Louis Kahn’s words, translated into Chinese by H.C..
last updated: 02/09/2023
Order, Structure, Architecture
Translated into Chinese by H.C..
Order 🔗
I tried to find what Order is. I was excited about it, and I wrote many, many words of what Order is. Every time I wrote something, I felt it wasn’t quite enough. If I had covered, say, two thousands pages with just words of what Order is, I would not be satisfied with this statement. And then I stopped by not saying what it is, just saying, “Order is”. And somehow I wasn’t sure it was complete until I asked somebody, and the person I asked said, “You must stop right there. It’s marvelous; just stop there, saying, ‘Order is.’ "
秩序 🔗
我曾试图了解秩序是什么。我对此十分着迷，写了许多许多有关秩序是什么的文字。每当我写了些什么时，总感觉那还不够。比方说，写了两千页只是关于秩序是什么的文字，我是不会对此感到满意的。后来我不再说它是什么，只说，“秩序是。”开始我不确定这么说是否完整，直到我问了某个人，那个人说，“你必须在那儿停下。这有点奇妙；就停在那儿，说，‘秩序是。’ ”
Structure 🔗
Structure is the giver of light. When I choose an order of structure that calls for column alongside of column, it presents a rhythm of no light, light, no light, light, no light, light. A vault, a dome, is also a choice of a character of light.
结构 🔗
光由结构赋予。当我选择一种结构的秩序，如一排廊柱，它便展现一种节奏：没有光，光，没有光，光，没有光，光。一个拱顶，一个圆顶，也是有关光之特性的一种选择。
Architecture 🔗
I thought that Art was a kind of oracle, an aura that had to be satisfied by the artist. If the artist made something, he dedicated it as an offering to Art, as though Art were something that preceded the work. Art cannot be Art unless it is a work and not something abstract, out in the blue somewhere. The emergence of architecture as a human expression is tremendously important because we actually live to express.
A great building, in my opinion, must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed, and in the end must be unmeasurable. The only way you can build, the only way you can get the building into being, is through the measurable. You must follow the laws of nature and use quantities of brick, methods of construction, and engineering. But in the end, when the building becomes part of living, it evokes unmeasurable qualities, and the spirit of its existence takes over.
Architecture has existence, but it has no presence. Only a work of architecture has presence, and a work of architecture is presented as an offering to architecture.
A work is made in the urging sounds of industry, and, when the dust settles, the pyramid, echoing Silence, gives the sun its shadow.
建筑 🔗
我认为艺术是一种预言，一个氛围，为艺术家所满足。如果艺术家创造出某物，他将之视作对艺术的奉献，尽管艺术是作品的延续。艺术无法成为艺术，除非它被呈现为一个作品，而非抽象的某物，某些方面让人始料未及。作为人类的表达，建筑的涌现是极其重要的，因为实际上我们活着就是为了表达。