Australian Conference Promotes Radical Building Design Changes
澳建筑师讨论设计环保节能建筑物
Office blocks modeled on termite nests and buildings that can resist climate change have been the focus at a conference by some of Australia's most influential designers in Melbourne. They are calling for radical changes to the way that buildings are constructed. Architects have said that the natural world should be a great source of inspiration.
澳大利亚一些最有影响的设计师在墨尔本的一个会议上着重讨论了以白蚁巢穴为模型的办公楼群，以及能够抵御气候变化的建筑物。他们呼吁从根本上改变建筑的兴建方式。建筑师们表示，自然界应该是灵感的巨大源泉。
Australian designers have said this is the beginning of the "biological age." A conference in Melbourne has heard that their professional attention needs to be diverted from creating items society really does not need - such as stackable chairs that turn into a piece of sculpture, fancy sunglasses and exotic cars.
澳大利亚的设计师们说，“生物时代”已经开始。墨尔本一个会议的话题是，设计师们应该转移他们的专业眼光，不要创作那些社会并不真正需要的东西，例如由座椅变成的雕塑，花哨的太阳镜和有异国情调的汽车等。
What they want to see are designs that harness the forces of nature, through buildings covered in plants that can draw carbon dioxide out of the air, and floating cities that preserve fertile land for farming.
他们希望看到的是能够利用自然力量的设计，从被能够吸收空气中二氧化碳的植物所覆盖的建筑，到能够养护肥沃耕地的浮动城市。
Mick Pearce, a Zimbabwean architect living in Melbourne, has been inspired by the humble termite.
住在墨尔本的津巴布韦建筑设计师米克.皮尔斯从不起眼的白蚁那里找到了灵感。
"Rather like blood circulating in our veins, inside the termites nest it is air that is moved by external temperature and pressures," Pearce explained. "The termites nest is a system like our bodies. It's self regulating temperature-wise and that, in a way, is an excellent model for a building. It's an extension to our metabolism, if you like, and this means you can build a building and use far less energy."
皮尔斯说：“就象我们血管里的血液循环，在白蚁巢穴内部，空气随着外界的温度和压力而流动。白蚁巢穴是和我们身体类似的一种系统。它在温度上自我调节。这可以成为建筑物的绝佳模式。它是我们新陈代谢的延伸。如果你愿意，这意味着你可以修建一个耗能很少的建筑物。”
In Zimbabwe, Mick Pearce has constructed offices built on such principles that have employed vertical tunnels for ventilation and consume about 10 percent of the electricity of a normal air-conditioned building. He has also designed a similar structure - called Council House Two - which has become one of Melbourne's most energy efficient buildings, using the sun and the wind for heat and cooling.
皮尔斯在津巴布韦按照这种模式修建的办公楼采取了用于通风的垂直通道。这种建筑消耗的电力仅是普通空调建筑耗电量的百分之十。他还设计了一个类似的建筑，并把它称作“统建房二号”。这个利用太阳和风取暖和降温的建筑成为墨尔本最节能的建筑之一。
The environmentally friendly building in the heart of Australia's second biggest city consumes only 15 percent of the energy of a regular office tower and about 30 percent of the water.
这座位于澳大利亚第二大城市中心的环保建筑消耗的能源只有普通办公大楼的15%，用水量只有30%左右。
Lindsay Johnson, governor of Architecture Australia, a body representing the profession, was a keynote speaker at the design conference. He says taking inspiration from the natural world has become imperative.
这个行业的代表组织澳大利亚建筑协会的会长林赛.约翰斯顿是这次设计会议的主要演讲者。他说，从自然界汲取灵感已经刻不容缓。
"This is the way to go and basically we all have to really think about how we're going to live without depending on oil or coal," Johnson said. "The really badly designed buildings of the recent past which have depended on fossil fuels to make them habitable will become a thing of the past. I think everybody will have to adapt to this."
约翰斯顿说：“这是个可行的途径。基本上，我们都必须认真思考怎样在不依靠石油和煤炭的情况下生存。过去一段时间里的那些设计非常糟糕的建筑需要依靠化石类燃料才能居住。这些建筑将会过时。我认为每个人都必须适应这一点。”
Climate change and Australia's response to it have become major points of discussion. The driest inhabited continent is one of the world's worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases. Some scientists have warned that Australia was facing a ten-fold increase in heat waves as a shifting climate increases temperatures.
气候变化和澳大利亚的应对方式成为讨论的要点。这个有人居住的最干燥的大陆是世界上人均温室气体排放量最高的地区之一。一些科学家已经警告说，随着气候变化造成温度上升，澳大利亚正面临十倍多的热浪。
