Rachel Armstrong: Architecture that repairs itself?

譯者: Dennis Lin 審譯者: Yung Hsiang Tseng

All buildings today have something in common.

今天世界上的建築都有些相同之處

They're made using Victorian technologies.

他們都運用了維多莉亞時期所發展的技術

This involves blueprints,

像是藍圖的繪製

industrial manufacturing

使用工業製造出的建材

and construction using teams of workers.

以及許多的建築工人

All of this effort results in an inert object.

結果創造出來的卻是一個毫無"生氣"的物體

And that means that there is a one-way transfer of energy

這是一種單向的能源轉換

from our environment into our homes and cities.

把能源從大自然傳到我們的城市和家裡

This is not sustainable.

這一點也不符合永續發展的觀念

I believe that the only way that it is possible for us

我相信唯一的解決方法

to construct genuinely sustainable homes and cities

是把建築與自然環境結合

is by connecting them to nature,

建造出能永續使用的家和城市

not insulating them from it.

而不是把它們區隔開來

Now, in order to do this, we need the right kind of language.

因此,我們需要的是一種正確的"語言"

Living systems are in constant conversation

長久以來,生態系統和自然界

with the natural world,

不斷地透過新陳代謝

through sets of chemical reactions called metabolism.

來進行對話

And this is the conversion of one group of substances

也就是,一種物質轉換成另一種物質

into another, either through

或是

the production or the absorption of energy.

物質經過能量的吸收與作用而變成另一種物質

And this is the way in which living materials

這就是生命體如何以一個永續的方式

make the most of their local resources

來運用

in a sustainable way.

所需的資源

So, I'm interested in the use of

所以,我對於把能重複代謝的物質

metabolic materials for the practice of architecture.

運用到建築科技上非常有興趣

But they don't exist. So I'm having to make them.

但這種物質目前並不存在,所以,我打算創造它

I'm working with architect Neil Spiller

我和英國巴特列特建築學院的建築師

at the Bartlett School of Architecture,

史畢樂先生

and we're collaborating with international scientists

還有其他科學家合作

in order to generate these new materials

從零開始

from a bottom up approach.

研發這種新的材料

That means we're generating them from scratch.

也就是說,我們將是研發這類材料的先驅

One of our collaborators is chemist Martin Hanczyc,

化學家Martin Hanczyc也是我們團隊中的一員

and he's really interested in the transition from

他對於這種物質轉換的研究

inert to living matter.

非常有興趣

Now, that's exactly the kind of process that I'm interested in,

談到要研發永續材料

when we're thinking about sustainable materials.

是我非常樂見的

So, Martin, he works with a system called the protocell.

所以,Martin採用了一種名為"原生細胞"的系統

Now all this is -- and it's magic --

這彷彿就像魔術一樣-

is a little fatty bag. And it's got a chemical battery in it.

在這個圓圓胖胖的袋狀物裡,裝著一個化學電池

And it has no DNA.

它並不具有DNA

This little bag is able to conduct itself

這個小小的袋狀物能夠自行運作

in a way that can only be described as living.

就像是有生命一樣

It is able to move around its environment.

它能夠自己在環境中移動

It can follow chemical gradients.

或是跟隨化學梯度移動

It can undergo complex reactions,

它也能通過複雜的化學反應

some of which are happily architectural.

它們對於建築非常有幫助

So here we are. These are protocells,

這些原生細胞

patterning their environment.

能夠仿造他們所在的環境

We don't know how they do that yet.

我們目前還無法得知他們是如何做到的

Here, this is a protocell, and it's vigorously shedding this skin.

這個原生細胞,它正在脫離他的表皮

Now, this looks like a chemical kind of birth.

有點像小孩出生一樣

This is a violent process.

是一個非常激烈的程序

Here, we've got a protocell to extract carbon dioxide

這邊是一個能夠從大氣中把二氧化碳抽離出來的

out of the atmosphere

原生細胞

and turn it into carbonate.

之後,二氧化炭將會被轉換成碳酸鹽

And that's the shell around that globular fat.

而這些就是球狀物邊緣的硬殼

They are quite brittle. So you've only got a part of one there.

他們非常的脆,所以我們能夠弄到的並不多

So what we're trying to do is, we're trying to push these technologies

現在我們研究的,就是對這項科技

towards creating bottom-up construction approaches

發展出由下到上的建築技術

for architecture,

並且應用在建築上

which contrast the current, Victorian, top-down methods

這跟目前採用這種維多莉亞式由上而下

which impose structure upon matter.

加強結構的方法並不一樣

That can't be energetically sensible.

因為這並不符合永續的概念

So, bottom-up materials

所以,由下到上的材料

actually exist today.

確實存在

They've been in use, in architecture, since ancient times.

這種材料早在古代就已被使用在建築上過

If you walk around the city of Oxford, where we are today,

在英國的牛津

and have a look at the brickwork,

他們牆上使用的磚

which I've enjoyed doing in the last couple of days,

和我最近做的事不謀而合

you'll actually see that a lot of it is made of limestone.

你可以看見他們大量使用了石灰岩

And if you look even closer,

再靠近一點看

you'll see, in that limestone, there are little shells

你可以看見石灰岩中的殼

and little skeletons that are piled upon each other.

還有一些殘骸堆積在裡面

And then they are fossilized over millions of years.

隨著時間,它們現在都已成了化石

Now a block of limestone, in itself,

這些石灰岩本身

isn't particularly that interesting.

並不是甚麼特別有趣的東西

It looks beautiful.

雖然它看起來美極了

But imagine what the properties of this limestone block might be

但想想這些石灰岩磚的特性

if the surfaces were actually

如果它們的表面

in conversation with the atmosphere.

和空氣有接觸的話

Maybe they could extract carbon dioxide.

他們或許就能吸收二氧化碳

Would it give this block of limestone new properties?

這些沉積物能賦予石灰岩新的價值嗎?

Well, most likely it would. It might be able to grow.

非常有可能.它能夠生長

It might be able to self-repair, and even respond

自我修復或是對周圍環境的

to dramatic changes

立即變化

in the immediate environment.

能夠有反應

So, architects are never happy

但建築師對這些一塊塊的東西

with just one block of an interesting material.

當然還不滿足

They think big. Okay?

他們想要的還不只是如此

So when we think about scaling up metabolic materials,

提到增加能夠代謝的材料時

we can start thinking about ecological interventions

我們先考慮生態干預

like repair of atolls,

像是修復珊瑚礁

or reclamation of parts of a city

和城市中曾經

that are damaged by water.

遭受水災的地方

So, one of these examples

這些例子

would of course be the historic city of Venice.

就跟威尼斯一樣

Now, Venice, as you know, has a tempestuous relationship with the sea,

和海有著密不可分的關係

and is built upon wooden piles.

而且威尼斯整個城市是建築在木頭上的

So we've devised a way by which it may be possible

所以我們想出了一個計畫

for the protocell technology that we're working with

就是使用原生細胞的科技

to sustainably reclaim Venice.

來修復威尼斯

And architect Christian Kerrigan

而建築師Christian Kerrigan

has come up with a series of designs that show us

已經有了一連串的設計

how it may be possible to actually grow a limestone reef

來告訴我們要如何在威尼斯底下

underneath the city.

種植石灰岩礁

So, here is the technology we have today.

這就是我們現今所擁有的

This is our protocell technology,

原生細胞科技

effectively making a shell, like its limestone forefathers,

有效率地生產石灰岩上的那些沉積物外殼

and depositing it in a very complex environment,

並把它們放置在複雜的環境中

against natural materials.

對抗自然的素材

We're looking at crystal lattices to see the bonding process in this.

我們現在看的是水晶晶格的結合過程

Now, this is the very interesting part.

這是一個非常有趣的部分

We don't just want limestone dumped everywhere in all the pretty canals.

我們不要只是把石灰岩丟在威尼斯美麗的運河裡

What we need it to do is to be

我們要做的是

creatively crafted around the wooden piles.

讓它們圍繞著水底下的木頭

So, you can see from these diagrams that the protocell is actually

你可以從這些圖中看見原生細胞正在

moving away from the light,

遠離光源

toward the dark foundations.

朝著深色的底座靠近

We've observed this in the laboratory.

我們在實驗室中就觀察出了這點

The protocells can actually move away from the light.

原生細胞是有趨光性的

They can actually also move towards the light. You have to just choose your species.

但也有些不同種類的原生細胞是有向光性的

So that these don't just exist as one entity,

他們不只是以一種實體的狀態存在

we kind of chemically engineer them.

我們利用化學工程改良他們

And so here the protocells are depositing their limestone

原生細胞沈積在石灰岩上

very specifically, around the foundations of Venice,

有目標地包覆著威尼斯的底座

effectively petrifying it.

使底座更堅固

Now, this isn't going to happen tomorrow. It's going to take a while.

但這不是一蹴可及的.我們還需要一段時間

It's going to take years of tuning and monitoring this technology

我們可能還需要幾年的時間做觀察並且調整

in order for us to become ready

接著才能

to test it out in a case-by-case basis

在威尼斯受損的建築上

on the most damaged and stressed buildings within the city of Venice.

測試

But gradually, as the buildings are repaired,

等到建築物漸漸被修復之後

we will see the accretion of a limestone reef beneath the city.

我們將看到石灰岩礁和城市的底座附著在一起

An accretion itself is a huge sink of carbon dioxide.

這整個沈機物會是由一大塊固體狀的二氧化碳組成

Also it will attract the local marine ecology,

而且還會使附近的海洋生態

who will find their own ecological niches within this architecture.

趨於穩定

So, this is really interesting. Now we have an architecture

這非常的有趣.我們有一座城市

that connects a city to the natural world

能夠與大自然

in a very direct and immediate way.

有最直接的關連

But perhaps the most exciting thing about it

但最讓人感到興奮的

is that the driver of this technology is available everywhere.

莫過於驅動這項科技的元素都處都可以找的到

This is terrestrial chemistry. We've all got it,

那是現在地球上現有的,要取得它們完全不成問題

which means that this technology is just as appropriate

這意味著,這像科技不但適合在

for developing countries as it is

開發中國家使用

for First World countries.

也適合在已開發的國家中使用

So, in summary, I'm generating metabolic materials

總而言之,我正在開發這種能夠代謝的素材

as a counterpoise to Victorian technologies,

來和維多莉亞式的科技取得平衡

and building architectures from a bottom-up approach.

並以一個下到上的方式應用到建築上

Secondly, these metabolic materials

第二,這些代謝材料

have some of the properties of living systems,

存在著一些生物的特質

which means they can perform in similar ways.

他們和生物有些相似處

They can expect to have a lot of forms and functions

應用到建築上

within the practice of architecture.

它們能夠有各種不同的型式與功能

And finally, an observer in the future

最後,當未來的人

marveling at a beautiful structure in the environment

對這些美麗的建築讚嘆不已時

may find it almost impossible to tell

將分不出來

whether this structure

這個建築

has been created by a natural process

是自然生成的?

or an artificial one.

還是人造的?

Thank you.

謝謝!

(Applause)

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