引言

希蘭特·韋蘭達維/Hirante Welandawe

葉揚 譯/Translated by YE Yang

作者單位：HW建筑事務所/H W Architects

斯里蘭卡和印度在各種方面有著千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系，這不僅與它們之間特殊的距離有關，還由于周期性的城市移民，兩國有著超過2500年的文化、宗教和語言的聯(lián)系。也許這些聯(lián)系中最主要的是兩個國家長期處于殖民統(tǒng)治之下，每個國家都曾被葡萄牙人、荷蘭人和英國人占領，并最終在兩年間先后實現(xiàn)獨立。

目前，由于全球資本主義在南亞的蔓延，斯里蘭卡和印度都處于緊鑼密鼓的城市發(fā)展時期。印度在未來20年的投資為800億美元，預計斯里蘭卡在未來20年將吸引150億美元的投資，用于總額14億美元中國資助的港口城市項目。盡管乍一看，預算數(shù)字相當可觀，但實際的發(fā)展可能會相當遲緩并不盡人意。斯里蘭卡和印度城市發(fā)展的很大一部分是由私營開發(fā)商主持進行的，對他們來說，數(shù)量和面積的最大化是決定性因素；大多數(shù)場地過度建設，自然形式和建筑形式之間的平衡發(fā)生了驚人的變化，嚴重影響了城市的宜居性。建筑師在本期中的工作非常雄辯地表明，建筑和城市發(fā)展可以在有創(chuàng)意和有意義的設計師手中有不同的想象。我們今天面臨的挑戰(zhàn)是，這類作品仍然很有限，發(fā)生在我們城市的更大規(guī)模的開發(fā)與創(chuàng)造性和有意義的建筑之間的差距正在擴大。我們?nèi)绾芜x擇縮短這一差距，將決定我們城市的未來?！?/p>

Sri Lanka and India's are linked in a myriad of ways, not just related to their special proximity;due to periodic urban migration the two countries share a legacy of cultural, religious and linguistic connection spanning more than 2500 years. Perhaps chief among those connections is both nations being under Colonial rule for long periods of time,each having been occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch and British and even achieving independence in the space of two consecutive years.

Presently both Sri Lanka and India are going through intense periods of urban development due to the spread of global capitalism in South Asia.India has an investment of $80 billion in the next two decades and Sri Lanka is expected to attract $15 billion in investment over the next 20 years in the $1.4 billion Chinese funded Port City Project. Although the projected numbers may look lucrative on first glance, the development happening on the ground can present a rather more dismal picture. A large component of the development in both Sri Lankan and Indian cities are spearheaded by private sector developers, to whom quantity and maximum footprint are the defining factors; most sites are overbuilt to such an extent that there is an alarming shifting of the balance between the natural and the built forms,severely affecting the livability of the cities. The works of the architects presented in this issue show very eloquently that architecture and urban development could be imagined differently in the hands of creative and meaningful designers. The challenge we face today is that such works still remain few and far between and the gap between the larger body of development work happening in our cities and creative and meaningful architecture is ever widening. How we choose to bridge this gap will define the future of our cities.□

1 工作室住宅，拉夏吉里雅，斯里蘭卡/Studio Dwelling, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka（攝影/Photo: Mahesh Mendis）