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AMANDA LEVETE
阿曼达·勒威特(Amanda Levete)
ON THE BT TOWER, LONDON
伦敦英国电信塔
“What fascinates me is that in its time the BT Tower was a building that was entirely about its function as a telecommunications tower: Its purpose was its height. Now, without the satellite dishes, that purpose is redundant. It’s lost a lot of its visual and symbolic power. I was 10 when it was finished in 1965 and it was the tallest building in London for many years. It was a marker of arrival if you were coming from the north. That, in the context of London’s skyline now, is extraordinary. It was the first building with an observation deck — that way of engaging with the city was actually pioneered by the tower. It had a restaurant that wasn’t particularly expensive. High rises today are about exploiting the skyline for private gain. But Londoners are capable of being nostalgic too: We have a power station that is now a modern art gallery. I wonder if the satellites and antennae shouldn’t be reinstated to communicate its purpose as an enduring symbol of the moment in the 1960s when technology propelled Britain onto the international stage. It’s a reminder. It holds so much meaning in an elegant slender cylinder.”
“我觉得有意思的是，电信塔在当时纯粹就是为了实现作为电信通讯塔的功能：它的用途是它的高度。现在卫星天线已经拆除，那个用途就不存在了。它失去了很多视觉上的力量和权力象征。1965年，这座塔完工的时候我10岁，接下来很多年里它一直是伦敦最高建筑。如果你打北边过来，看到它就表示到伦敦了。在伦敦天际线里，这可是很不得了的。它是第一座有瞭望台的建筑——此类接触城市的方式其实就是这座塔开创的。它有一个不算特别昂贵的餐厅。今天的摩天大楼已经把天际线的资源用于牟取私利了。但伦敦人也是能够怀旧的：我们有一座电站，现在是个现代美术馆。我在想，是不是可以把天线重新装上，把它的用途转换为1960年代那个瞬间的恒久象征，当时的科技将英国推向了国际舞台。它是一个提示。这样一个纤柔的柱体，承载着太多的意义。”
