万花筒 2011-05-08&05-10 未来人类栖息地--漂浮城市

 This is a glimpse of what may be the future of urban living. It's called Noah, a fully¹ sustainable floating habitat designing to support thousands of people. The idea comes from Architect Kevin Schafer. He says he was inspired by the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He says Noah is an example of our ecology, a design incorporating the principles of architectural with ecology.

 

--I begun thinking serious about the notion of how do you combine ecology, the technologies of floating cities, what should they be, and what would they need?

 

Noah will set down a barge² on the river. It will be built from sustainable and recycle material and fitted with thousands of solar panels and wind turbines to generate its own energy.

 

--You are as driven to sustainable perfection as you can be, and you try every move to make sure that what materials you use, how use them, are reacting in the right way with the environment.

 

Schafer is employing the same design principles in another disaster-inspired projects, a conceptual habitat he calls "Harvard City". In January, 2010, a massive earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince, the Capital of Haiti, leaving more than 300,000 dead and millions homeless. And Schafer says Harvard City with float in the bay of Port-au-Prince as a temporary home for the displaced and a center for comers.

 

--In the situation of Haiti, it allows Haiti to breathe a little and give people a place to go while they're regrowing things on land. It creates a whole new industry which it would, an ongoing³ industry. And it creates a very safe heaven if you will for schools and et cetera.

 

Harvard City will be three kilometers wide and comprise farm land, residential⁴ areas and markets, all connected by canals. Like Noah, Harvard City will be based around sustainability. The design calls for clean energy generation; rain water collections depots⁵ and desalination⁶ plants to make water fit for farming and human consumption. 

 

Schafer's idea has received mixed views. Many applauded the designs on paper, but some critics say they belong in the realm of science fiction. As for Schafer, he believes the kind of the sustaining future described by his designs will arrive sooner than the critics realize.

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

5 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

6 desalination   

n.脱盐(作用)

参考例句：

• Crops can be grown on this land after desalination. 这片土地经过脱盐就可以种植庄稼了。
• One source is by desalination-taking the salt out of salt water to make it drinkable. 淡水的来源之一是使水淡化--把含盐的水中的盐份去掉，使之能够饮用。