(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Steve Ember. And I'm Barbara Klein with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about Louis Kahn. He is considered one of the most important American building designers of the twentieth century. Louis Kahn helped define modern architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and building structures such as houses, museums, and office buildings.Kahn's architecture has several defining qualities. For example, Kahn was very interested in the look and feel of the materials he used. He used brick and concrete in new and special ways. Kahn also paid careful attention to the use of sunlight. He liked natural light to enter his buildings through interesting kinds of windows and openings. Kahn's work can also be identified by his creative use of geometric shapes. Many of his buildings use squares, circles and three sided shapes called triangles.
Louis Kahn was born in Estonia in nineteen-oh-one. When he was five years old his family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even as a child, Louis Kahn showed excellence as an artist. When he was in school his pictures won several competitions organized by the city. In high school, Kahn studied architecture briefly. He later went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied architecture full time. He graduated in nineteen twenty-four. Louis Kahn's buildings have many influences. Some experts say his trip to Rome, Italy in nineteen fifty-one influenced him the most. Kahn spent a few months as an architect with the American Academy in Rome. He also traveled through other parts of Italy, Greece and Egypt. There, he saw the ancient Greek and Roman ruins that also would influence his works. He was very affected by the size and design of these ruins. They helped influence him to develop an architecture that combines both modern and ancient designs. Other experts believe Kahn was also influenced by the part of Philadelphia where he grew up. There were many factory buildings with large windows. These brick structures were very solid. This industrial design is apparent in several of Kahn's early works.
Kahn's first projects involved building housing in Philadelphia. He later received government jobs to design housing during World War Two. In nineteen forty-two, he became a head architect of the Public Building Administration. Kahn's first important project was the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut in the early nineteen fifties. The outside of the building is very simple. The surface is made of brick and limestone. The inside of the gallery shows Kahn's great artistic sense. For example, he created a triangle-shaped walkway of steps that sits inside a rounded concrete shell. This building was very popular. Its completion represented an important step in Kahn's professional life. He was now a famous architect. One of Kahn's other important buildings is the Salk Institute, a research center in La Jolla, California. It was built in the nineteen sixties. This structure further shows how Kahn was able to unite form and function. This means his buildings were beautiful and also useful.
The Salk Institute has two structures that surround a marble garden area or courtyard. This outdoor marble area is almost completely bare. The only detail is a small stream of water running through the middle of the square towards the Pacific Ocean. This simple design is very striking. Inside the building are many rooms for laboratories. Kahn was very careful to make sure they all received natural light and a view of the ocean. He linked the indoor and outdoor spaces in a very beautiful way. The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is another famous building by Louis Kahn. Some say it is his best. Kahn built this museum in the early nineteen seventies.This large museum has long rooms with curved or vaulted ceilings. Inside, all of the walls can be moved to best fit the art collection. Kahn was able to make the concrete material of the building look both solid and airy. He used sunlight and bodies of water to create a truly special building. Kahn once said this about the Kimbell Art Museum: "The building feels...that I had nothing to do with it...that some other hand did it." The architect seems to say that he was helped by some higher influence. Many people feel that his architecture has a very spiritual and timeless quality.
Kahn mostly created public buildings such as museums and libraries. However, he also designed a few houses. His most famous home is the Fisher house near Philadelphia. It is made of several box-shaped buildings. The house is made out of glass, wood and stone. Many windows provide a view of the nearby trees. Louis Kahn also designed buildings in other countries, including India and Bangladesh. His largest project was a series of buildings that would become the government center of Dhaka, Bangladesh. This structure includes the parliament, meeting rooms, offices, eating places and even a religious center. This series of buildings looks like an ancient home for kings. Huge rounded and box-like buildings have windows in the shape of circles and triangles. The structure is surrounded by water. From a distance, it appears to float on a lake. Kahn spent the last twelve years of his life on the project. It was completed in nineteen eighty-three, nine years after his death. Because of Kahn, experts say, one of the poorest countries in the world has one of the most beautiful public buildings on Earth.
All of Kahn's buildings share a common solidity and heaviness. Experts say they are very different from the works of other famous architects of the period. These architects preferred light and airy buildings. Their weightless-looking structures were mostly made of glass and metal. Kahn used stone and concrete to make monumental buildings. Many of his structures look more ancient than modern. Louis Kahn was an artist who created beautiful works.But he was not a very good businessman. He would change his designs many times. This would make each project take a great deal of time and cost more money. The majority of the projects he designed were never built. Also, he did not like to compromise his design ideas to satisfy a buyer's wishes. For this reason and others, Kahn did not make many buildings. His design company did not always have many jobs or much money. In fact, when Kahn died, he was in great debt. This is especially unusual since he was considered one of the most important architects in the world.
In two thousand four, Mister Kahn's son, Nathaniel Kahn, made a film about his father's life. The film is called "My Architect." It is interesting for many reasons. "My Architect" gives a history of Kahn's life. The film presents the architect and his buildings. You can see Kahn working at his desk and talking with his builders. You can also see him teaching university students. You can tell that he had great energy. The film also shows a great deal about Kahn's private life. Kahn had a wife and daughter. But he also had two other families. Kahn had a child with each of two other women that he was not married to. In the film, Nathaniel Kahn describes visits from his father. He says that as a child he did not understand why his father did not live with him and his mother all of the time. "I didn't know my father very well. He never married my mother and he never lived with us. I needed to know him. I needed to find out who he really was. So I set out on a journey to see his buildings and to find whatever was left of him out there." Many questions are left unanswered about Kahn. Yet, the film helps tell a very interesting story about a very important man. Louis Kahn died in nineteen seventy-four. Yet his influence lives on. While teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, he trained many future builders. Some students have become important architects. And Kahn's architecture has remained fresh and timeless.
重点解析
1.architecture n. 建筑学, 建筑术
She studied architecture and art history at the university.
她在大学里学习建筑和艺术史。
2.geometric adj. 几何(学)的
The building has intricate geometric designs on several of the walls.
建筑物的几面墙上有复杂的几何图案。
3.influence vt. 影响, 感化
The labour enthusiasm of the workers strongly influenced us.
工人们的劳动热情强烈地感染了我们。
4.combine vt. 使结合,使联合;兼有,兼备;使化合
It would be more profitable to combine the two factories.
把这两家工厂联合起来更能赚钱。
5.marble n. 大理石
These steps are made of marble.
这些台阶是大理石的。
6.make sure 设法确保出现某事物
We and our friends will make sure of that.
我们和我们的朋友要确保这一点。
参考译文
我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。我是芭芭拉·克莱恩。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们将讲述路易·卡恩的故事。他被认为是20世纪美国最重要的建筑设计师之一。路易·卡恩帮助定义了现代建筑。建筑学是一门艺术，是设计和建筑结构，比如房屋、博物馆和办公大楼的的学科。卡恩的建筑有几个典型的品质。例如，卡恩对他所使用材料的外形和手感非常感兴趣。他以一种新式且特别的方式使用砖块和混凝土。卡恩还特别关注光线的利用。他喜欢通过各种有趣的窗户和开口将自然光线加入他的建筑之中。卡恩的作品也可以通过他对几何形状创造性的使用来辨别。他的很多建筑都有利用正方形、圆圈和被称为三角体态的三边形。
1901年，路易·卡恩出生于爱沙尼亚。在他五岁的时候，全家搬到了宾夕法尼亚州费城。 孩童时期，路易·卡恩就表现出了成为一名艺术家的才能。在学校的时候，他画的画赢得过几个城市组织的比赛。在高中，卡恩学过建筑学。之后，他去了宾夕法尼亚大学全职学习建筑学。他于1924年毕业。路易·卡恩的建筑有很多影响。一些专家表示1951年的意大利罗马之行影响最深。卡恩在罗马的美国学会当过几个月的建筑师。他还去了意大利其他几个地方，也去过希腊和埃及。在那里他看到了古代希腊和罗马遗迹，这些对他的作品也有影响。这些遗迹的规格和设计对他深有影响。在发展现代和古代设计结合的建筑学上，它们给予了很大的帮助。其他专家认为卡恩还受到了费城的影响，这里是他成长的地方。这里的很多工厂建筑都装有很大的窗户。这些砖砌建筑物非常坚固。这种工业设计在卡恩早期作品中尤为明显。
卡恩的首个项目是在费城建筑房屋。二战期间，他也在政府任职设计房屋。1942年，他成为了公共建造部的首席建筑师。卡恩首个重要项目是1950年代早期位于美国康涅狄格州纽黑文市的耶鲁大学美术馆。这栋建筑的外观很简单。其表面是由砖块和石灰岩组成。艺术馆北部展现了科恩伟大的艺术感。例如，他建造了一个三角形楼梯通道，位于环形混凝土壳内部。这幢建筑非常受欢迎。该建筑的完工代表着卡恩职业生涯的重要一步。现在他成为了一名著名建筑师。卡恩其他重要建筑之一是索尔克研究所，是位于加利福尼亚拉荷亚的一个研究中心，其建于1960年代。该建筑进一步展现了卡恩如何能够将形态和功能进行统一。这意味着他的建筑既美观又实用。索尔克研究所的两种结构围绕着一个大理石花园屈或庭院。室外大理石区几乎完全赤裸。唯一的细节是一股清水流经广场中央流入太平洋。这个简单的设计非常惊艳。在大楼内部有很多实验室。卡恩小心确保每个房间都有自然光线射入并能看到海洋。他以一种非常美观的方式将室内和室外空间相联系。
德克萨斯州沃思堡市的金贝尔美术馆是路易·卡恩的另一个著名建筑。一些人称这是他最好的作品。卡恩于1970年代早期建了这个博物馆。这个大型博物馆中有很多长长的房间，房间中有着卷曲或拱形的天花板。其内部的每一块墙壁都可以移动，以最好地匹配这些艺术收藏。卡恩可以将这些建筑材料做的坚固且通风。他利用光线和水体创造出了一种真实的特别建筑。卡恩曾是这样描述金贝尔美术馆的：“这个建筑感觉上和其他没什么两样。”建筑师似乎在表达他受到了一些更加高级的影响。很多人感觉他的建筑有精神上及空间上的品质。卡恩大部分的作品都是博物馆和图书馆，但是他也设计了一些房屋。他最著名的房屋是费城附近的费雪之家。其是由一些盒型建筑组成。这个房屋由玻璃、木材和石头制成。很多窗户都可看到附近的树林。
路易·卡恩还在其他国家，包括印度和孟加拉国设计建筑。他最大的工程是成为孟加拉国达卡政府中心的一系列建筑。其建筑包括国会、会议室、办公室、公共餐饮区以及宗教中心。这一系列建筑看起来像是古代国王的住宅。巨大的圆形盒状建筑的窗户有圆形和三角形的。大楼被水包围。从远处看，其就像是浮于湖面。卡恩将其生命的最后十二年都花在了这个项目上。直到1983年，卡恩去世后才建成。专家称，因为卡恩，世界上最贫穷的国家之一才拥有了地球上最美丽的公共建筑。卡恩所有的作品都很坚固且严肃。专家称它们和那个时期的其他著名建筑师的作品非常不同。这些建筑师倾向于明亮通风的建筑。它们的轻便结构多数来自于玻璃和金属。卡恩利用石头和混凝土制作纪念性建筑物。他的很多建筑看上去更具古代感。路易·卡恩是一名创造美丽作品的艺术家。但是他并不是一个好的商人。他多次修改自己的设计。 因此每个项目需要大量时间和金钱。大部分他设计的项目都没建成。他也不愿为了满足买家的意愿而妥协。因此，卡恩的作品不多。他的设计公司没有多少员工和资金。事实上，卡恩去世时，他负债累累。这尤为不可思议，因为他被认为是世界上最重要的建筑家之一。
2004年，卡恩先生的儿子纳撒尼尔·卡恩拍了一部关于他父亲生平的电影。该电影名为《我的建筑师》。这部电影因一些原因而变得很有意思。《我的建筑师》是讲述卡恩一生的历史。该电影展现了建筑师和他的作品。你可以看到卡恩在桌边工作，和他的建筑师交谈。你也能看到他在给大学学生上课。你可以看到他有着巨大的能量。这部电影还大量讲述了卡恩的私人生活。卡恩有一个妻子和女儿，但是他还有另外两个家庭。卡恩和另两个女人分别有一个孩子，但是他没有和这两位女士结婚。在电影中，纳撒尼尔·卡恩描述他父亲来访。“我并不是很了解我的父亲。他没有和我的母亲结婚，也没和我们住在一起。我需要了解他。我需要找出真实的他。所以我开始了参观他的建筑旅程，寻找他所留下的东西。”关于卡恩还有很多未解之谜。但是这部电影帮助讲述了一个关于一位非常重要之人的有趣故事。1974年，路易·卡恩去世，但是他的影响永存。在宾夕法尼亚大学教书时，他培训了很多未来的建筑者。一些学生成为了重要的建筑师。卡恩的建筑永不过时。
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