TED演讲:特殊环境里的不同寻常的房子(2)

 Over the past seven years, I've been following my fascination¹ with the built environment, 在过去的七年里，我一直在追随着我对建筑环境的兴趣，

and for those of you who know me, you would say that this obsession² has led me to live out of a suitcase 365 days a year. 并且对你们当中了解我的人，你们会说这种痴迷使我一年365天提着行李生活。

Being constantly on the move means that sometimes I am able to catch life's most unpredictable moments, 一直四处奔波意味着有时我可以抓住生活中最不可预测的时刻，

like here in New York the day after the Sandy storm hit the city. 比如在纽约这里在桑迪飓风袭击城市后的一天。

Just over three years ago, 正好在三年前，

I was for the first time in Caracas, Venezuela, 我第一次来到委内瑞拉的加拉加斯，

and while flying over the city, I was just amazed by the extent to which the slums reach into every corner of the city, 当飞机飞过城市上方时，我很惊讶于这里的贫民窟已经遍布了城市的每个角落，

a place where nearly 70 percent of the population lives in slums, 一个百分之七十的居民生活在贫民窟里的地方，

draped literally³ all over the mountains. 贫民窟满山遍野的搭建着。

During a conversation with local architects Urban-Think Tank, 在和当地的城市设计智库的谈话中，

I learned about the Torre David, 我了解到托雷·大卫，

a 45-story office building which sits right in the center of Caracas. 一个45层高的办公楼，坐落在加拉加斯的中心。

The building was under construction until the collapse⁴ of the Venezuelan economy and the death of the developer in the early '90s. 这个高楼一直在施工，直到90年代初委内瑞拉经济大崩盘并且设计者去世。

About eight years ago, people started moving into the abandoned tower and began to build their homes right in between every column of this unfinished tower. 大概八年前，人们开始搬进被废弃的大楼里并开始在这个未完工的大楼的每个间隙里搭建他们自己的房子。

1 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

2 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。