未來城市：看上去很美

Urban planners， sociologists and science fiction writers have long dreamed of futuristic utopias1) at sea， on land or in space. These 7 examples showcase some of the weird， wild， and workable plans for living tomorrow's lifestyle today.

城市規(guī)劃師、社會學(xué)者和科幻小說家長期以來一直夢想著在海洋、陸地或太空中建立未來的烏托邦。這里列舉的七個例子，展示了一些或奇異、或大膽、或可行的計劃，使人們今日便可體驗明日的生活方式。

Brasilia: Welcome to the Concrete Jungle

When Brazil's leaders decided they had to move the nation's center of government from overcrowded， overbuilt and overly distracted2) Rio de Janeiro， they decided to start from scratch3). The result: Brasilia!

When Brasilia was completed in 1960 it was a wonder to behold. It was also silent...The city's stark4)， ultramodern5) design left out6) one essential ingredient: people. Those who had to live in Brasilia felt a crushing sense of alienation7). Dwarfed by the imposing， sterile8) buildings and frustrated by the vast spaces between them， citizens quickly realized the future wasn't golden; instead it was painted the dull gray of reinforced concrete9).

Dongtan: Metropolis or Mistake?

Today， the ideal cities on the drawing board have green blueprints. Case in point10): Dongtan， an ambitious development near Shanghai， China， is expected to be half the size of Manhattan and home to a half-million residents by 2010. That may not happen—the world financial crisis has put a crimp11) into many large scale plans and Dongtan has been delayed.

Designed as a showpiece for China's concern for the environment， Dongtan was planned from the get-go12) to be eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable. Originally， the only cars to be permitted within the city limits had to be electric or otherwise non-polluting—this requirement has been relaxed in the interest of practicality. It will be interesting to see just how much of the architects' vision will be realized when—or IF—Dongtan is eventually completed.

X-Seed 4000: Peak at the Future

Sometimes designers get a little unpractical， and this is one of those times: the X-Seed 4000. The \"4000\" refers to its height of 4，000 meters， which would dwarf any other man-made structure. It will house an estimated one million people. Impressive? Yes， but around 35 of them would be needed to absorb the current population of Tokyo where the project is set to begin construction， er， some day.

Considering the estimated $300~900 billion dollars required to actually build the X-Seed 4000， we won't even get into the physical problems—such as temperature and pressure differentials between the uppermost floors and the base—we can safely assume that both the X-Seed 4000 and the 2-mile high Ultima Tower above it are merely design studies intended to bring attention to their designers. In that respect， they have been towering successes.

Awesome Crystal Island in Moscow

Crystal Island is another giga-13)project that， though granted planning approval， may never progress to the bricks and mortar14) stage. The plans themselves are quite formidable15)， calling for a total floor area four times that of the Pentagon， 900 apartments able to house up to 30，000 people， and a 500-student international school.

Situated on the Nagatino Peninsula just over a mile away from the Kremlin， Crystal Island will soar 1，500 feet into the sky and will offer incredible views of Moscow from observation platforms at the 980 foot level.

EPCOT: Mickey Mouse's Idea?

Any review of futuristic cities must make mention of EPCOT， Walt Disney's \"Experimental Prototype16) City of Tomorrow\" at Orlando， Florida's Disney World. Walt Disney: \"EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed， but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity17) and imagination of American free enterprise.\"

Opened in 1982， EPCOT is dominated by Spaceship Earth， whose huge geodesic18) dome is designed by famed futurist Buckminster Fuller.

I'd Like to Be， Under the Sea

As earthly real estate19) becomes more and more crowded， the only where to go is up to the sky or down to the floor: the ocean floor. Ideas for undersea range from serious to humorous， but the main question confronting futurists is not so much How， but When?

In fact， people ARE living on the ocean floor， though it's not 20，000 leagues under the sea20)...just 20 feet. Jules' Undersea Lodge in Florida is an underwater hotel where guests enjoy an oceanic overnight stay while remaining high and dry21). Unless they open the window， that is.

巴西利亞:歡迎來到混凝土叢林

當(dāng)巴西領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人決定將國家的政府中心從人滿為患、建筑物高度密集和雜亂無章的里約熱內(nèi)盧遷走時，他們決心從零開始。其結(jié)果就是:巴西利亞。

1960年巴西利亞建成時，它是一個視覺奇跡。它也很寂靜……這個城市超現(xiàn)代化卻刻板的設(shè)計遺漏了一項最關(guān)鍵的元素:人。那些不得不生活在巴西利亞的人感到一種極度的疏離感。高大乏味的建筑讓人感覺渺小，建筑間寬大的空隙使人沮喪，市民們很快認(rèn)識到未來不是金光燦爛的;相反，它被涂上了鋼筋混凝土那單調(diào)的灰色。

東灘:大都市還是大錯誤?

今天，城市規(guī)劃圖稿上的理想城市都有著綠色的藍圖。東灘就是這樣的一個例子。它位于中國上海附近，是一個雄心勃勃的開發(fā)計劃，預(yù)計規(guī)模是曼哈頓的一半，2010年時將容納50萬居民。這或許無法實現(xiàn)——世界金融危機阻礙了很多大規(guī)模的開發(fā)計劃，東灘項目被延后了。

為了成為中國關(guān)注環(huán)境的樣板，東灘從一開始就被規(guī)劃成生態(tài)友好型和環(huán)境可持續(xù)型城市。起初，城區(qū)范圍內(nèi)僅允許電動汽車或其他無污染車輛行駛—后來出于實際考慮，放松了這一要求。當(dāng)東灘項目最終完成時(如果能最終完成的話)，看看設(shè)計者的愿景在多大程度上能夠得以實現(xiàn)，將會是一件有趣的事。

X-Seed 4000:聳立在未來

有時候，設(shè)計師們有一點脫離實際，其中一個例子就是:X-Seed 4000?！?000”指的是其高度為4000米，這會使其他所有人工建筑都相形見絀。它預(yù)計將容納100萬人。印象深刻嗎?當(dāng)然。不過在未來某一天可能開始建造這一巨塔的東京，需要大約35座這樣的龐然大物才能容納該市目前的人口。

考慮到實際建造X-Seed 4000預(yù)計所需的3000～9000億美元資金，我們甚至不用討論物理問題——比如頂層和底樓之間的溫差和壓力差——就可以有把握地推測，X-Seed 4000以及位于塔頂之上兩英里高的“終極塔樓”都僅僅是設(shè)計師用以吸引眼球的設(shè)計研究。就這個意義來說，他們無疑已經(jīng)大獲成功。

令人嘆為觀止的

莫斯科水晶島

水晶島是又一個雖然獲得設(shè)計許可，但可能永遠(yuǎn)都不會進入用磚瓦水泥進行實際施工階段的巨型項目。設(shè)計圖本身就令人大為驚嘆，該項目規(guī)劃面積為五角大樓的四倍，有900套公寓，可供三萬人居住，還將建設(shè)一所能接收500名學(xué)生的國際學(xué)校。

位于離克里姆林宮僅一英里的納加蒂諾半島上，水晶島將高達1500英尺，從其980英尺高的觀景平臺上俯瞰，莫斯科的美景將一覽無遺。

EPCOT:米老鼠的主意?

說起未來城市，不得不提沃爾特·迪士尼的“未來城市試驗原型”——EPCOT，位于佛羅里達州奧蘭多市的迪士尼世界。沃爾特·迪士尼公司稱，“EPCOT將從美國工業(yè)界創(chuàng)意中心正涌現(xiàn)的新理念和新技術(shù)中獲得啟發(fā)。它將是一個永不竣工的未來社區(qū)，將不斷引入、測試和展示新的材料和系統(tǒng)。EPCOT將一直是向世界展示美國自由企業(yè)的才智與想象的窗口?！?/p>

EPCOT于1982年亮相。其主體是“地球號宇宙飛船”，飛船的巨型網(wǎng)格球頂由著名未來學(xué)家巴克敏斯特·富勒設(shè)計。

我希望住在水下

隨著地面的土地資源變得越來越擁擠，能去的地方要么是上天，要么是入地:即海底。有關(guān)海底建筑的想法有的嚴(yán)肅，有的幽默，但未來學(xué)家面對的主要問題不是“如何才能做到?”而是“什么時候開始做?”

實際上，有人正生活在海底，盡管不是“海底兩萬里”……而僅僅是20英尺。佛羅里達州的朱爾斯海底旅館是一個水下酒店，客人能在這里安然無恙地享受海底之夜—如果他們不開窗戶的話。

Vocabulary

1.utopia [ju:5tEupIE] n. 烏托邦，理想中最完美的社會

2.distracted [dIs5trAktId] adj. 混亂的

3.from scratch: <口> 從起點開始，從零開始

4.stark [stB:k] adj. 嚴(yán)格的;刻板的

5.ultramodern [7QltrE5mCdEn] adj. 超現(xiàn)代化的;超時髦的;超新型的，最新式的

6.leave out: 遺漏;省略;排除

7.alienation [7eIljE5neIFEn] n. (感情上的)疏遠(yuǎn);離間

8.sterile [5steraIl] adj. 枯燥乏味的，無生氣的

9.reinforced concrete: 鋼筋混凝土

10.in point: [用作表語或后置定語]相關(guān)的;適用的

11.crimp [krImp] n. 阻礙，束縛

12.get-go: <美口>開端，開始

13.giga- [5dVI^E， 5dVaI^E] comb. form 表示“千兆”，“十億”(= 109)

14.the bricks and mortar: [總稱] <俚> 房屋，房產(chǎn)

15.formidable [5fC:mIdEbl] adj. (由于形狀巨大、數(shù)量眾多、出類拔萃等而)令人驚嘆的，令人欽佩的

16.prototype [5prEutEUtaIp] n. 原型;樣品，樣本

17.ingenuity [7IndVI5nju:EtI] n. 心靈手巧;善于創(chuàng)造發(fā)明;足智多謀

18.geodesic [7dVi:Eu5desIk] adj. 【建】呈網(wǎng)格球頂式的

19.real estate: 土地，包括土地上所有自然資源和永久性建筑

20.20，000 leagues under the sea:海底兩萬里，出自科幻小說《海底兩萬里》(20，000 Leagues Under the Sea);league [li:^] n. 里格(舊時長度單位，約為3英里、5公里或3海里)

21.high and dry: 未被傷及，安然無恙