的一個 由三百個魚池構成的土著技術，

an Indigenous technology of 300 fish ponds

cleans its water while producing its food.

為這個城市淨化廢水並生產食物。

And through a combination of sunshine and sewage

陽光加上污水，

and a symbiosis between algae and bacteria,

結合藻類和細菌之間的共生，

the wastewater is broken down.

廢水被分解。

Fish ponds continue this cleaning of the water

接著由魚池進一步淨化，

in a process that takes around 30 days.

歷時約需 30 天。

And this innovation,

而這項創新

it's not just a model for chemical and coal-power-free purification.

不僅僅是一個不仰賴 化學和煤炭能源的淨水模型。

Since Calcutta's core has no formal treatment,

由於加爾各答的核心 沒有適當的水處理設施，

it's the city's only way of cleaning the water downstream

這是城市廢水在進入孟加拉灣前

before it enters the Bay of Bengal.

在下游淨化水質的唯一方法。

What I find so unbelievable about this infrastructure

我覺得令人難以置信的是，

is that as cities across the world in Asia and in Europe

在亞洲和歐洲的城市

begin to replicate this exact system,

開始複製和這一模一樣的系統時，

Calcutta is now struggling to save it from being displaced by development.

加爾各答卻在努力挽救它 免受現代化發展的影響。

And then to deal with flooding in a completely other way,

為了以完全不同的方式處理洪水，

the Tofinu tribe has developed the largest lake city in Africa.

托菲努（Tofinu）部落 開發了非洲最大的湖城。

Ganvié, meaning "We survived,"

Ganvié——意思是「我們活下來了」——

is built of stilted houses that are organized around a canal system

是高蹺的房子，圍繞一個運河系統，

that you can navigate by dugout canoe.

運河上可以划行獨木舟。

And the royal square stands amongst 3,000 stilted buildings

皇家廣場四周圍繞著 3,000 座高蹺建築，

that include a post office,

其中有郵局、

a bank, a mosque

銀行、清真寺，

and even a couple of bars

甚至還有幾間酒吧。

that are all surrounded by 12,000 individual fish paddocks,

四周圍繞著 12,000 個魚類養殖圍場，

or mangrove acadjas.

或稱為紅樹林阿卡賈（acadja）。

This chemical-free artificial reef covers almost half of the lagoon

這個不用化學物質的人工礁岸 幾乎覆蓋了瀉湖的一半，

and feeds one million people that are living around it.

為生活在瀉湖周圍的 一百萬人提供食物。

What amazes me

令我吃驚的是，

is that while an individual acadja is pretty insignificant,

雖然單一個阿卡賈相當微不足道，

when it's multiplied by 12,000,

但有 12,000 個的時候，

it creates an Indigenous technology the scale of industrial aquaculture,

就成了一項跟現代 水產養殖規模一樣的土著技術。

which is the greatest threat to our mangrove ecosystems ...

現代水產養殖產業 是紅樹林生態系的最大威脅，

but this technology --

但這項技術卻讓生物多樣性 比過去增加。

it builds more biodiversity than before.

Just earlier this year, when I was back home in Australia,

就在今年早些時候， 當我回到澳大利亞的家中時，

the craziest thing happened.

最瘋狂的事情發生了。

The burned ash from the bushfires surrounding Sydney rained down on us

雪梨周圍叢林大火燃燒的灰燼

在邦迪海灘上飄下。

on Bondi Beach.

And worried about carbon emissions --

我們因為擔心碳排放，

not viral transmissions --

而不是病毒傳播，

we were already wearing masks.

已經戴著口罩。

The air was so choked by a plume of smoke

空氣中的煙柱太大，

that was so big that it reached as far away as New Zealand.

延伸遠至紐西蘭。

Then in the midst of these wildfires,

這群野火是我們見過的最慘烈的一次，

which were the worst we'd ever seen on record,

something unexpected happened,

但此時意想不到 卻十分驚人事情發生了，

but incredibly amazing.

The ancestral lands in Australia,

澳大利亞土著從事 火棍農業栽培的祖傳土地，

where Indigenous fire-stick farming was practiced,

were saved as these fires raged around them.

在四周森林大火肆虐下仍得以倖存。

And these ancient forests --

這些古老的森林之所以能保留下來，

they survived because of seasonal, generational burning,

是由於土著世代相傳，

which is an Aboriginal practice of lighting small, slow and cool fires.

在特定季節點燃小而慢的冷火。

So though wildfires are a natural disaster,

雖然野火是氣候變遷引起的自然災害，

as a consequence of climate change,

they're also man-made.

但終究也是人類造成的。

And what's so amazing about this is we have the ancient technology

驚人的是，

我們知道這項古老技術可以預防野火，

that we know can help prevent them,

and we've used it for thousands of years.

我們已經使用了幾千年了。

And what I find so fascinating about these technologies

我發現這些技術的吸引人之處

is how complex they are

在於它們這麼複雜，

and how attuned they are to nature.

卻又與大自然這麼協調。

And then, how resilient we could all become

從這些技術當中學習，

by learning from them.

我們其實能夠變得很有韌性。

Too often when we are faced with a crisis, we build walls in defense.

面臨危機時，我們會築牆來防禦。

I'm an architect,

身為一名建築師，

and I've been trained to seek solutions in permanence --

我接受的訓練 是要尋找永久的解決方法

concrete, steel, glass --

——混凝土、鋼鐵、玻璃——

these are all used to build a fortress against nature.

但這些方法建造的是對抗自然的堡壘。

But my search for ancient systems and Indigenous technologies

但我對古代和土著技術的尋索

has been different.

是不同的。

It's been inspired by an idea that we can seed creativity in crisis.

啟發我的想法是，我們可以 在危機中種下創造力的種子。

We have thousands of years of ancient knowledge

我們有數千年的古代知識，

that we just need to listen to

我們只需要傾聽

and allow it to expand our thinking about designing symbiotically with nature.

並讓它引導我們將思維 擴展到與自然共生的設計。

And by listening,

透過傾聽，

we'll only become wiser

我們只會變得更加明智，

and ready for those 21st-century challenges

並為 21 世紀的各項挑戰做好準備。

that we know will endanger our people and our planet.

我們知道這些挑戰將危及人類和地球。

And I've seen it.

我已經看過了。

I know that it's possible.

我知道這是可行的。