Engineering the Impossible（在线收听）

Engineering the Impossible

Hong Kong, a city of seven million—and growing fast. It’s ¹⁾bursting at the seams. By the year 2050 Hong Kong’s population will almost double. Where will these people live? Other cities face this same problem: Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, ²⁾Djakarta, Taipei, Beijing, ³⁾Bombay.

But there’s simply no room left for that kind of urban sprawl. There’s only one place to go——up. Fast forward 50 years. This is the tallest man-made structure on the planet. It’s name: ⁴⁾Millennium Tower. It would stand twice as tall as anything built before, a half mile high. Over 60 thousand people would live or work here. ⁵⁾Literally, a city within a city. Millennium’s designers think it represents the best solution for the coming population explosion.

It would cost ten billion dollars. It would ⁶⁾consume more building materials than any single nation could produce. Construction would take a ⁷⁾decade. Who would take on such a seemingly impossible task?

One of Millennium’s key designers is architect David Nelson.

David Nelson: It would be a massive project to say the least, and it would be a world project. But to actually realize it, resources would have to come from all over the globe. Europe, America, Asia—all brought together. The challenge and the ⁸⁾motivation for doing it would be to realize one of the world’s largest and most complex construction projects.

Millennium would be more complex than anything ever built. So its builders won’t know for sure the building is safe until it’s up, and they’ll have little margin for error. Massive ⁹⁾tremors have brought down entire cities in this part of the world. Can Millennium’s designers make it ¹⁰⁾immune to these ¹¹⁾upheavals of the earth?

It’s a complex problem because in all buildings, including Millennium, safety is just one concern among many. Millennium can’t be a ¹²⁾fortress. It will need to be a home, one that welcomes people in. The plans call for one hundred thousand ¹³⁾occupants and visitors working or playing inside at any given moment. Getting those people into the building and making sure they have a great experience will be what makes Millennium successful; but how to do it?

For the design team, the secret was to bring all the richness of city life within.

David Nelson: It’s a place to work, it’s a place to live, to be entertained, to shop, to go to Church. To do everything you can think of in a normal life.

A cluster of cafés and restaurants, theatres and stores would provide entertainment. Health clubs, even schools and medical clinics would also serve the towers’ ¹⁴⁾residents.

Millennium’s designers have proven something. Things that seem impossible today, might just become reality tomorrow. The engineering problems have, for the most part, already been solved. Our achievements are limited only by our imaginations. 

注释：

1)     burst at the seams 胀破接缝; 太挤

2) Djakarta [dVE5kB:tE] n. 雅加达（印尼首都）

3) Bombay [bCm5bei] n. 孟买(印度港口和商业中心)

4) millennium [mi5lenjEm] n. 千禧年

5) literally [5litErEli] ad. 简直

6) consume [kEn5sju:m] v. 消耗；消费

7) decade [5dekeid] n. 十年

8) motivation [7mEuti5veiFEn] n. 促动因素, 动力

9) tremor [5tremE] n. 地震

10) immune [i5mju:n] a. 免疫的；免受（伤害）的

11) upheaval [Qp5hi:vEl] n. 动乱；剧变

12) fortress [5fC:tris] n. 堡垒

13) occupant [5RkjupEnt] n. 占有者,居住者

14) resident [5rezidEnt] n. 住户