阿拉伯的公共图书馆.doc

外文资料原文ARABIAN PUBLIC LIBRARYIn the far-flung suburban expanses of greater Phoenix, civic life can be hard to come by. Gated communities define-and depopulate-the street scene. Wide arterials make driving breezy and walking dicey. Social mixing happens mostly at malls. Yet metropolitan Phoenix has kept a hold on civic culture, and nowhere is the hold firmer than in the local support of that most idealistic and benevolent of municipal programs, the public library.A major marker of this support is the consistent commissioning of first-rate architecture. The Burton Barr Central Library, by Will BruderPartners, set a rigorous standard when it opened in 1995, and since then a half-dozen or so branches-most recently the Palo Verde Library, by Gould Evans and Wendell Burnette, and the Desert Broom Library, by Richard Bauer-have put public libraries on the itineraries of serious architecture tourists. The latest addition to the tour is the Arabian Library, another Richard Bauer project.Contributing editor Nancy Levinson is the director of the Phoenix Urban Research Lab at the College of Design at Arizona State University. Before moving out West, she cofounded and coedited Harvarrd Design Magazine.The Arabian is located in exurban Scottsdale(and named, by that citys custom, for a breed of horse). The natural setting is stunning, with the 4000-foot-high peaks of the McDowell Mountain Preserve dominating vistas to the northeast. The built environs are humdrum, with acres of resale-ready blandburbs stretching to the edges of the protected range. But it is precisely this contradictory context that has spurred the designers to product a conceptually rich and ambitious building. As architect James Richard says, “We struggled with the ordinariness of the surroundings, with the minimarts, the chain stores, the surface lots. How, in the midst of this generic development, do you make an authentic place?” Richard and his partner, interior designer Kelly Bauer, answered this question by creating a place that looks inward-“that creates its own context,” as Richard says-and that connects strongly with the natural landscape. The designers were inspired in particular by the local geology of the slot canyon: the deep and narrow sandstone ravines, carved by rushing water, that are such striking features of the southwest.The challenge of the inspirational metaphor, of course, is to control it, and not the other way around. Happily, the designers have maintained command of their motivating image(as they did at Desert Broom, where a nurse tree informed the parti).At Arabian, the architectural experience of the canyon starts as you approach the entrance and are confronted by the Minimalist and elegant composition of weathered steel(architourists will be strongly reminded of Richard Serra, and forgiven for Photoshopping out the concrete-tile roofs of the nearby production homes). The experience continues as you wind along a narrow path defined by the reddish-brown walls, which angle slightly inward; a shallow channel, lined with smooth rocks and (sometimes)filled with water, runs along the edge of the building. A couple of turns and you arrive at the protected entry court, where a simple planting bed contains a specimen paloverde tree and hopbush shrubs. This indigenous landscaping sets off a site-specific artwork by Seattle artist Norie Sato, which consists of a steel-and-glass-applique relief and a freestanding sculpture, both based upon the skeletal structure of the prickly pear cactus.Once inside, you find new and old library functions ranged thoughtfully around the internal court or looking out onto landscaped patios. The more traditional programmatic elements include a lofty reading room with book stacks and long tables; a cozy childrens room with an adjacent playroom, complete with a built-in puppet stage; and a spacious suite of staff offices and workrooms. The less conventional spaces speak to how the public library is evolving to accommodate our multimedia, multitasking culture. In the lobby, for instance, the circulation desk of old has given way to scanning stations, and off the lobby, near the magazine racks, visitors cluster around a kiosk, where a barista makes lattes. In the main reading room, where computer stations crowd the tables, much of the reading that was happening on a recent afternoon was not on the page but the screen. The friendly hubbub of caf and computers has led the librarians to include in their program several ”quiet rooms”-spaces that would have been redundant in traditional libraries. The interior furnishings and finishes-which include mid-century classics from Herman Miller and Knoll, walnut-and-pegboard paneling, and custom-made steel-and-acrylic stacks-are sleek but sturdy. This is fortunate, because since opening last fall, the 20000-spuare-foot library(which replaced a smaller branch on a nearby site)has already become a popular destination for the residents of the very new communities that encircle it. The role of libraries is shifting, notes Scottsdale library director Rita Hamilton, but it is also expanding. ”Books are our brand, and they remain at the heart of what we do,” Hamilton says. ”But today, libraries are also community centers, places where you find a range of services, spaces, and programs, and where everyone is welcome.”Arabian was inspired by the dissonance of its built and natural settings, the tension between banal development and extraordinary landscape. The architects have negotiated-or perhaps introduced-another potential contradiction by crafting, in the midst of this low-density, cardependent environment, a LEED Silver building. To achieve this rating, they delimited the project area to preserve fragile desert; favored local vendors; used recycled and/or renewable materials throughout, beginning with the recycled steel skin and continuing with fly-ash concrete, recycled insulation and carpet, and wheatboard casework and paneling; installed the heating and cooling systems in the raised flooring to avoid chilling the ceiling and wasting energy; and sensitively deployed daylighting to balance the need for high illumination with the goal of minimal heat gain.According to the librarians, the residents have responded positively to their new branch library, with initial reservations giving way to enthusiasm. “Of course, some people asked us why the building wasnt beige stucco,” says Yvonne Murphy, senior coordinator of Arabian. But eventually, she notes, visitors were won over by the mix of graceful and playful spaces, and even by the contemporary aesthetic. As Murphy says, “People began to see that the building really relates to the site, that its a contemporary interpretation of the desert landscape.”MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGOGluckman Mayner Architects takes cues from railroad life in the caboose-red addition and renovated baggage building of the MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, based in a converted, much-expanded landmark, the Ellen Scripps house, designed by Irving Gill in 1915 in idyllic La Jolla, may be as well known for its stunning, Oceanside setting as for its bold, nationally acclaimed exhibitions. With the opening of expanded satellite galleries in a historic, forme nationally r railway baggage building in downtown San Diego last January, the museum because an urban magnet, with its opening and early attendance exceeding projections.The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building, the renovated, low-slung, long-shuttered former baggage building, adjoins the citys beloved, more elaborate Santa Fe Depot, which faces Broadway near San Diego Bay. Both buildings, designed by Bakewell & Brown of San Francisco in the Mission-Spanish Revival style, opened in time for San Diegos 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition; the depot has remained in continuous use since then.Still filled with natural light that enters through clerestory and huge arched windows, the former baggage building stands between active train tracks to the west and busy Kettner Boulevard to the east. It first captured public and redevelopment authorities attention a dozen years ago, when the museums former chief curator used its vastspaces, supported by an exposed, steel structure unusual for its date, to stellar effect for several temporary installations.Several years later, the museum was selected by the citys downtown redevelopment agency to restore and renovate the building for exhibition space. The museum plan included a controversial move that museum officials said was a deal breaker; To reserve the maximum area possible for art and new media installations, the museum needed to demolish an adjacent nonhistoric railway building and replace it with a contemporary, 13680-square-foot addition-the new David C. Copley Building to house offices, education rooms, meeting space, and Amtrak storage.Hugh M. Davis, the museums director, hired what he called his “dream team” for his two-part project: Milford Wayne Donaldson, FAIA, a San Diego-based preservation architect (who left the project after he was named Californias state historic preservation officer); and Richard Gluckman, FAIA, of Gluckman Mayner Architects of New Youk. Donaldsons successor firm, Heritage Architecture & Planning, restored the baggage buildings exterior and worked with Gluckman to keep the interior renovations, incluading a mandatory seismic retrofit, to a minmum.As with other historic buildings Gluckman has transformed, such as New York Citys Dia Center and Pittsburghs Andy Warhol Museum, he kept the vast interior spaces of the Jacobs as open as possible to maximize opportunities for installation artists. The height of the largest gallery, comparable to the size of a basketball court, peaks at about 38 feet; the exception is a small, jewel-box of a gallery with low ceilings and climate control.外文资料译文阿拉伯的公共图书馆在菲尼克斯太阳城的广阔郊区，都市生活是很难得的。门控社区的界定和人口的减少显现街头。宽阔的城市干道使得驾驶和步行者充斥危险。社会人群大多集中在超市。然而，菲尼克斯的市民对文化生活始终保有热情。没有任何一个地方能比此地更适合施行理想的市政方案，而对于拥有一个公共图书馆的支持则更加坚定。 这方面的一个重要标志，是支持的一流建筑一致通车。由威尔布鲁德帕特纳设计的伯顿巴尔金特里公共图书馆在其1995年开放时便设立了一系列严格的标准，此后其约莫六个的分支图书馆，诸如由古尔德埃文斯和温德尔伯内特设计的保罗维德图书馆，以及由理查德鲍尔设计的沙漠金雀花图书馆，已把公共图书馆排入了一些建筑观光者的游览日程。最近刚添加进游程的还有理查德鲍尔的另一个项目阿拉伯图书馆。（功勋编辑是来自亚利桑那州立大学设计学院菲尼克斯城市研究实验室的学科带头人南希莱文森。她在离开西部之前，参与编辑并出版了哈佛设计杂志。）阿拉伯图书馆坐落于斯科茨代尔远郊（并命名，由该城市的习俗，一个马的品种）。其自然设置让人惊奇，主导景观同麦克道尔山保护区4000英尺的东北峰相辉映。 这个建筑的周围是单调乏味的，与一亩亩已经转售的布兰德郊区一起延展至受保护的范围边缘。但是恰恰是在这样一个矛盾的背景下，才鞭策设计师创造出如此概念丰富和充满雄心的建筑。正如建筑师詹姆斯理查德所说，“我们苦恼于周遭平淡无奇的环境，小市场，连锁店和表面地段。也就是说，在普通的发展过程中，可能出现一个靠谱的地方么？”但后来理查德和他的伙伴，室内设计师凯利鲍尔，创建了一个看上去能涵盖应该要有的背景的地方，从而很好地解决了这个困扰，即如理查德所说的，非常完美地结合了自然景观。设计师倍受鼓舞，特别是当地插槽峡谷的地理环境：被激流冲刷雕琢而成的深和狭窄的砂岩山谷，这是西南地区的显著地貌。 当然，该灵感隐喻的挑战，是要控制它，而不是适得其反。庆幸的是，设计师一直维持着他们激发想象的命令（正如他们在沙漠金雀花图书馆做到的那样）。在阿拉伯图书馆，以峡谷的建筑经验来说，应该以处理入口、最低限要求者面临的问题以及精雅的合成风化钢开始的（建筑游客会轻易联想到理查德塞拉，然后也就可以理解附近家庭建造的混凝土瓦屋顶的处理方式了）。按照经验，接着便是沿着红褐色墙体，稍稍向内的角度定义出一条狭窄的路径；一条由光滑的岩石砌成且（通常）灌满水的浅道沿着建筑物的边缘运行。转过一些弯后，你会抵达一个受保护的场馆入口，在那儿有包含假紫荆属树木和霍普布什灌木标本的种植池。这片土地上所固有的景观美化是由西雅图艺术家诺里萨托创造出的一个特定场地艺术品，这个艺术作品由竖立在仙人球骨架上的嵌花式的钢化玻璃减震以及独立雕塑组成。一旦进入，你会发现新旧图书馆在围绕内部场馆或从内向景观台看去环节的功能设置安排极富想象力。他们增加了更多传统的主题基础区域，如拥有成堆书籍和长桌的高顶阅览室；舒适的儿童阅览室，邻间有配备了完善木偶剧舞台的游戏房；宽敞舒适的员工办公室和工作室。与此同时减少了诸如讨论公共图书馆怎样满足我们多媒体和多任务文化的传统空间。举个列子，在大厅，旧馆的圆桌会让道给扫描中心；大厅往里走，在杂志书架附近，读者成群围在有咖啡师冲泡拿铁的报摊旁。在主阅览室，计算机中心是围绕着书桌布置的，下午去阅读的读者基本上都把注意力集中在电脑屏幕而非书页上。针对嘈杂但颇受欢迎的咖啡厅和计算机中心，馆方不得不在多余的空间里安排一些可供阅读的安静房间。馆内的用具光滑且完好无损，其中有来自赫曼米勒、科诺家具公司在50年代生产的古典家具，还有核桃镶板，特别定制的钢铁和丙烯酸。这是一笔财富，因为自去年秋天开馆以来，这个两万平方英尺的图书馆（它取代了附近一个稍小的分馆）已经逐渐成为一个受当地居民欢迎的社区。斯科茨代尔图书馆负责人丽塔汉密尔顿表示，图书馆的角色在发生着转移，但他同时也补充道：“书籍仍是我们的宗旨，它们仍然根植在我们心中。”他说，“但在今天，图书馆同时也是一个社交中心，一个你能体验到一系列服务、空间和节目的地方，它欢迎每一个来宾。”阿拉伯图书馆是从自身建筑与周围自然环境的不和谐，以及从平庸的建设布局与超凡风景的张力对比中得到灵感的。建筑师协商或反驳了另一个通过手工艺方式而潜在的矛盾。在这个低密度、汽车依赖性强的环境里，一个绿色建筑评估标准的银色建筑。为了达到这一点，他们分隔了工程建设区域来保护脆弱的沙漠；惠顾当地的供应商；自始至终使用循环和再生材料，从开始的循环钢质表皮到接下来的碳灰混凝土，再到循环隔离和地毯，再到小麦板个案工作及