土木建筑毕业设计中英文翻译3

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外文资料

The Tall Office Building Artistically

Considered

by Louis H. Sullivan, March, 1896

The architects

of this

land and generation are now brought

face to

face with

something

new

under

the

sun

namely,

that

evolution

and

integration

of

social

conditions,

that

special

grouping of them, that results in a demand for the erection of tall office buildings.

It is not my purpose to discuss the social conditions; I accept them as the fact, and say at

once that the design of the tall office building must be recognized and confronted at the outset

as a problem to be solved a vital problem, pressing for a true solution.

Let

us

state

the

conditions

in

the

plainest

manner.

Briefly,

they

are

these:

offices

are

necessary

for

the

transaction

of

business;

the

invention

and

perfection

of

the

high

speed

elevators make vertical travel, that was once tedious and painful, now easy and comfortable;

development of steel manufacture has shown the way to safe, rigid, economical constructions

rising

to

a

great

height;

continued

growth

of

population

in

the

great

cities,

consequent

congestion of centers and rise in value of ground, stimulate an increase in number of stories;

these successfully piled one upon another, react on ground values and so on, by action and

reaction, interaction and inter reaction. Thus has come about that form of lofty construction

called the

of social conditions has found a habitation and a name.

Up to

this point all in

evidence is

materialistic,

an exhibition of force, of resolution,

of

brains in the keen sense of the word. It is the joint product of the speculator, the engineer, the

builder.

Problem: How shall we impart to this sterile pile, this crude, harsh, brutal agglomeration,

this

stark,

staring

exclamation

of

eternal

strife,

the

graciousness

of

these

higher

forms

of

sensibility

and

culture

that

rest

on

the

lower

and

fiercer

passions?

How

shall

we

proclaim

from

the

dizzy

height

of

this

strange,

weird,

modern

housetop

the

peaceful

evangel

of

sentiment, of beauty, the cult of a higher life?

This is the problem; and we must seek the solution of it in a process analogous to its own

evolution

indeed,

a

continuation

of

it

namely,

by

proceeding

step

by

step

from

general

to

special aspects, from coarser to finer considerations.

It is my belief that it is of the very essence of every problem that is contains and suggests

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its own solution. This I believe to be natural law. Let us examine, then, carefully the elements,

let us search out this contained suggestion, this essence of the problem.

The practical conditions are, broadly speaking, these:

Wanted 1st, a story below ground, containing boiler, engines of various sorts, etc. in short,

the plant for power, heating, lighting, etc. 2nd, a ground floor, so called, devoted to

stores,

banks,

or

other

establishments

requiring

large

area,

ample

spacing,

ample

light,

and

great

freedom of access, 3rd, a second story readily accessible by stairways this space usually in

large

subdivisions,

with

corresponding

liberality

in

structural

spacing

and

expanse

of

glass

and

breadth

of

external

openings,

4th,

above

this

an

indefinite

number

of

stories

of

offices

piled tier upon tier, one tier just like another tier, one office just like all the other offices an

office being similar to a cell in honey comb, merely a compartment, nothing more, 5th, and

last, at the top of this pile is placed a space or story that, as related to the life and usefulness of

the

structure,

is

purely

physiological

in

its

nature

namely,

the

attic.

In

this

the

circulatory

system completes itself and makes it grand turn, ascending and descending. The space is filled

with tanks, pipes, valves, sheaves, and mechanical etcetera that supplement and complement

the

force

originating

plant

hidden

below

ground

in

the

cellar.

Finally,

or

at

the

beginning

rather,

there

must

be

on

the

ground

floor

a

main

aperture

or

entrance

common

to

all

the

occupants or patrons of the building.

This tabulation is, in the main, characteristic of every tall office building in the country.

As to the necessary arrangements for light courts, these are not germane to the problem, and

as

will

become

soon

evident,

I

trust

need

not

be

considered

here.

These

things,

and

such

others as the arrangement of elevators, for example, have to do strictly with the economics of

the

building,

and

I

assume

them

to

have

been

fully

considered

and

disposed

of

to

the

satisfaction of purely utilitarian and pecuniary demands. Only in rare instances does the plan

or floor arrangement of

the tall office building take on an aesthetic value, and thus

usually

when the lighting court is external or becomes an internal feature of great importance.

As I am here seeking not for an individual or special solution, but for a true normal type,

the

attention

must

be

confined

to

those

conditions

that,

in

the

main,

are

constant

in

all tall

office

buildings,

and

every

mere

incidental

and

accidental

variation

eliminated

from

the

consideration, as harmful to the clearness of the main inquiry.

The practical horizontal and vertical division or office unit is naturally based on a room of

comfortable

area

and

height,

and

the

size

of

this

standard

office

room

as

naturally

predetermines the standard structural unit, and, approximately, the size of window openings.

In turn, these purely arbitrary units of structure form in an equally natural way the true basis

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of the artistic development of the exterior. Of course the structural spacings and openings in

the first or mercantile story are required to be the largest of all; those in the second or quasi

mercantile story are of a some what similar nature. The spacings and openings in the attic are

of no importance whatsoever the windows have no actual value, for light may be taken from

the top, and no recognition of a cellular division is necessary in the structural spacing.

Hence it follow inevitably, and in the simplest possible way, that if we follow our natural

instincts without thought of books, rules, precedents, or any such educational impediments to

a spontaneous and

our tall office building to wit:

Beginning

with

the

first

story,

we

give

this

a

min

entrance

that

attracts

the

eye

to

it

location,

and

the

remainder

of

the

story

we

treat

in

a

more

or

less

liberal,

expansive,

sumptuous

way

a

way

based

exactly

on

the

practical

necessities,

but

expressed

with

a

sentiment of largeness and freedom. The second story we treat in a similar way, but usually

with milder pretension. Above this, throughout the indefinite number of typical office tiers,

we take our cue from the individual cell, which requires a window with its separating pier, its

still and lintel, and we, without more ado, make them look all alike because they are all alike.

This

brings

us

to

the

attic,

which

having

no

division

into

office

cells,

and

no

special

requirement for lighting, gives us the power to show by means of its broad expanse of wall,

and its dominating weight and character, that which is the fact namely, that the series of office

tiers has come definitely to an end.

This may perhaps seem a bald result and a heartless, pessimistic way of stating it, but even

so

we

certainly

have

advanced

a

most

characteristic

stage

beyond

the

imagined

sinister

building of the speculator engineer builder combination. For the hand of the architect is now

definitely felt in the decisive position at once taken, and the suggestion of a thoroughly sound,

logical, coherent expression of the conditions is becoming apparent.

When

I

say

the

hand

of

the

architect,

I

do

not

mean

necessarily

the

accomplished

and

trained

architect.

I

mean

only

a

man

with

a

strong,

natural

liking

for

buildings,

and

a

disposition to shape them in what seems to his unaffected nature a direct and simple way. He

will probably tread an innocent path from his problem to its solution, and therein he will show

an enviable gift of logic. If we have some gift for form in detail, some feeling for form purely

and

simply

as

form,

some

love

for

that,

his

result

in

addition

to

it

simple

straightforward

naturalness and completeness in general statement, will have something of temperament and

interest.

However, thus far the results are only partial and tentative at best relatively true, they are

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but superficial. We are doubtless right in our instinct but we must seek a fuller justification, a

finer sanction, for it.

I assume now that in the study of our problem we have passed through the various stages

of

inquiry,

as

follows:

1st,

the

social

basis

of

the

demand

for

tall

buildings;

2nd,

its

literal

material satisfaction; 3rd, the elevation of the question from considerations of literal planning,

construction, and equipment, to the plane of elementary architecture as a direct outgrowth of

sound, sensible building; 4th, the question again elevated from an elementary architecture to

the beginnings of true architectural expression, through the addition of a certain quality and

quantity of sentiment.

But

our

building

may

have

all

these

in

a

considerable

degree

and

yet

be

far

from

that

adequate solution of the problem I am attempting to define. We must now heed quality and

quantity of sentiment.

It demands of us, what is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? And at once

we answer, it is lofty. This loftiness is to the artist nature its thrilling aspect. It is the very open

organ tone in its appeal. It must be in turn the dominant chard in his expression of it, the true

excitant

of

his

imagination.

It

must

be

tall,

every

inch

of

it

tall.

The

force

and

power

of

altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a

proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exultation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a

single dissenting line that it is the new, the unexpected, the eloquent peroration of most bald,

most sinister, most forbidding conditions.

The man who designs in the spirit and with the sense of responsibility to the generation he

lives in must be no coward, no denier, no bookworm, no dilettante. He must live of his life

and for his life in the fullest, most consummate sense. He must realize at once and with the

grasp of inspiration that the problem of the tall office building is one of the most stupendous,

one of the most magnificent opportunities that the Lord of Nature in His beneficence has ever

offered to the proud spirit of man.

That this has not been perceived indeed has been flatly denied is an exhibition of human

perversity that must give us pause.

One more consideration. Let us now lift this question into the region of calm, philosophic

observation. Let us seek a comprehensive, a final solution: let the problem indeed dissolve.

Certain critics, and very thoughtful ones, have advanced the theory that the true prototype

of

the

tall

office

building

is

the

classical

column,

consisting

of

base,

shaft

and

capital

the

molded

base

of

the

column

typical

of

the

lower

stories

of

our

building,

the

plain

or

fluted

shaft

suggesting

the

monotonous,

uninterrupted

series

of

office

tiers,

and

the

capital

the

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