Justin Davidson: Why glass towers are bad for city life -- and what we need instead
جاستين دافيدسون: لماذا الأبراج الزجاجية اللامعة لا تلائم الحياة المدنية
Justin Davidson writes about a broad range of urban, civic, design and arts issues. Full bio
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in here this evening,
looked almost exactly the same:
يُشابهون بعضهم البعض لحد كبير:
idiosyncratic inner life,
the same blank expression all the time.
ذات التعابير المبهمة طوال الوقت.
that is taking over cities,
of great individuality and character
تعكس شخصية وتفرد كبيرين
في (سان فرانسيسكو)
splendor of cities.
is that the need for shelter
the human desire for beauty.
give us a touchable city.
over brick and stone.
made of concrete and steel
مصنوعة من المعدن والخرسانة
all over the world --
of high-gloss robots
من روبوتات من الزجاج العالي
the full range of available materials.
من استعمال جميع المواد المتاحة لهم.
and limestone and sandstone
والحجر الجيري والحجر الرملي
and terra-cotta and brick
all of the world's cuisines
like this one in Moscow
مثل هذه في (موسكو)
and communal aspects of urban living.
والجوانب المجتمعية للحياة الحضرية.
to enrich their owners and tenants,
لكي تثري الملاك والساكنين،
the lives of the rest of us,
the spaces between the buildings.
بين تلك المباني.
and killing off public space.
وقتل المساحات العامة.
as being like makeup,
هي بمثابة مساحيق التجميل،
to a building that's effectively complete.
إلى مبنى مكتمل لحد كبير.
affect the way we live in it.
sunlight rakes the facades,
في ساعات النهار الأولى،
segments the buildings
of visual activity.
من النشاط البصري.
where the generations can meet.
sprawling on the pavers,
like an opera set.
about the exteriors of buildings,
give texture to our lives,
تعطي نوع من البنية لحياتنا،
create the spaces around them,
with the quality of those exteriors.
of the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca
لساحة (مايور) في (سالامانكا)
ذات جدران زجاجية
to their cubicles
as little time in as possible.
the architect Philip Johnson
في بداية ثمانينات القرن الماضي
European plaza in Pittsburgh.
ساحة أوروبية جميلة في (بيتسبورغ).
encircled by commercial buildings
مُحاطة بمبان تجارية
with metal trim and bays
بتقليمات وأخاديد معدنية
through the fountain
of a leisurely hangout.
واللقاءات المسلية.
you really want to just hang out and chat.
لكي تلتقي أصدقائك وتتحدث معهم.
for many different reasons.
تنجح وتفشل لأسباب عديدة.
excessively on glass.
from enormous, ultraclear sheets
مثل ألواح ضخمة بالغة الصفاء
it has the magical power
في المدن عالية التكلفة مثل (نيويورك)
real estate values by allowing views,
بزيادة الأماكن المطلة عليها،
that developers have to offer
التي يقدمها المطورون
of the Crystal Palace in London,
of quintessentially modern substances.
إلى أعلى قائمة المواد الحديثة الجوهرية.
the downtowns of some American cities,
على بعض مراكز المدن الأمريكية،
really spectacular office buildings
designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
من تصميم (سكيدمور، أوينجز وميريل).
advanced to the point
structures so transparent
تصميم مباني شفافة لدرجة
of the high-rise city,
للمدن التي يتزايد ارتفاعها،
powerful reason for that.
converge on cities,
into jerry-built shantytowns.
في مدن الصفيح رديئة الجودة.
need apartments and places to work
يحتاج إلى السكن وأماكن للعمل
to put up towers
and practical curtain walls.
in southern Mexico.
(ميتلا) في جنوب (المكسيك).
of high ritual significance.
a historical and textural continuity
ونرى استمرارية تاريخية ونسيجية
the mountains all around
on top of the ruins
even ordinary plaster buildings
في (أواكساكا) القريبة
bright colors, political murals
والجداريات السياسية
would simply wipe out.
that architects and developers
هو أن المهندسين المعماريين والمطورين
the joys of texture
for old materials like brick
لمواد قديمة مثل القرميد
like the molded panels that Snøhetta used
اللوحات المصبوبة كالتي استخدمتها (سناهاتا)
Museum of Modern Art
even created living facades.
a pair of apartment towers in Milan,
وهي عبارة عن برجين سكنيين في (ميلان)،
for Nanjing in China.
لمدينة (نانجين) في (الصين).
were as ubiquitous as glass ones
كالواجهات الزجاجية
in Chinese cities would become.
that these are mostly one-offs,
أن هذه مشاريع تنفذ لمرة واحدة
على مستوى عالمي.
that have a local significance,
from all looking the same.
أن تبدوا جميع المدن متماثلة.
to cover the American Copper Building,
في واجهة مبنى (النحاس الأمريكي)،
on the East River.
على النهر الشرقي.
sunset lights up that metallic facade,
تلك الواجهة المعدنية،
pretty much the same way it did before
have the ability
in Salt Lake City in copper and zinc,
في (سولت لايك سيتي) بالنحاس والزنك،
in the area for 150 years
تم استخراجها من المنطقة طوال 150 عامًا
against the ochre hills
منظراً منسجماً مع تلال (أوكر)
natural history.
Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu
الفائز بجائزة (بريتزكير)
a wrapper for the past,
that had been demolished.
and this one by Frank Gehry
وهذا بتصميم (فرانك غيري)
that they toss back and forth
التي يتقاذفونها بينهم
of concentrated variety
and languages and lifestyles
واللغات وأساليب الحياة
of crushing sameness,
في صورة متماثلة خانقة،
the full range of the urban experience.
تحترم التجربة الحضرية بمفهومها الأشمل.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Justin Davidson - Architecture criticJustin Davidson writes about a broad range of urban, civic, design and arts issues.
Why you should listen
Justin Davidson is the author of Magnetic City: A Walking Companion to New York (Spiegel & Grau), which leads readers through a portrait of the city told through its history, architecture, music, art and literature.
Davidson has been the architecture and classical music critic at New York magazine since 2007. Before that, he spent 12 years as classical music critic at Newsday, where he also wrote about architecture and was a regular cultural commentator. He won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2002, an American Society of Newspaper Editors criticism (ASNE) award and the 2015 Stephen A. Kliment Oculus Award for Architectural Journalism from the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter.
A native of Rome, Davidson graduated from Harvard and later earned a doctoral degree in music composition at Columbia University. He has contributed to many publications, including The New Yorker, Smithsonian, W., The New York Times Book Review, Travel & Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler and Pursuits. He was a columnist for the website Wondering Sound and has appeared regularly on WNYC and other radio and television outlets. He has taught at the Design Criticism program at the School of Visual Arts, the Goldring Arts Journalism Program of Syracuse University and NEA Arts Journalism Institutes. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Justin Davidson | Speaker | TED.com