2006年VOA标准英语-New York Exhibit Highlights Iraqi-Born Architec

By Barbara Schoetzau
New York
28 September 2006
 
In 2004, Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid became the first and, to date, only woman to win the prestigious¹ Pritzker Architectural Prize, the so-called Nobel of the design world. Her bold designs are on view at New York's Guggenheim Museum.

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Zaha Hadid  
  
Hadid is known as the "Diva" of architecture for her visionary designs pushing the boundaries of architecture, urbanism and design. Hadid's buildings appear organic: they bend, climb and flow, often seeming to overlap² each other.

Hadid grew up in a modern house Baghdad, Iraq, where she says the progressive ideas of her parents influenced her.

"My mother was interested in design," she said. "But my father was an industrialist³ and a politician. He was one of the leaders of the Iraqi Democratic Party and so they were interested in new ideas."

Zaha Hadid's BMW auto⁴ plant in Leipzig     
  
Zaha Hadid studied mathematics in Baghdad and then architecture in London, where her firm is based. For many years, her designs were admired for their beauty and boldness, but considered impractical⁵. One critic called them "brilliant, but unbuildable." That view changed in 1993 when the Vitra Firehouse was built in Germany. More commissions followed, from a ski jump in Austria to an art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, to an automobile⁶ plant in Germany where a conveyor belt transports cars through an office building on the way to another production facility.

Hadid's associate, Patrik Schumacher, says the firm's work stands out because of its melding of elegance⁷ and nature.

"We are opening up a discourse⁸ about elegance in a new definition where we are saying it is about articulating complexity⁹ and resolving complexity, rather than having jarring contradictions and collage-like assemblages," he said. "Beauty was always, elegance was always, a kind of ambition. But injecting diagonals, curvilinearity, also has to do with this emphasis on movement in the contemporary city."

The Guggenheim exhibit examines 30 years of Hadid's work in chronological¹⁰ order: drawings, paintings, animations¹² and furniture as well as her buildings.

Schumacher says the structure of the Guggenheim, a rotunda¹³ with a spiraling ramp¹⁴ from bottom to top, emphasizes the fluidity and undulating spaces that are the hallmarks of Hadid's work. The Guggenheim Museum was designed by iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

"This building here, there is a kind of ease of movement and spirally move which spins off into the side galleries and is an early example of a kind of fluid architecture here, the Frank Lloyd Wright building," he said.

Hadid is set apart by more than her radical¹⁵ designs. She is the only woman member of a very exclusive club. She is well aware of her lone¹⁶ status as the only woman on the top of architectural pyramid and calls it strange.

"I think part of the issue is there are lots of younger women, not so many senior women," she said. "In Europe, in England, once they have kids, it is very difficult to continue. Maybe it is easier in America. All of my friends in America who have children, they are still working. In London, it is much more difficult for architects, not for other professions. Architecture is very demanding time wise. I am not saying women don't do it. I think it is continuity is an issue."

Hadid is not sure why there is a vacuum at the top but she says it is certainly not due to a lack of talent.

"My best students were always women," she noted¹⁷. "It has nothing to do with science or the logic¹¹ of engineering. They make you uncomfortable as a woman. If you are young, you are patronized. You have to be quite tough to do it. There are lots of women who teach, heads of schools. The academic side is much more understanding. On the other hand, you have lots of lawyers, doctors but not many engineers. I think it is because of this problem that the industry is mostly male. All the developers are male."

After years of designing projects that did not get built, Hadid's work and her vision of the future are now visible in projects across the globe.

1 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

2 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

3 industrialist   

n.工业家，实业家

参考例句：

• The industrialist's son was kidnapped.这名实业家的儿子被绑架了。
• Mr.Smith was a wealthy industrialist,but he was not satisfied with life.史密斯先生是位富有的企业家，可他对生活感到不满意。

4 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

5 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

6 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

7 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

8 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

9 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

10 chronological   

adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的

参考例句：

• The paintings are exhibited in chronological sequence.这些画是按创作的时间顺序展出的。
• Give me the dates in chronological order.把日期按年月顺序给我。

11 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

12 animations   

n.生气( animation的名词复数 )；兴奋；动画片；（指电影、录像、电脑游戏的）动画制作

参考例句：

• You'll see your team cheerleaders and mascot performing new animations as well. 你会看到啦啦队队长跟吉祥物也都会有全新的动作。 来自互联网
• Ability to create simple movie and animations using graphic & multimedia software. 能够用平面和多媒体软件制作简单的电影及动画。 来自互联网

13 rotunda   

n.圆形建筑物；圆厅

参考例句：

• The Capitol at Washington has a large rotunda.华盛顿的国会大厦有一圆形大厅。
• The rotunda was almost deserted today,dotted with just a few tourists.圆形大厅今天几乎没有多少人，只零星散布着几个游客。

14 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

15 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

16 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。