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Beneath Taipei’s Concrete Awnings 都市印象：台北的骑楼

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繁體中文譯本

Despite its international status, Taipei’s architecture is often criticized for its drab mediocrity. Though urban renewal projects like the lush Da An Forest Park demonstrate that things are changing, Taipei’s architectural inheritance doesn’t always receive the credit it deserves. For example, most main boulevards feature covered sidewalks, or arcades – an attractive architectural trait now rare in American or European cities.

虽然在地位上台北是国际都市，但它的建筑经常被批评为单调又乏味。像大安森林公园这种绿意盎然的都市重建计划显示情况正在改变，但台北建筑的传承常常没有得到它原本应得的肯定。譬如说，多数的主要干道都有遮蔽式人行道，或者叫做骑楼──它是一种很吸引人的建筑特色，这种特色现在在欧美都市中已经相当罕见。

In Southeast Asia, architectural arcades were introduced by British colonial developments in Singapore and Hong Kong, and subsequently, spread to southern China. The reasons for this design are primarily practical, but aesthetic and commercial as well. Quite simply, given typhoons and rain, covered sidewalks make it easier for people to go outside without needing to face the weather.

在东南亚，骑楼这种建筑是由新加坡和香港这些英属殖民地发展出来的，然后再传到中国南部。这样设计的理由基本上为了顾及实际需要，但美观和商业之需也是考虑因素。显而易见地，台湾因为台风和下雨的关系，有骑楼的人行道能便利行人在户外行走时不被雨淋湿。

Walking along an arcade, one feels almost inside the adjacent buildings, yet not completely. Aesthetically, the intriguing, blurred distinction between the interior and exterior space of arcades is a common – albeit rapidly disappearing – trait of European cities like Paris or Prague.

走在骑楼里，人会觉得好像置身在旁边的建筑物里，但又不完全是。就市容而言，这种有趣而内外空间分野模糊的骑楼拱廊，正是巴黎或布拉格这些欧洲城市的市容特色──虽然它们正在快速消失。

Finally, with the ground floors of buildings lining Taipei’s main arteries devoted to retail sales, arcades allow stores to display their wares to the captive audience of passersby.

最后，台北主要街道旁的建筑物一楼大多是用做商业零售用途。骑楼让店家能陈列他们的商品，吸引过往行人注意。

Though Taipei’s covered sidewalks sometimes struggle for space with scooters, they remain a charming and practical architectural trait.

虽然有时候台北的骑楼人行道因摩托车停放而相当拥挤，但它们仍然是迷人又实用的一种建筑特色。

－by Iain Ferguson & Charles Leary

Vocabulary

单词发音

awning [ˋɔnɪŋ] n.（门窗等前面的）凉篷，雨篷

status [ˋstetəs] n. 地位，身分

drab [dræb] adj. 单调的；无趣的

mediocrity [͵midɪˋɑkrətɪ] n. 平凡；平庸

inheritance [ɪnˋhɛrɪtəns] n. 传统

boulevard [ˋbulə͵vɑrd] n. 林荫大道

sidewalk [ˋsaɪd͵wɔk] n.【美】人行道

arcade [ɑrˋked] n.【建】拱廊；骑楼

subsequently [ˋsʌbsɪ͵kwɛntlɪ] adv. 随后，接着

aesthetic [ɛsˋθɛtɪk] adj. 美的；艺术的

adjacent [əˋdʒesənt] adj. 毗连的，邻接的

intriguing [ɪn`trigɪŋ] adj.〔由于奇特﹑神秘或出人意料而〕引起好奇心的; 令人感兴趣的

blur [blɝ] v. 使模糊不清; 变模糊

albeit [ɔlˋbiɪt] conj. 连接词【书】尽管，虽然

artery [ˋɑrtərɪ] n.（铁路，公路等的）干线，要道

devoted [dɪˋvotɪd] adj. 专用于…的.[(+to)]

captive [ˋkæptɪv] adj. 被迷住的

passerby [ˋpæsɚˋbaɪ] n. 行人；过路客

Sentence of the Day

Taipei is a diamond in the rough.

台北是颗未经琢磨的钻石。

diamond in the rough  未经琢磨的钻石; 璞玉