A beautiful, unique structure rises in New York City
Vessel ── 紐約新地標 矗立於美國紐約 獨一無二新建築
Heatherwick Studios, run by British architect Thomas Heatherwick, has created a beautiful, complex structure temporarily known as Vessel. The designers call Vessel an interactive artwork; it's a network of staircases and platforms that offers views of New York City from a variety of perspectives. But the best views, according to Stuart Wood, group leader and partner at Heatherwick Studios, are those looking inward.
Vessel Stands at the heart of Hudson Yards, a real-estate development in New York City that includes offices, residences and stores.
Hudson Yards is currently the largest private development in the U.S. and is built over the top of an active rail yard. Vessel is meant to be a meeting point at the center of the area as well as an attraction for tourists. The designers say that they want the structure to bring people together, and they expect its use to evolve over time.
The name "Vessel" comes from the structure's shape: narrow at its base and then expanding up and out to a height of 46 meters and a width of 46 meters at its top. This is partly for pragmatic reasons: the designers didn't want the structure to take up too much space on the ground.
Info Cloud
New York State
Hello, friends. Welcome to Info Cloud. Anne Marie, have you ever been to New York before? I'm thinking of taking a trip there.
I have. My husband graduated from a college in New York. I visited with him before.
Wow! How did he like studying in such a busy place? I bet it was hard to concentrate with everything there was to do.
Actually, his college was located in New York State. He lived up in the mountains surrounded by nature, not in the city. A lot of people get that confused. New York City is located in New York State.
Oh, right. Did you know although New York City makes up less than 1 percent of New York State's land area, it holds 40 percent of the state's population? New York City is the most populous city in the United States.
That's amazing. New York State is actually geographically really diverse, too. The Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Mountains, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Niagara Falls are all located there.
I've heard New York City referred to as the Big Apple before. Do you know why?
No one really knows why. But I think we all can guess why sometimes New York City is called The City That Never Sleeps.
美國紐約是一個充滿魅力的城市，有些人可能不知道 New York 是一個城市，但也是一個州的名稱。New York City 紐約市其實是 New York State 紐約州裡面的一個小城市，佔地面積只有整個州的不到百分之一的大小。雖然如此，一個小小的 New York City 紐約市 卻擁有New York State 紐約州 百分之四十的人口。
其實紐約州的其它地方擁有相當多樣的天然地理環境，像是 Lake Ontario 安大略湖、Catskill Mountains 卡茲奇山, 以及 Niagara Falls 尼加拉大瀑布，都是在紐約州的北部地區。
Language Lab
architect n. 建築師
/ˈɑɚkəˌtɛkt/
a person who designs buildings
- Denise wants to become an architect because she is interested in designing buildings.
Denise 想成為一位建築師，因為她對建築設計有興趣。
architect n. 創立者
/ˈɑɚkəˌtɛkt/
a person who designs and guides a plan, project, etc. — usually + of
- That prime minister was the architect of the country’s successful foreign policy.
該國首相是該國成功外交的創立者。
architectural adj. 跟建築(學)有關的
/ˌɑɚkəˈtɛktʃərəl/
- This hotel’s architectural design was inspired by the Versailles.
這棟大飯店的設計靈感來自法國的凡爾賽。
architecture n. 建築物
/ˈɑɚkəˌtɛktʃɚ/
a method or style of building
- Nobody knows the history of the old castle, but the architecture itself is beautiful to look at.
沒有人知道那座古堡的歷史，但那建築物本身看起來就是非常地美輪美奐。
residence n. 住宅、住所
the state of living in a particular place
- Although this building is called the Governor’s Mansion, the governor’s actual residence is on the other side of town.
雖然這棟大房子被稱為州長官邸，但州長本人的住宅其實在城市的另一邊。
- After being away for thirty years, Alice couldn’t recognize her childhood residence.
離開了三十年後，Alice 認不出她兒時的住所。
resident n. 住戶、居民
someone who lives in a particular place
- The residents in this area are worried about the factory polluting their water and air.
這一區的居民很擔心他們的水跟空氣會被附近的工廠汙染。
- Abe is always having parties at night, and the residents in his neighborhood don’t like the noise. Abe常常在他家晚上開趴，所以附近的居民都不堪其擾。
evolve v. 逐步地發展、演變、形成
to change or develop slowly often into a better, more complex, or more advanced state : to develop by a process of evolution
- What started out as a weekend club for women interested in baking has evolved into a community food bank for the homeless.
一個周末女士烘焙俱樂部，就這樣演變成一個關心遊民的社區食物銀行。
- The original donut was a simple dough fried in oil, but it has since evolved into different shapes, sizes and flavors.
甜甜圈原本只是簡單的油炸麵糰，但是慢慢演變成具有不同形狀、大小及口味。
evolution n. 演化、進化
a process of slow change and development
- It is interesting to see the evolution of women’s workout clothes because what women used to wear to exercise and what women wear now are very different.
女士健身服的進化很有趣，因為早期女士運動而穿的衣著跟現在的非常不一樣。
evolution n. 進化論
a theory that the differences between modern plants and animals are because of changes that happened by a natural process over a very long time
- Darwin is the founder of the modern theory of Evolution.
達爾文是現代演化理論的創始人。
pragmatic adj. 實際的、講究實際的
/prægˈmætɪk/
dealing with the problems that exist in a specific situation in a reasonable and logical way instead of depending on ideas and theories
- The team worked together to come up with a pragmatic solution to the problem.
團隊人員們一起想出一個實際的方法來解決問題。
pragmatically adv. 用實際的方法做事
/prægˈmætɪkli/
- We need to handle the situation pragmatically or things will get worse.
我們需要用實際的方式來處理這個狀況，不然事情會變得更嚴重。
pragmatism n. 實用或務實的思想、實用主義
/ˈprægməˌtɪzəm/
a reasonable and logical way of doing things or of thinking about problems that is based on dealing with specific situations instead of on ideas and theories
- Pragmatism and common sense led to Tom’s decision to abandon the project.
務實的思想以及常識讓Tom決定放棄那個專案計畫。
