专业建筑英语文章.docx

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专业建筑英语文章

CITYCULTURES

SeeingManhattanfromthe110thflooroftheWorldTradeCenter.Beneaththe

hazestirredupbythewinds,theurbanisland,aseainthemiddleofthesea,

liftsuptheskyscrapersoverWallStreet,sinksdownatGreenwich,thenrises

againtothecrestofMidtown,quietlypassesoverCentralParkandfinally

undulatesoffintothedistancebeyondHarlem.Awaveofverticals.Itsagitation

ismomentarilyarrestedbyvision.Agiganticmassisimmobilizedbeforeour

eyes.

（deCerteau1988:

91）

Whobuiltit?

Anon,that'swho.NobodybuilttheNewYorkskyline.Nobody

bythethousands.

（HeleneHanff,AppleofMyEye,1984:

35）

Introduction:

acityimagined

On11September2001,graphicimagesofthedestructionoftwoofthe

world'stallestbuildings-thenorthandsouthtowersoftheWorldTrade

CenterinNewYorkCity-unfoldedontelevisionsetsaroundtheworld.

Theenormityandcomplexityofthistragedy,whilemanifest,were,nevertheless,

compoundedbythefactthatmostpeoplewitnesseditasamedia

spectacle.Thus,itwaswithinestablishedmediainterpretativeframes

（includingtheplotsandimagesofcountlessHollywoodmovies）thattheir

initialreactionswereformed.ButtheninmanyrespectsNewYorkisa

mediaconstruction-theskylineofManhattanisinstantlyandglobally

familiareventhoughthemajorityoftheworld'spopulationhasneverbeen

thereandwillnevergo.Indeed,Manhattanemergedasalandscapeof

towersatthesametimeasfilmtechnologyandthemovieindustrywere

developingintheUnitedStates.Itwaslargelyasaresultofthiscoincidence

thattheManhattanbackdropbecameoneofthemostsignificantanddefining

imagesnotjustofarchitecturalmodernism,butalsoofthevaluesand

achievementsofthetwentiethcentury.ManhattanequalsNeiyYorkand

NewYorkisperhapstheworld'sgreatestcity.Itwaswithinthissetofimaginings

thatintheearly1970sthe'twintowers'assumedtheirplacebothas

potentsymbolsoflatemodernityandtestimoniestotheglobaleconomic

powerofNewYorkandtheUnitedStates.Rising411metresaboveground

level,thetowersdominatedthecity'sskylineandprovidedsomeofthemost

sought-afterpostcardviewsandestablishingshotsofNewYork.The

destructionofthetowers,therefore,wasconsiderablymorethanapersonal

orlocaltragedy.Itwasimbuedwitharangeofnational,global,cultural,

urbanandsymbolicsignificances.Indeed,itwenttothecoreofwhatit

meanttobe'modern'.

Thosewhoareoldenoughcanrememberwhenthetwintowerspassed

theEmpireStatebuilding（alsoinNewYorkCity）astheworld'stallest

buildings.Eveninthe1970s,such'facts'werestillregardedasimportant

markersof'man's'abilityto'conquer'natureandnowherewasevidenceof

thissupremacymorevisibleandirrefutablethaninthegreatcitiesofthe

worldandtheirarchitecturalandengineeringtriumphs-inparticular,their

bridgesandskyscrapers.Themetropoliswastheantithesisofnatureandthe

symbolofitsdefeat.Inordertoappreciatethedepthofthissentimentand

theculturalsignificancesthattheNewYorkskylinecametoassume,itis

necessaryfirsttounderstandthesocialandeconomiccontextswithinwhich

itsearlyskyscraperswereconstructedandtheskyscraperbuildingfrenzy

thatgrippedNewYorkbetweentheFirstWorldWarandthegreatdepression

ofthe1930s.

RobertHughes（1997:

404ff）suggestsinhisbookAmericanVisions

aboutthehistoryofAmericanartthatitwasduringthisperiodthatthe

NewYorkskyscraperemergedbothasaculturaliconandartform.He

arguesthatfrom1926inparticular,thebuildingboominNewYorkwas

dominatedbya'racetothesky'-araceultimatelywonbytheEmpireState

buildingonitscompletionin1930.Skyscraperswereseenasheroicnotonly

becauseoftheirbreathtakingheight.Theentireprocessofbuildingthem

wasregardedwithfascinationandawe,whilespeculationaboundedregarding

howhighthesebuildingsmighteventuallygo.Inaddition,keymilestones

reachedduringtheconstructionofmanyskyscrapersbecamethe

focusofpubliccelebrationswhichoftenfeaturedsuchattractionsas'girl

dancers[being]hiredtoperformon...baregirders,hundredsoffeetupin

thedizzyingair,fortheavidmedia'（Hughes1997:

405）.Needlesstosay,it

wasopportunisticlocalpoliticiansandthecommercialenterprisesresponsible

forbuildingthetowerswhostagedsuchpromotionalstunts.Untilthe

early1930s,theconstruction,completion,officialopeningandfinalform

ofeachnewskyscraperwereevents-centralelementsofthespectacleof

NewYorkCity.Whatdeveloped,accordingtoHughes（1997:

405）wasa

'romance'betweenNewYorkers,theirskyscrapersandtheircity.Although

allAmericans'weredazedbytheforceoftheirnewimagery'（Hughes1997:

405）tosuchanextentthat,Hughesgoesontoassert:

NoAmericanpaintingorsculpture...wasabletoaccumulate,atleast

intheordinarypublic'seyes,thekindofculturalpowerthattheskyscrapers

had.Norindeed,couldithavedoneso-mostAmericans

didn'tcareaboutart,especiallymodernart...Bigbuildingswere

alwaysbeforeyou;merepaintingswerenot.

（Hughes1997:

419）

Andcourtesyoffilm,artandphotographythe'bigbuildings'werealso

'before'therestoftheworld,andittoowasmesmerized.Thelandscapeof

NewYorklookedvastlydifferentfromthoseofEuropeancities:

InParis,onlymonumentalbuildingsdevotedtosacredorgovernmental

institutionswereallowedtoexceedtheheightlimit;inLondon,only

purelyornamentaltowerscouldriseabovetheroofscape.InNewYork,

however,thesoaringcommercialtowerhadalreadybecomethesalient

ornamentofthecity-scapeandtheinalienablerightofrealtors.

（Sternetal.1987:

508）

OnevisitsNewYorkfirstandforemosttoseeandexperienceitslandscape.

InthepassagequotedatthestartofthischapterculturaltheoristMichelde

Certeaudescribestheelationhefeltatseeing（fromtheobservationdeckof

theWorldTradeCenter）thecityofNewYorklaidoutand'immobilized'

beforehim.Similarly,PhilipKasinitz（1995）,echoingdeCerteau,celebrates

theworld's'great'cities（andthesignificantstructureswegazeonthem

from）inthefollowingway:

Theexhilarationwefeelwhenweviewagreatcityfromoneofthose

rarevantagepointswhereonecan'takeitallin'-ParisfromtheEiffel

Tower,LowerManhattanfromtheBrooklynBridge-isthethrillof

seeinginonemomenttheenormityof...humanwork.

（Kasinitz1995:

3）

Despitethe'exhilaration'thatmightbefeltwhenviewinga'great'cityfrom

thetopofa'great'builtstructure,ourfeelingstowardsthecityanditsskyscrapers

arealsodeeplycontradictory,beingsimultaneouslysourcesof

exhilaration,fearandapprehension-'citiesaregreataswellasfearsome'

（Zukin1997:

vii）.Theyalso'representthebasestinstinctsofhumansociety'

（Zukin1997:

1）.Weareawareofthisambiguityevenaswecelebratethem

-wearebothattractedandrepelled.Viewingacityfromagreatheightis

awayoftamingit.However,theobserverisalsorenderedifolnerablebythe

experience.Inordertojourneytothetopofaskyscraperonemusttrustin

theknowledgeandskillsofcountlessfaceless'experts'-builders,engineers,

labourers,maintenanceworkersandarchitects.Thistrustingis,asAnthony

Giddens（1990）explains,acorefeatureoflatemodernity.Thehelplessness

feltwhenwatchingthewoundedtowersoftheWorldTradeCentercrumble

ontothestreetsoflowerManhattanrevealedtheambivalencewithwhich

weregardtheskyscraperandthefragilityofourtrustintheexpertknowledge

systemsonwhichwerely.

Inart,too,the'darkerside'ofourrelationshipwiththecityandtheskyscraper

hasalsobeenexplored/exposed.Thecity'sloomingshapesfrequently

havebeencompellingsymbolsofdangerandtheunknownevenas

theyspeakofprogress,modernityandthefuture.Forinstance,theplaysof

lightandshadefeaturedinHughFerriss's（1929,1953）architecturalrenderings

ofNewYorkinthe1920screatebroodinglandscapesthatcapture

theconflictingemotionsstimulatedbycityspaceandtheskyscraper.Inmany

ofFerriss'sdrawingsthetopsofskyscrapersareshroudedinshadowwhile

theirbottoms-thoseedgesencounteredonthestreet-areluminous.The

resultevokesnotionsoftheknownandtheunknown.Whatisknownis

whatcanbeseenatstreetlevel,whilewhatisunknownloomsinthetwilight

above.Inrepresentingtheideasandurbanimaginingsofthosearchitects

whowereattheforefrontofreshapingtheManhattanskyline,Ferriss's

workwasasmuchaboutthecityasitsfuturewasbeingimaginedduring

thisperiodofskyscraper-buildingasitwasaboutthecityatthetime.His

representationswereofanurbanandarchitecturalUtopiathatwasinspired

bythepresentandmadepossiblebycontemporarytechnologybutwhich

wasyettotakeshape.

Manykeythemesinthestudy,interpretationandexperienceofcities

coalescedaroundtheeventsof11Septemberand,thus,thismomentpoints

toahostofissuesthatunderpintheconcernsofthisbook-inparticular,

thenatureof（post）modernurbanism,theambivalentrelationshipthatexists

betweenpeopleandtheircities,andthevariouswaysinwhichthisrelationship

isshapedthroughexperience,imaginationandpower.Theacademic

studyofthecityisanendeavourthatcanbetracedbacktothenineteenth

centuryandtheworkofthe'foundingfathers'ofsociology,includingKarl

Marx,FriedrichEngelsandMaxWeber.Sociologywasconcernedwith

industrializationandmodernity-andascitiesweretheplaceswherethe