[00:07.60]Example
[00:10.34]Would you like to live in a modern flator do you prefer a traditional house?
[00:16.38]Well,I'd prefer living in a modern flat.
[00:21.42]Modern houses are large and comfortable.
[00:26.17]It is also convenient to live close to your work.
[00:30.62]Well,I must say I'd rather live in a traditional siheyuan
[00:36.68]I wouldn't feel happy living in a block of apartments.
[00:41.43]I would miss the garden,and I think an old house is more beautiful.
[00:47.07]I don't get very excited about old-style houses.
[00:52.35]Well,modern flats are all the same.
[00:56.79]I really think a traditional house has more personal style.
[01:01.86]Reading MODERN ARCHITECTURE
[01:10.11]Architecture looks at the man-made living environment.
[01:15.18]Every great culture in the pasthad its own ideas of beauty
[01:20.93]expressed in art and architecture.
[01:24.77]When you look around at buildings,streets,squares and parks,
[01:30.70]you will find them designed,planned and built in different styles.
[01:36.16]Modernism was invented in the 1920s by a group of architects
[01:42.64]who wanted to change society with
[01:46.61]buildings that went against people's feeling of beauty.
[01:51.93]They wanted their buildings constructed in a way to look unnatural.
[01:57.71]While in traditional architecture materials such as earth,
[02:03.27]stone,brick and wood are used,
[02:07.71]the materials of modem architecture are steel,glass and concrete.
[02:14.16]To many people modern architecture equals progress.
[02:19.34]Developing countries want to build the most modern-looking buildings
[02:24.98]as the first step towards becoming a modem country.
[02:29.94]Modem buildings impress us because they are huge,
[02:34.91]but many people do not find them beautiful.
[02:39.06]The buildings look like boxes with flat roofs,
[02:43.63]sharp comers and glass walls that act as mirrors.
[02:48.99]You do not feel invited to enter them.
[02:53.24]Everything about these buildings seems hard and unfriendly.
[02:58.21]Ancient architecture shows us many beautiful buildings.
[03:03.35]These include great examples such as Taihe Dian,
[03:08.42]the Temple of Heaven or the great European cathedrals.
[03:13.57]Both in the choice of materials and shape of buildings,
[03:18.53]ancient architecture stands much closer to nature.
[03:23.81]Nature does not have any straight lines.
[03:28.17]Antonio Gaudi,a Spanish architect,was the first to understand that.
[03:35.25]There are not any sharp comers or straight lines in any of his designs.
[03:41.91]He only wanted natural materials,such as stone,brick and wood to be used
[03:49.56]and many parts of his buildings look like things we find in nature.
[03:54.89]In some of his architecture,balconies look like eyes,
[04:00.46]other parts look like bones,the walls seem to be covered with the skin of a fish,
[04:07.59]while the roof looks like the back of a dragon.
[04:12.03]Most of Gaudi's works were constructed in and around Barcelona.
[04:17.78]Looking at the architecture by Gaudi is like a dream,
[04:22.74]full of fantastic colours and shapes.
[04:26.97]Despite the fact that he used traditional materials,
[04:31.83]Gaudi was a modem architect.
[04:35.59]In fact,there are other modem architects who use designs from nature
[04:41.76]when they create their buildings.
[04:45.41]Frank Lloyd Wright,who built an art museum in New York,
[04:51.16]found himself inspired by Japanese seashells.
[04:55.99]Another famous building that makes people think of seashells
[05:01.14]is the Opera House in Sydney,
[05:04.69]though it makes other people think of ship sails.
[05:09.24]The 2008 Olympic Stadium in Beijing
[05:13.99]is another design that makes us think about nature.
[05:18.96]Seen from the top,
[05:21.91]it looks as if the stadium is covered by a gray net of steel,
[05:27.18]and it looks just like a bird's nest made of tree branches.
[05:32.54]Birds fill up the spaces between the branches of their nests with soft materials
[05:39.20]Just so,the spaces in the structure of the stadium
[05:44.76]will be filled with huge plastic bags full of air.
[05:49.91]Although the stadium will be made of concrete and steel,
[05:54.74]the flowing lines and round shapes make the building look warm and friendly.
[06:01.59]Integrating skills Reading
[06:08.74]A SECOND LIFE FOR FACTORY 798
[06:13.89]Everywhere in the world old buildings,such as schools,hospitals,
[06:20.26]factories and even churches are left empty because they are no longer needed.
[06:28.21]It is usually difficult to find other companies to move into the old buildings,
[06:34.68]because the floor plan the size and the number of halls
[06:40.74]does not fit their company.
[06:44.40]Often,these buildings are pulled down
[06:48.84]after having stood empty without use for many years.
[06:54.12]Factory 798 in the east of Beijing was a building like that.
[07:00.88]Once an important army factory in Beijing,
[07:05.74]Factory 798 was designed by East German architects
[07:11.70]and built with Russian help in the early 1950s.
[07:16.95]It is one of the most important examples of factory architecture
[07:23.01]left from that time.
[07:26.77]The huge factory halls of brick and glass were built in the 1920s modem style.
[07:34.64]They are decorated with small round windows that remind you of ships,
[07:41.09]bent roofs and twenty-foot high walls of glass that make them special
[07:47.64]when compared with other architecture from the same period.
[07:52.92]The simple style of the buildings
[07:56.68]and the fact that they are German
[08:00.52]set them aside as very different from Chinese architecture.
[08:06.19]When the army factory moved some years ago,
[08:10.74]the factory buildings were no longer used.
[08:15.31]Until about a year ago most of the workshops in the factory stood empty.
[08:21.86]Some art companies asked if they could move into the empty space
[08:27.79]and rent parts of the factory.
[08:31.56]This was the beginning of the development of this area into a centre for the arts,
[08:38.09]bringing together Chinese artists,art companies,musicians,a Japanese teahouse,
[08:46.63]a Sichuan restaurant, a bookshop and a dance club.
[08:52.69]Old factory buildings have many halls and workshops of different sizes.
[08:59.35]Painters and other artists can move into the smaller rooms
[09:03.90]to use them as studios to paint,while music bands rent space to practise.
[09:11.55]Smaller halls can be changed into shops and restaurants
[09:17.01]while the main factory hall can be used for concerts,
[09:21.87]parties and dance festivals.
[09:26.31]Young,beginning artists and musicians
[09:30.98]often do not have enough money to rent studios or other buildings to practise,
[09:37.65]perform or even work and live.
[09:42.69]They like these buildings because the rooms and halls are often very large,
[09:49.17]which is good for artists who want to make large objects.
[09:54.02]Besides, many of these buildings were constructed far from the city,
[10:00.19]so that people in the neighbourhood are not disturbed
[10:04.76]when rock musicians move in and practise for a concert.
[10:09.02]Many large cities,such as Liverpool and New York,
[10:14.48]have had experiments of this kind,
[10:18.63]With old factories turned into successful arts centers.
[10:24.56]In almost every city around The world,new uses are given to old buildings.
[10:31.93]It is a great way to save the architecture from the past.
[10:37.39]Work Book Unit 3 Art and architecture
[10:51.15]Integrating skills
[10:54.32]Reading and discussing
[10:57.76]THE FUNCTION OF ART
[11:01.29]We see art everywhere around us.
[11:05.65]In public parks,city squares,shopping streets and public buildings,
[11:13.02]we find modern art objects on display.
[11:17.46]Classical art,such as valuable paintings,precious statues and other fine arts,
[11:25.40]usually ends up in the collections of museums,companies or rich people.
[11:32.38]Although we can see some of it in museums,
[11:36.63]those other art collections are not open to the public
[11:42.20]Both art and architecture have a history of ages.
[11:48.15]All forms and ways of expressing beauty have been explored.
[11:53.90]In the case of architecture,many buildings that were designed in the past
[12:00.46]have proven to be beautiful and served their purposes.
[12:05.81]Governments and companies
[12:09.65]could save millions of dollars by building
[12:14.41]or copying designs of architecture of buildings from the past.
[12:20.57]There are still many designs for buildings
[12:25.04]made by famous architects that were never realised.
[12:30.60]Besides,some people find modern architecture ugly.
[12:36.24]So why should we pay a lot of money to architects for designing new buildings?
[12:42.91]The same holds for modern art,both paintings and statues.
[12:49.38]Many art objects that have been created in the past
[12:54.35]are now covered by dust in storerooms.
[12:58.79]These storerooms contain enough art to decorate all public buildings
[13:04.82]and other public places.
[13:08.58]There is no need to create more art,and as with modem architecture,
[13:15.85]many people find new art difficult to understand or appreciate.
[13:22.19]Given these facts,why are architects and artists asked to create new art works?
[13:30.14]And why are we interested in creating new art and architecture,
[13:35.80]instead of using or copying what was made in the past?
[13:40.95]The answers to these questions
[13:44.82]have to do with the function of art in society today.
[13:50.56]First of all,the function of art is to decorate.
[13:56.02]By placing art works in parks and hanging paintings or drawings on the walls
[14:02.87]we make our living environment more beautiful.
[14:07.70]When our eyes move across an empty wall
[14:12.06]they will for a few moments rest on a painting or other kind of work hung there.
[14:19.01]It is a moment of comfort and makes people feel good.
[14:23.97]Sometimes,paintings are not beautiful at first glance.
[14:29.93]But looking at them and thinking about them for a while
[14:34.79]or repeated viewing will help us to learn to appreciate them.
[14:40.85]Another function of art is enriching real life,as art is part of everyday life.
[14:49.63]Art helps people to learn to think creatively.
[14:54.28]In art things are not always what they seem to be.
[14:59.71]Art objects in a park are sometimes funny.
[15:04.44]Very often you can hardly tell what they are.
[15:09.01]People need such creative moments.
[15:13.55]It helps them to balance their minds.
[15:17.92]When we see art like that all around us,
[15:22.36]it helps to make life more interesting.
[15:26.72]Finally,art is often seen as a way to instruct the audience.
[15:33.38]Statues of heroes from the past remind us of our history.
[15:39.26]Paintings and other art objects can also help us to realise
[15:45.61]which goals we should set for ourselves and inspire us in our everyday work.
[15:52.69]Because ideas about society change and every period of time has its own taste,
[15:59.76]there Is always a need for new art.
[16:04.13]We can still appreciate art works made in the past for their beauty,
[16:09.87]but they are often too valuable to be placed in public buildings.
[16:15.54]Besides,they also often need special protection |