Modern Living

Modern Living

The Seans' Caged House

Sean (husband): When an architect designs a house for themselves and their family, they have to attempt to 1)accommodate those,  needs of the family. That's that's one level, but also when you're doing a building for yourself you A have the freedom and B have the desire to, make the house a 2)statement about where you're at.

Australia is part of the Asian region and in that sense the house is very much a 3)hybrid 2 of eastern and western ideals. And it's one, one space that's divided by sliding screens.

Emily(wife): On a very 4)pragmatic level I think the building supports a child brilliantly and it's a very low 5)maintenance building, the materials used were chosen specifically for their ability to take hard knocks. I mean the way we live our lives we did not want to come home and devote time to cleaning. So on that level it functions brilliantly. On a far more child like level, Jack 3 loves the house because it also supports the way he plays and the way he likes to live. He loves his room, which he sees as a little 6)cubbyhole. He also loves the racetrack 7)perimeter 4.

Sean: The 8)mesh 5 provides in summer from about November to March, it provides sun, sun shading, so it was a cheap and pragmatic way of screening the building from direct 9)solar radiation. During the course of the day in winter it's light filled and warm and friendly. In summer the light's not allowed to enter. And and the thing that brings this building to life in that sense is that it is, that the screens catch the light constantly. The back wall is, is almost a 10)picturesque 6 device. The back wall is deep and rich and earthy, it's rusted 8 steel.

Emily: My father would walk in here and, we called him a 11)heathen, a total heathen, and will ask us why the hell we haven't bothered to paint this end wall yet, which we find very amusing and laugh it off and we'll tell him that it was a process, a lengthy 9 process of installing sheets of steel, and using Jack's super-soaker, a big water pistol, a glorified 10 water pistol, filling it with a mix of acid and water and spraying it onto the surface to create this beautiful, beautiful rust 7 affect. And, straight after doing that the down side was we had to hide the super soaker from Jack because it was full of acid. There's nothing in here that's precious that we sort of 12)cringe when a child enters the building and think oh my God they're going to smear 11 their chocolate or 13)Vegemite all over the surfaces. Everything in here was chosen specifically to support a busy lifestyle.

Sean: The main living space is very flexible, there's a, there's an informality about this house which makes it very easy, while, so many, people aspire 12 to a 14)pristine 13 perfect floor that requires total care. This floor is, is deliberately 14 aged 1, um, deep and 15)battered and it's supposed to feel like it's the ground.

Emily: And I think fundamentals of getting the floor looking this way was letting the builder build on the floor...

Sean: Yeah.

Emily: So he could drop his tools, we used a utility grade timber, that by most standards probably wouldn't be used in a project of this kind and it was then when the building was complete washed with an acid, to sort of bleach 16 it further and then finally coat it in tull oil.

Sean: Um, the kitchen table the 16)elongated seven metre table is, what I describe is the alter of the family in, in the history of the Australian household. And I think it's very important that we respond to our climate, so I put a fine mist spray 17)sprinkler system underneath 18 the house where the air's cool. Um, when you turn that on and the native grasses on the front become 18)saturated 19, then the prevailing 20 wind blows over that underneath the house and up through floor vents 21 at the eastern end of the building.

Emily: We work in design; we eat, sleep, live design. So in the end, this had to be a statement about what Sean did.

Sean: This house is very much about a 19)proposition for Australian architecture rather than a critique about it and um by that I mean it attempts to 20)speculate on where we're headed as a society.

Emily: Yeah, I pretty much gave Sean free reign 22 and I'd have to say I'm happy I did.

Embryo 23 Chair by Mature Talent

The 21)embryo chair is the other worldly child of the Australian born designer Marc Newson, who gave birth to it in 1988. Its steel tubed skeleton supports an injection molded foam 24 body and wool on 22)neoprene cover. Its colours are derived 25 from those of wetsuits worn by surfers on Sydney beaches. Its name suggests it'S immature 26 but it has stood the test of time, as has Newson, who started out designing watches and now works in London with the likes of Lessee 27 proving there is nothing embryonic 28 about his talent.

注释：
1) accommodate [E5kCmEdeit] v. 使适应，调和
2) statement [5steitmEnt] n. 声明，陈述
3) hybrid [5haibrid] n. 混血儿，混合物
4) pragmatic [prA^5mAtik] a. 实际的，注重实效的
5) maintenance [5meintinEns] n. 生活费用，抚养
6) cubbyhole [5kQbIhEJl] n. 舒适的地方
7) perimeter [pE5rimitE] n. 周长，周界
8) mesh [meF] n. 网孔，网丝
9) solar radiation 太阳辐射
10) picturesque [7piktFE5resk] a. 独特的
11) heathen [5hi:TEn] n. 粗野的人
12) cringe [krindV] v. 畏缩，奉承
13) Vegemite  澳大利亚特有的一种果酱
14) pristine [pristain] a. 崭新的，纯洁的
15) batter 15 [bAtE] v. 打坏，猛击
16) elongate 17 [5i:lCN^eit] v. 拉长，伸长
17) sprinkler [5spriNklE] n. 洒水装置
18) saturated [5sAtFEreitid] a. 渗透的，饱和的
19) proposition [7prCpE5ziFEn] n. 主张，建议
20) speculate [5spekju7leit] v. 推测，思索
21) embryo [5embriEu] n. 胚胎，胚芽
22) neoprene [5ni(:)Eupri:n] n. 氯丁橡胶

现代生活

肖恩一家“笼”中住

肖恩(丈夫) ：建筑师为自己及家人设计房子时总得切合家人的需要。这是一个方面，而且当你为自己造房子时，你有自由也有欲望，将这所房子建造成是对你自己生活状况的一种阐述。
澳大利亚在亚洲区域内，从那种意义上来说，这房子极具东西方意念糅合的特色。它是一个由多道滑动屏风所分隔的空间。

艾米莉(妻子)∶从实用性来讲，我觉得建筑极好地满足了孩子的需要。房子耗资极少，选料专用受撞击性能强的。我希望家人享受人生，不用回家花时间搞清洁。这一方面，房子十分配合。从孩子方面更深入地说，我儿子杰克很喜欢这所房子，因为房子与他生活和玩耍的习惯相配。他爱自己的房间，那在他看来是个小安乐窝，他也极喜欢屋子的宽阔，常常跑来跑去。

肖恩∶夏天11月至3月，屋顶的筛网让阳光直接穿透，提供日照和日影，这种方法使楼层能避免直接的太阳辐射，既便宜又实用。冬天，阳光充满室内，温暖舒适。夏季，阳光就进不来 了。全靠那些屏风不停地吸收光线——正因此房子充满了生机。后墙设计十分独特，深、厚，而且泥迹斑斑，那都是生满锈的铁。

艾米莉：我爸爸常走进这里，他真是个粗人，一个不折不扣的粗人，他会问我们，该死的，干吗还不花些功夫去刷刷这堵后墙。听到这话，我们觉得十分有趣，并且一笑了之，然后跟他说，这堵墙经过处理，经过一个很长的处理过程:装钢板，然后用杰克的超级吸水器——一支大水枪，一支深得我们满意的水枪——装满酸和水的溶液，喷在上面才产生了这种美丽的锈迹斑斑的效果的。之后呢，我们要做的就是把水枪藏起来，免得杰克看见，因为它已经沾满了酸液。住在这里最为珍贵，让我们感到备受奉承的莫过于当小朋友走进来然后想：“天啊，他们想在所有地方都涂满巧克力或者澳大利亚涂酱。”这里的所有家具都为繁忙的生活而设。

肖恩：客厅的空间非常灵活，自然舒适。很多人喜欢地板新净而完美，那就要多加爱护。而我们却特意用旧的，凹的并且被砸过的，这让人觉得有地面的感觉。

艾米莉：我认为这种地板是为建筑工人而设的，他们在地板上工作……

肖恩：对。

艾米莉：工具掉到地上也没问题。我们选用实用的高级木材，但按一般标准来说，这样的建筑很可能不会采用。房子完工后，我们全部用酸液漂洗，最后全部上油。

肖恩：厨房的餐桌长七米，我把它形容为澳大利亚人家族史上的家庭圣桌。我觉得配合这里的气候很重要，因此我装了一个小喷雾洒水器在房子下面为前面的草地洒水。那里的空气很凉，打开喷雾器时，草地便得到滋润，而屋下的风会透过房子东边地板的通风孔吹上来。

艾米莉：我们干设计这一行，我们吃，睡，活在设计中。因此，最后这房子便是肖恩所做一切的代言。

肖恩：这所房子很大程度上是对澳大利亚建筑业的一种建议而非批评，同时我想以之尝试对社会中我们引领的层次进行思索。

艾米莉：对，我让肖恩随意发挥并以之为快乐。

成熟才华，“胚胎”椅

胚胎椅是天才设计师马克·纽森的另一个存世杰作，这位设计师生于澳大利亚，而胚胎椅于1988年出自其手。钢管架构撑起填充式的泡沫椅身，氯丁盖面以羊毛包裹。椅子的颜色灵感来自悉尼海边冲浪手所穿的泳衣。“胚胎椅”意为未成熟，但却如其设计者一样经得起时间的考验。纽森一开始时设计钟表，现在伦敦与Lessee的同行一起展现其成熟的才华。