Pirates, nurses and other rebel designers | Alice Rawsthorn

譯者: Lucia Huang 審譯者: Adrienne Lin

Design is a slippery and elusive phenomenon,

「設計」是一閃即逝的靈光乍現。

which has meant different things at different times.

它在不同的時空， 有不同的含義。

But all truly inspiring design projects have one thing in common:

但所有真正激勵人心的設計， 都有一個共同點：

they began with a dream.

它們源自夢想。

And the bolder the dream,

越是大膽的夢想，

the greater the design feat that will be required to achieve it.

越需要優秀的設計來成就它。

And this is why the greatest designers are almost always

這也是為什麼 最了不起的設計家總是那些

the biggest dreamers and rebels and renegades.

懷著雄心的夢想家， 叛逆份子與叛徒。

This has been the case throughout history,

縱觀歷史也是如此，

all the way back to the year 300 BC,

可以回溯到公元前 300 年。

when a 13-year-old became the king

當時一位十三歲的少年

of a remote, very poor and very small Asian country.

在一個遙遠、貧困的 亞洲小國登基為王。

He dreamt of acquiring land, riches and power

他夢想用武力征服領土、 財富以及權力。

through military conquest.

And his design skills --

而他的設計本領，

improbable though it sounds --

雖然聽起來有點不可思議，

would be essential in enabling him to do so.

但正是助他達成目標的基礎。

At the time,

在當時，

all weapons were made by hand to different specifications.

所有的武器是以各不相同的規格， 手工打造而成。

So if an archer ran out of arrows during a battle,

當一個弓箭手在戰場上 用盡自己所有的箭，

they wouldn't necessarily be able to fire another archer's arrows

他不見得能拿其它人的箭來發射。

from their bow.

This of course meant that they would be less effective in combat

這讓他們在戰鬥時缺乏效率，

and very vulnerable, too.

而且脆弱。

Ying solved this problem

嬴政解決了這個問題。

by insisting that all bows and arrows were designed identically,

他堅持所有的弓與箭 都設計得一模一樣，

so they were interchangeable.

以利交互使用，

And he did the same for daggers, axes, spears, shields

且用相同的方式處理 匕首、斧頭、長矛和盾牌，

and every other form of weaponry.

以及其它的武器裝備。

His formidably equipped army won batter after battle,

他裝備精良的軍隊 贏了一場又一場的戰役。

and within 15 years,

十五年內，

his tiny kingdom had succeeded in conquering

他的小王國成功征服了

all its larger, richer, more powerful neighbors,

鄰近所有比它強大而富有的國家，

to found the mighty Chinese Empire.

並建立了大秦帝國。

Now, no one, of course,

在當時，沒有人

would have thought of describing Ying Zheng as a designer at the time --

會想到用「設計家」來稱呼嬴政。

why would they?

那是當然。

And yet he used design unknowingly and instinctively

然而，他自然而然地使用設計，

but with tremendous ingenuity

加上極致的創造力，

to achieve his ends.

去達成他的目標。

And so did another equally improbable, accidental designer,

另一位不可多得的設計家也是如此。

who was also not above using violence to get what he wanted.

相同地，他並非使用暴力 來達到他的目的。

This was Edward Teach, better known as the British pirate, Blackbeard.

這是愛德華．蒂奇， 著名的英國海盜「黑鬍子」。

This was the golden age of piracy,

那是海盜的黃金時代，

where pirates like Teach were terrorizing the high seas.

盜賊橫行在公海上。

Colonial trade was flourishing,

當殖民地貿易蒸蒸日上，

and piracy was highly profitable.

海盜也獲利豐厚。

And the smarter pirates like him realized that to maximize their spoils,

像是蒂奇這樣更精明的海盜， 知道若要劫掠最多的贓物，

they needed to attack their enemies so brutally

他們需要殘酷而猛烈地攻擊敵人，

that they would surrender on sight.

迫使對方迅速投降。

So in other words,

換句話說，

they could take the ships without wasting ammunition,

他們可以不費彈藥地攻下船隻，

or incurring casualties.

不損一兵一卒。

So Edward Teach redesigned himself as Blackbeard

為此愛德華．蒂奇 重新打造自己成「黑鬍子」，

by playing the part of a merciless brute.

扮演一個冷血的惡魔。

He wore heavy jackets and big hats to accentuate his height.

他穿著厚重外套和大帽子， 以突顯他的身高，

He grew the bushy black beard that obscured his face.

並蓄起濃密的黑鬍子 來掩蓋他的臉。

He slung braces of pistols on either shoulder.

他把手槍斜背在雙肩上。

He even attached matches to the brim of his hat and set them alight,

他甚至把火柴裝在帽緣，

so they sizzled menacingly whenever his ship was poised to attack.

每當他的船隻準備攻擊， 就點燃火柴，發出兇狠的嘶鳴。

And like many pirates of that era,

如同當時的其它海盜，

he flew a flag that bore the macabre symbols

他升起的旗幟上， 有令人毛骨悚然的符號：

of a human skull and a pair of crossed bones,

是骷髏頭與一對交叉的人骨。

because those motifs had signified death in so many cultures for centuries,

由於數百年來這些圖案 在不同的文化中都代表死亡。

that their meaning was instantly recognizable,

因此人們能在瞬間 明白它們的含義，

even in the lawless, illiterate world of the high seas:

即便是在沒有法律 與文字的公海上也一樣：

surrender or you'll suffer.

「束手投降，以免遭於難。」

So of course, all his sensible victims surrendered on sight.

而他明智的受害者 皆在對峙之初就放棄扺抗。

Put like that,

這樣說來，

it's easy to see why Edward Teach and his fellow pirates

很容易明白為什麼 愛德華．蒂奇和他的海盜，

could be seen as pioneers of modern communications design,

可以被視為現代傳播設計的先行者，

and why their deadly symbol --

而他們致命的符號...

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

there's more --

還有喔，

why their deadly symbol of the skull and crossbones

他們致命的符號， 這個骷髏頭的圖案，

was a precursor of today's logos,

是現代商標的先驅，

rather like the big red letters standing behind me,

就像我身後的這些巨大的紅色字母，

but of course with a different message.

當然它們表達的訊息差很多。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Yet design was also used to nobler ends

此外，設計也被用在高尚的一方。

by an equally brilliant and equally improbable designer,

另一位同樣才華橫溢、 難以多得的設計家，

the 19th-century British nurse, Florence Nightingale.

是十九世紀的英國護士 佛羅倫斯．南丁格爾。

Her mission was to provide decent healthcare for everyone.

她的使命是為眾人 提供良好的醫療服務。

Nightingale was born into a rather grand, very wealthy British family,

南丁格爾生於一個 富有的英國大家庭。

who were horrified when she volunteered to work in military hospitals

她自願在克里米亞戰爭 投入軍醫工作時，

during the Crimean War.

家人都感到非常震驚。

Once there, she swiftly realized

抵達之後，她迅速意識到

that more patients were dying of infections that they caught there,

在骯髒惡臭的病房裡 受到感染的致死人數，

in the filthy, fetid wards,

than they were of battle wounds.

高於在戰鬥中遭受的創傷。

So she campaigned for cleaner, lighter, airier clinics

因此她發起運動

去設計建造更乾淨明亮、 空氣流通的診所。

to be designed and built.

Back in Britain,

回到英國後，

she mounted another campaign,

她參與了另一項運動，

this time for civilian hospitals,

這次是推動平民醫院。

and insisted that the same design principles were applied to them.

她堅持這些醫院也要 符合相同的設計與準則。

The Nightingale ward, as it is called,

這樣的「南丁格爾病房」

dominated hospital design for decades to come,

在接下來幾十年 成為醫院設計的主流。

and elements of it are still used today.

而其中的一些元素 一直延用到今日。

But by then,

但在那之後，

design was seen as a tool of the Industrial Age.

在工業時代， 設計僅被視為一項工具，

It was formalized and professionalized,

主要用在規格化與專業化。

but it was restricted to specific roles

它被限制了特定功能，

and generally applied in pursuit of commercial goals

通常用在追求商業目標，

而非出於直覺的應用，

rather than being used intuitively,

as Florence Nightingale, Blackbeard and Ying Zheng had done.

像是南丁格爾、黑鬍子， 或是秦始王曾經做到的。

By the 20th century,

到了二十世紀，

this commercial ethos was so powerful,

這個商業思潮是如此強勢，

that any designers who deviated from it

任何偏離它的設計者

risked being seen as cranks or subversives.

皆冒著被視為怪人 或破壞分子的風險。

Now among them is one of my great design heroes,

他們之中，有一位是我的偶像，

the brilliant László Moholy-Nagy.

那就是天才洋溢的 拉士羅．摩荷里．那基。

He was the Hungarian artist and designer

他是匈牙利的藝術家與設計師，

whose experiments with the impact of technology on daily life

他的創新對日用科技的衝擊

是如此深遠，

were so powerful

that they still influence the design of the digital images

直至今日仍影響著 我們手機和電腦螢幕上的

we see on our phone and computer screens.

數位影像設計。

He radicalized the Bauhaus Design School in 1920s Germany,

在1920年代的德國， 他徹底改變了包浩斯設計學院。

and yet some of his former colleagues shunned him

但數年後，當他推展 芝加哥分校遇到困難時，

when he struggled to open a new Bauhaus in Chicago years later.

他以前的同事卻避他唯恐不及。

Moholy's ideas were as bold and incisive as ever,

摩荷里的構想 大膽敏銳一如以往，

but his approach to design was too experimental,

但他的設計方式卻太實驗性，

as was his insistence on seeing it, as he put it,

而他堅持將此視為一種態度，

as an attitude, not a profession to be in tune with the times.

而非逢迎時勢的職業。

And sadly, the same applied

遺憾的是，相同的事也發生在

to another design maverick: Richard Buckminster Fuller.

另一位不守常規的設計家 理查．巴克敏斯特．富勒身上。

He was yet another brilliant design visionary

他也是一位才華洋溢的設計夢想家

and design activist,

與運動人士。

who was completely committed to designing a sustainable society

他全心投入去設計 一個永續發展的社會，

in such a forward-thinking way

以如此前瞻性的思維方式，

that he started talking about the importance of environmentalism

在1920年代，他便開始提倡 設計中環境保護的重要性

in design in the 1920s.

Now he, despite his efforts,

任憑他的貢獻與努力，

was routinely mocked as a crank by many in the design establishment,

如今在設計界， 他仍常常被視為怪胎。

and admittedly,

無可否認地，

some of his experiments failed,

他的某些實驗失敗了，

like the flying car that never got off the ground.

像是從未起飛的飛行車。

And yet, the geodesic dome,

然而，他所設計的球形穹頂，

his design formula to build an emergency shelter

利用當地取材搭建的緊急庇護所，

from scraps of wood, metal, plastic,

使用零碎的木頭、金屬、塑膠，

bits of tree, old blankets, plastic sheeting --

或樹木，毛毯、塑膠帆布建造，

just about anything that's available at the time --

幾乎當時能用的材料他都使用，

is one of the greatest feats of humanitarian design,

是數一數二的人道主義設計。

and has provided sorely needed refuge

它提供的急需避難所，

to many, many people in desperate circumstances

在那之後救助了 許許多多遭遇困境的人。

ever since.

Now, it was the courage and verve of radical designers

是巴克與摩荷里 這些顛覆性的設計家，

like Bucky and Moholy

他們大膽無畏的氣魄

that drew me to design.

把我帶進設計的領域。

I began my career as a news journalist and foreign correspondent.

我的第一份工作是 新聞記者和國外特派員。

I wrote about politics, economics and corporate affairs,

我報導政治，經濟和商業活動。

and I could have chosen to specialize in any of those fields.

我可以選擇以上任何一項主題來做，

But I picked design,

但我選擇了設計，

because I believe it's one of the most powerful tools at our disposal

因為我相信這是我們改善人們生活的

to improve our quality of life.

最有力工具之一。

Thank you, fellow TED design buffs.

謝謝你們，各位 TED 設計界同僚。

(Applause)

(掌聲)

And greatly as I admire the achievements of professional designers,

我欽佩這些專業設計師

which have been extraordinary and immense,

非凡且無限的成就。

I also believe

同時我也相信，

that design benefits hugely from the originality,

設計的效益更來自於

足智多謀、特立獨行的叛逆份子

the lateral thinking

and the resourcefulness of its rebels and renegades.

他們的創意以及橫向思維。

And we're living at a remarkable moment in design,

而我們正生活在這個 非凡的設計時代。

because this is a time when the two camps are coming closer together.

因為在此前， 這兩個陣營從未如此接近過。

Because even very basic advances in digital technology

也因為在數位科技中， 即使是一個簡單的進步，

have enabled them to operate increasingly independently,

也能讓設計者更獨立地運作，

in or out of a commercial context,

無論是否從事商業活動，

to pursue ever more ambitious and eclectic objectives.

他們可追求更野心勃勃 以及兼容並蓄的目標。

So in theory,

理論上，

basic platforms like crowdfunding, cloud computing, social media

如群聚集資、雲端計算 與社交媒體這些基本平台

are giving greater freedom to professional designers

正給於專業設計師更多的自由，

and giving more resources for the improvisational ones,

而那些即興的創作家 也能得到更多資源，

and hopefully,

或者可能，

a more receptive response to their ideas.

他們的概念更容易得到回應。

Now, some of my favorite examples of this are in Africa,

有些我最喜愛的例子發生在非洲。

where a new generation of designers

在那裡，一些新生代的設計師

are developing incredible Internet of Things technologies

正打造驚人的物聯網科技，

to fulfill Florence Nightingale's dream of improving healthcare

去完成南丁格爾 改善醫療保健的夢想。

in countries where more people now have access to cell phones

在這些國家，取得行動電話

than to clean, running water.

比乾淨的飲水還要容易。

And among them is Arthur Zang.

其中一位設計師是亞瑟．贊。

He's a young, Cameroonian design engineer

他是喀麥隆籍的年輕設計工程師。

who has a adapted a tablet computer into the Cardiopad,

他將平版電腦 改造成 Cardiopad，

a mobile heart-monitoring device.

一個可遠端監測心臟的儀器。

It can be used to monitor the hearts of patients in remote, rural areas.

它可用來檢測在偏鄉地區的病患。

The data is then sent on a cellular network

數據資料會透過電信網路

to well-equipped hospitals hundreds of miles away

送往遠在百哩之外， 設備精良的醫院

for analysis.

加以分析。

And if any problems are spotted by the specialists there,

如果專家發現任何的問題，

a suitable course of treatment is recommended.

他們會建議適合的療程。

And this of course saves many patients

這自然節省了病患許多的時間，

from making long, arduous, expensive and often pointless journeys

免於長途跋涉、秏費金錢， 且經常徒勞無功地往返醫院，

to those hospitals,

and makes it much, much likelier

讓這些病患更可能地

that their hearts will actually be checked.

得到真正的檢測。

Arthur Zang started working on the Cardiopad eight years ago,

亞瑟．贊八年前 開始 Cardiopad 的工作，

in his final year at university.

當時是他大學的最後一年。

But he failed to persuade any conventional sources

但他沒能在常規的管道取得資源，

to give him investment to get the project off the ground.

支持他發展這個計劃。

He posted the idea on Facebook,

他把這個想法發佈在 Facebook 上，

where a Cameroonian government official saw it

有位喀麥隆政府的官員 看到了這個訊息，

and managed to secure a government grant for him.

便安排政府的補助金給他。

He's now developing not only the Cardiopad,

如今他不只打造了 Cardiopad，

but other mobile medical devices to treat different conditions.

也開發了其它行動醫療的裝置 來治療不同的症狀。

And he isn't alone,

不只他，

because there are many other inspiring and enterprising designers

世上還有許多其它 鼓舞人心且進取的設計家，

who are also pursuing extraordinary projects of their own.

正進行各自非凡的計劃。

And I'm going to finish by looking at just a few of them.

在結束前，我要介紹其中幾位，

One is Peek Vision.

一個是 Peek Vision，

This is a group of doctors and designers in Kenya,

他們是肯亞的一群醫生及設計師，

who've developed an Internet of Things technology of their own,

自行開發了

as a portable eye examination kit.

一套可攜式的眼睛檢查模組。

Then there's Gabriel Maher,

然後是加百列．馬亞，

who is developing a new design language

他正設計一種新的表達方式，

to enable us to articulate the subtleties of our changing gender identities,

可讓我們更精確描述 變動中了性別認同，

without recourse to traditional stereotypes.

擺脫對刻版印象的依賴。

All of these designers and many more are pursuing their dreams,

這些設計師以及其它許多人 正追逐他們的夢想。

by the making the most of their newfound freedom,

讓他們的新發明自由發展，

with the discipline of professional designers

輔以專業設計師的紀律，

and the resourcefulness of rebels and renegades.

與那些叛逆者的足智多謀，

And we all stand to benefit.

我們都將由此受益。

Thank you.

謝謝你們。

(Applause)

(鼓掌)