ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christopher C. Deam - Designer
A fascination with clean lines, modern materials and tiny houses made Christopher C. Deam the perfect designer to rethink the Airstream trailer right down to its aluminum skin.

Why you should listen

Looking at his work, with its clean, swooping lines and elegant economy of movement, it's easy to guess that Christopher C. Deam is a surfer. His designs for spaces and furniture are light and clear and thoughtful, unleashed by modern materials and anchored in old-fashioned craftsmanship.

Deam's work came to national attention with his remodel of the iconic Airstream trailer, a project for the laminate maker Wilsonart -- a sweet-spot project that fired the design world's love of modular and small homes. (In 2009, it's hard to realize how radical this little trailer looked in 2000, during the heyday of the megamansion.) His other design work includes designs for Target, Herman Miller and many other manufacturers, as well as an architectural practice.

More profile about the speaker
Christopher C. Deam | Speaker | TED.com
TED2002

Christopher C. Deam: The Airstream, restyled

Christopher Deam空间设计新理念

Filmed:
340,193 views

在2002年的这次低调的关于形像包装的演讲中, 著名设计师Christopher C. Deam谈论了他对于一个美国经典的改造: 蒸汽式房车.
- Designer
A fascination with clean lines, modern materials and tiny houses made Christopher C. Deam the perfect designer to rethink the Airstream trailer right down to its aluminum skin. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I was asked问 by Wilsonart威盛 International国际,
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我曾被一个叫做Wilsonart International的
00:16
a plastic塑料 laminate层压 company公司, which哪一个 is
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塑料样板房公司
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the largest最大 plastic塑料 laminate层压 company公司 in the world世界 --
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一个全世界最大的塑料样板房公司，
00:21
they asked问 me to design设计
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他们找我去设计
00:25
a trade贸易 show显示 booth亭
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贸易展览会的展台
00:27
for exhibition展览 at the International国际 Contemporary现代的 Furniture家具 Fair公平
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来参展2000年在纽约举行的
00:31
in New新 York纽约, in 2000.
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2000年在纽约举行.
00:33
So looking at their其 three三 main主要 markets市场
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看他们三大市场
00:37
for their其 product产品 which哪一个 were basically基本上
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他们的产品,基本上是
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transportation运输 design设计,
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为交通设计
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interiors内饰 and furniture家具,
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家具和内饰,
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we came来了 up with the solution解 of taking服用
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我们想出一个解决方案
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an old旧 Airstream气流 trailer预告片 and gutting古亭 it,
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一部老式蒸汽机房车然后改造它,
00:51
and trying试 to portray写真 laminate层压,
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并试图描绘成样板房,
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and a trailer预告片, in kind类 of a
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房车,是一个
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fresh新鲜, new新 contemporary现代的 look.
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新生的,当代的产物.
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When this trailer预告片 showed显示 up at my shop店
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当房车在我店露面
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in Berkeley伯克利, I'd actually其实 never stepped加强 foot脚丫子 in
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在伯克利,事实上我从不愿停止设计
01:03
an Airstream气流 trailer预告片, or any other trailer预告片.
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无论是蒸汽房车还是其他房车.
01:06
So I can be somebody谁 that can look at this
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从那时起我可以一个人
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in a totally完全 fresh新鲜 perspective透视 and see if I can
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便更客观的审视这个新生产物
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optimize优化 it in its most最 idealistic理想主义 fashion时尚.
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看看 是否可以完善它.
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I decided决定 I had to do some research研究
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于是，我决定去做一些研究
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and really figure数字 out what had gone走了 wrong错误
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找出真正的问题在什么地方
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somewhere某处 along沿 the history历史 of Airstream气流.
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探索着蒸汽房车的发展史.
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What I discovered发现 in these interiors内饰 is that
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在探索中发觉
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there was a disconnect断开 between之间 the exterior外观 shell贝壳
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与外界的实践有些脱节
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and the interior室内 architecture建筑 of the pieces件.
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然而室内实际的边角设计.
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In that the shell贝壳 was originally本来 conceived设想
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外形是最初的构思
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as a lightweight轻量级, modern现代, futuristic未来,
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未来我们的理念将会是简约时尚,
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high-tech高科技 pod荚 for hurtling飞驰 down the freeway高速公路, and
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高科技迅猛发展的时代.
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the interiors内饰 were completely全然 out of sync同步 with that.
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这内外截然不同的设计风格.
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In fact事实 it appeared出现 like they
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似乎是他们
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referenced引用 a mountain山 cabin舱.
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借鉴了山中小茅屋.
01:51
That seemed似乎 really like a crisis危机 to me,
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这看起来真像是在考验我.
01:53
that they had never been able能够 to
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然而他们却不能够
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develop发展 a vocabulary词汇
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进一步描述
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about escape逃逸, and about travel旅行, and modernity现代
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对于一些喜欢逃避现实 又喜欢旅游的人.
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in this trailer预告片 that was consistent一贯 with the shell贝壳.
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居住在房车里,再理想不过了.
02:03
We really needed需要 to do some archeology考古学
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我们真的需要去做一些研究
02:07
in the trailer预告片 itself本身 to figure数字 out what's authentic真实
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在房车里.去找出什么是你真正想要的
02:09
in an Airstream气流 trailer预告片,
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蒸汽式房车,
02:11
and what feels感觉 like it has true真正 purpose目的 and utility效用.
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这才是我真正的目的和用途.
02:14
We stripped剥离 out all the vinyl乙烯基
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我们除去了所有的乙烯.
02:16
and zolatonezolatone paint涂料 that was covering覆盖 up
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使用zolatone油漆
02:18
this just fantastic奇妙 aluminum铝 shell贝壳.
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这仅仅是幻想中的铝外壳.
02:21
We took拿 off all the visible可见 hardware硬件 and trim修剪
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我们修剪了所有的金属边缘
02:24
that was kind类 of doing the country国家 cabin舱 thing.
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这看起来像是一座郊区小茅屋.
02:27
I literally按照字面 drew德鲁 on the walls墙壁 of the trailer预告片,
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我全心投入到房车墙面的手绘中,
02:31
mocked嘲笑 it up in cardboard纸板,
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像是在纸板上作画,
02:33
we'd星期三 come in and cut切, decide决定 things were wrong错误,
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我们一直在商讨,哪些地方出了问题,
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pull拉 it out, put it back in.
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把它们纠正,改进.
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The main主要 goal目标 was to smooth光滑 out the interior室内,
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其主要目的是:完成室内设计,
02:42
and begin开始 to speak说话 about motion运动,
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之后我们便征集议案,
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and mobility流动性, and independence独立.
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可移动性和独立性.
02:48
The biggest最大 difficulty困难 on one of these trailers拖车
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对这些房车来说这是最大的困难
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is that when you're designing设计 there's actually其实 no
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问题是当你设计时
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logical合乎逻辑 place地点 to stop and start开始 materials物料
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没有逻辑的地方停止使用材料,
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because of the continuous连续 form形成 of the trailer预告片.
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由于房车的窗体整体性.
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There's no such这样 things as two walls墙壁 and a ceiling天花板
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还没有连接两个墙壁和天花板的东西
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coming未来 together一起, where you can change更改 materials物料 and shapes形状.
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可以粘合在一起,可以改变材料和形状.
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So that became成为 a challenge挑战.
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因此,成为了一个挑战.
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Compounding复利 that,
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粘合,
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the material材料 of choice选择, laminate层压,
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材料上我们选择薄板,
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that I was trying试 to highlight突出,
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当时我试着突出这种材料
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only bends弯曲 in two dimensions尺寸.
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仅弯曲成两种规格.
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It's a compound复合 curve曲线 interior室内.
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一个是复合的室内曲线设计.
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What I had to devise设计 was
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这就是我不得不制定
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a way of fooling嘴硬 the eye眼
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一种欺骗眼球的方法
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into believing相信 that all these panels面板
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来相信这些的面板有着
03:27
are curved弯曲 with the shell贝壳.
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像贝壳一样的曲线.
03:29
What I came来了 up with was
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这是提供来的
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a series系列 of second第二 skins皮
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是一系列第二层外观,
03:33
that basically基本上 float浮动 over the aluminum铝 shell贝壳.
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外壳基本上是铝做的
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And what I was trying试 to do there was
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然后我试着去做的是
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direct直接 your eye眼 in the space空间,
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在空间里引导你的眼睛,
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so that you would perceive感知 the geometry几何 in a different不同 way,
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这样你会看到不同的几何图形.
03:45
and that the casework个案 wouldn't不会 break打破 up the space空间.
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并且不会打破空间的协调性.
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They also也 gave给 us a way to run跑 power功率
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他们也了我们一个使用电力的方法
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and rewire换铁线 the trailer预告片 without无 tearing撕裂 out the skin皮肤,
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把电线埋在薄板里边.
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so they function功能 as an electrical电动 chase追.
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他们对电的使用.
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That's the trailer预告片, pretty漂亮 much finished完.
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这样我们就几乎完成了该房车.
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That trailer预告片 led to another另一个 commission佣金,
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由于这房车让我们有幸参加另一个委员会,
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to participate参加 in whats什么是 called叫 Tokyo东京 Designers设计师 Block块.
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一个叫做东京设计师的晚会.
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Its a week周 of furniture家具 design设计 events事件 in Tokyo东京, in October十月.
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这个家具设计在东京的十月持续一周.
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Teruo照雄 Kurosaki黑崎, who owns拥有 a furniture家具 company公司 called叫 Idee衣蝶,
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Teruo Kurosaki, 他拥有着一个叫做Idee的公司
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he asked问 me to ship船 him two trailers拖车 to Tokyo东京.
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他拜托我运送两辆房车到东京来.
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He said one he would like to
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他说他想
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make a real真实 trailer预告片, functioning功能, and we would sell卖 that one.
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制作一个真正的,使用性高的房车,并卖出去.
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Trailer预告片 number数 two, you have a blank空白 slate石板, you can to anything you want.
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这两辆房车,就像你有一张白纸,你可以做任何你想做的.
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We came来了 up with a fantasy幻想 scenario脚本
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我们提出一个DJ环游美国的
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of a DJDJ traveling旅行 around the States状态,
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充满幻想的方案.
04:31
that would collect搜集 records记录 and go on tours游.
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这将边收集记录,边旅行.
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This trailer预告片 housed安置 two turntables唱盘,
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房车里将内置两台唱盘机,
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mixer混合器, wet湿 bar酒吧, fridge冰箱, integrated集成 sound声音 system系统.
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混音器、酒吧、冰箱、综合音响系统.
04:41
It's got a huge巨大 couch长椅, fits适合 quite相当 a few少数 people,
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它还有个巨大的沙发，可以坐下几个人.
04:44
and basically基本上 we'd星期三 had a great time with this.
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我们度过了一段非常美好的时光.
04:47
And so in this trailer预告片 I took拿 it upon上 myself我 to think about travel旅行,
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当我看到这房车,连我也想有去旅行,去逃离的冲动.
04:50
and escape逃逸, in an idiosyncratic特质 sense感.
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这是种别具一格的感觉.
04:54
A lot of these ideas思路 migrated迁移 into
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将很多的想法移植到
04:56
the production生产 trailers拖车 for Airstream气流.
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蒸汽房车的生产中.
04:59
This brings带来 us up to the time that I started开始 consulting咨询 to Airstream气流.
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这段时间我开始请教气流。
05:03
They came来了 to me and said,
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他们对我说：
05:05
"Well, what can we do to freshen梳洗 this thing up?
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"好，我们能做些什么把它变的更有新鲜感？”
05:07
And do you think kids孩子, you know, skateboarders滑板, surfers冲浪者,
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你认为孩子们，他们知道滑板，冲浪者，
05:11
rock岩 climbers登山者, would use these things?"
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攀岩登山者，会使用这些东西"？
05:13
And I said, "Well, not in that interior室内."
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我说：“嗯，这些运动并不在室内.”
05:16
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
05:17
Anyway无论如何, I went去 out to Airstream气流
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无论如何.我处理这个
05:19
about six六 times时 during中 the process处理 of building建造 this prototype原型,
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模型时我们修改过6次.
05:22
and it's called叫 the Bambi小鹿斑比 prototype原型.
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它被叫做小鹿斑比原型.
05:24
I thought, "Finally最后, oh yeah great,
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我想, 最终完成了,
05:26
big大 company公司, I'm gonna work with somebody谁 with money钱
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在这个伟大公司里,我会跟重要人物一起工作
05:28
for tooling工装 and molding造型."
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致力于工具和模具.
05:31
And I walked走 in their其 prototype原型 facility设施, and
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然而我参观他们的模型设施,
05:34
it's exactly究竟 like my shop店, only bigger大 --
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这太像我的店铺了,只是更大一些,
05:37
same相同 tools工具, same相同 things.
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一样的工具, 一样的东西.
05:39
So the problem问题 became成为 -- and they set组 this dilemma困境 to me --
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事实上.他们让我走入了困境,
05:43
that you have to design设计 the interior室内 using运用 only our existing现有 technology技术,
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使用我们现有的技术进行内部设计,
05:48
and there's no money钱 for tooling工装 or molding造型.
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而且没有免费的工具和模型.
05:50
The trailers拖车 themselves他们自己 are actually其实 hand-built手工打造.
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房车实际上是我们自己动手打造.
05:53
All the casework个案 is hand-scribed手工划线 in, uniquely独特地,
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所有的部分是独创.独特的,
05:56
so you can't just cut切 100 parts部分 for 100 trailers拖车,
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所以你不能复制出100件一样的房车,
06:00
you have to cut切 them big大, and every一切 single单 one is hand-fit手配合.
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你要为他们量身定做.
06:03
They didn't want to go to a componentized组件化 system系统.
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他们不是千篇一律.
06:07
And there it is, that's the Bambi小鹿斑比 16.
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然而,这就是小鹿斑比16号.
06:11
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Chunlei Chang
Reviewed by Xiaoyu Zhang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christopher C. Deam - Designer
A fascination with clean lines, modern materials and tiny houses made Christopher C. Deam the perfect designer to rethink the Airstream trailer right down to its aluminum skin.

Why you should listen

Looking at his work, with its clean, swooping lines and elegant economy of movement, it's easy to guess that Christopher C. Deam is a surfer. His designs for spaces and furniture are light and clear and thoughtful, unleashed by modern materials and anchored in old-fashioned craftsmanship.

Deam's work came to national attention with his remodel of the iconic Airstream trailer, a project for the laminate maker Wilsonart -- a sweet-spot project that fired the design world's love of modular and small homes. (In 2009, it's hard to realize how radical this little trailer looked in 2000, during the heyday of the megamansion.) His other design work includes designs for Target, Herman Miller and many other manufacturers, as well as an architectural practice.

More profile about the speaker
Christopher C. Deam | Speaker | TED.com
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM