2017-09-12

《建筑设计》杂志 (BD: Building Design) 于本月初公布了伦敦最丑建筑── 一栋位于维多利亚车站外的高层建筑。赢得这一称号其实还挺难的，它可是从众多奇葩建筑之中披荆斩棘，才杀出重围的呢！亮红色的尖角从这栋造价3亿8千万欧元的建筑上伸出。有人称，它看上去就像是醉醺醺的英国步兵；还有人称，它就像一只傻傻的正在梳理羽毛的小公鸡。总之，建筑界对其的评论，可谓是一边倒的批判。

英文原文

'A Bright Red Preening Cockerel': Nova Building Crowned UK's Ugliest

It was supposed to be a gamechanger, a beacon to welcome the millions of bewildered visitors who pour out of Victoria station each year in search of Buckingham Palace. But, after one look at the garish mess of the Nova building in London, they might be more likely to turn around and get straight back on the train.

The £380m complex, which lurches outside the station in its bright red costume like a drunken member of the Queen's Guard, has been crowned the UK's ugliest building by Building Design magazine. It beat some strong competition, from other lurid crimes against the built environment.

Described by judges as "one of the worst office developments central London has ever seen", and one that "sets a new benchmark for dystopian dysfunction", the Nova building was especially criticised for "the bright red prows that adorn various points of the exterior like an inflamed demented preening cockerel".

Studio flats in the building start at £720,000, three-bedrooms are £7.2m. That's a lot of money to live in an ugly bright red cockerel.

生词好句

gamechanger: n. sth. or sb. which causes a significant shift in the current way of doing or thinking about sth. (实际上是两个单词，文章习惯性地将两个单词写在了一起)

take one look at: to look at sb. or sth. quickly and make a decision about it.

garish /ˈɡɛːrɪʃ/: adj. sth. that is elaborate, showy, striking, brightly coloured in a bad way. (常用搭配: garish colour(s) )

crimes against the built environment: sth. so bad, so ugly, we (jokingly) call it a crime; it's not a real crime.(built environment =architecture) (常用搭配: crime(s) against fashion)

benchmark /ˈbɛn(t)ʃmɑːk/: a high level, standard or point of reference against which (future) things may be compared. (常用搭配: set a new benchmark)

dystopian /dɪsˈtəʊpɪən/ dysfunction /dɪsˈfʌŋ(k)ʃ(ə)n/: (the idea of) a society in which people do not work well with each other and are not happy. (a very fancy way to say terrible.)

dystopian /dɪsˈtəʊpɪən/: adj. 反乌托邦的 (通常用于谈论小说、电影、电视剧等)

adorn /əˈdɔːn/: vt. 装饰 (常用搭配: adorned with...)

"It is not the beauty of a building
you should look at; it's the construction
of the foundation that will stand
the test of time."

David Allan Coe, an American Songwriter