Will Wooden Buildings Be Part of Tomorrow's Cities?(翻译)

A show in Washington, D.C. suggests that tall buildings of the future can and should be built out of wood.
华盛顿特区的一个展览表明，未来的高楼大厦很可能由木头建造而成。

The exhibition is open at the National Building Museum.
该展览在国家建筑博览馆举行。

Wood has been an important building material for homes and other structures in many areas since ancient times.Modern tall buildings, however, are made out of man-made products, such as steel, concrete and glass.
自古代以来，在很多地方，木材都是建筑住宅以及其他建筑的建筑材料。但是，当代的一些高楼大厦则由人造产品建造，比如钢铁、混凝土以及玻璃。

The exhibition is called “Timber City.”Timber is an expression for trees that are grown to produce wood.
此次展览名为“木材城市”（Timber City）。Timber一词是指那些能提供木材的树木。

“Timber City” shows the work of two winners of the Tall Wood Building Prize.
“木材城市”展览上展出了“木质建筑奖”（Tall Wood Building Prize）两名获奖者的作品。

The award was the idea of industry groups and the United States Department of Agriculture.They hope to show new ways of manufacturing wood products for tall buildings—structures with three or more floors.
该奖项源于产业集团以及美国农业部的理念。他们希望能够找到制作木质产品的新方式，来建造3层以上的高楼。

The exhibition’s curator is Susan Piedmont-Palladino.She says the prize winners are responsible for building projects in two U.S. communities.
此次展览的馆长是 Susan Piedmont-Palladino。她表示奖项获得者负责两个美国社区的建筑项目。

“One in New York City and one here in Portland, Oregon, are two premier cross-laminated timber buildings going up right now.”
一个位于纽约市，另一个位于俄勒冈州波特兰，目前这两个最先由复合交叉木材建造的建筑物正在拔地而起。”

Piedmont-Palladino says the two buildings are similar in appearance and design.She says both use the same cross-laminated material.Cross-laminated material is made of several pieces of wood.The pieces are connected together at 90-degree angles.This is a way to make the finished wood product stronger.
Piedmont-Palladino表示这两个建筑在外形和设计上是类似的。她表示这两个建筑都采用了这种交叉复合材料。交叉复合材料由数片木材组成。这些木材以90度角的方式连在一起。这样可以让最终的木制产品更加结实。

Piedmont-Palladino says it is a good idea to use wood products manufactured in this way for areas like New York’s Manhattan.As a result, the building can be constructed quickly without affecting nearby homes and offices.
Piedmont-Palladino表示，像纽约曼哈顿这样的地区，用这种方式使用木质产品是非常好的方法。这样，就可以在很短时间内建成建筑，而不影响周边的住宅楼和办公楼。

“Buildings go up very quickly.The materials for the building, the walls and the floors and the ceilings – are manufactured off-site.”
“这样的建筑建的非常快。建筑所用材料，墙壁、地板以及天花板，都是在工地外做好的。”

Piedmont-Palladino says the building materials arrive on a truck after being manufactured in another place. Workers using power tools can put the pieces together very quickly, she says.
Piedmont-Palladino表示，在另外一个地方，加工好这些建筑材料之后，用卡车将其运输到建筑场地。她表示，工人们使用电动工具，很快便可以将那些木材组合到一起。

And the wood does not bend very much.“It’s what we called dimensionally stable,” she adds.
这样，木材就不容易折断。“我们将其称作是尺寸稳定。”

Information on large wood panels shows the exhibit’s visitors reasons that building from wood is good for the environment.
有关大型木材座谈小组的消息显示，参观者们表示，用木材作建筑材料对环境非常好。

One panel says that concrete, a common building material, has been linked to rising temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere.The sign says manufacturing concrete is the third largest producer of greenhouse gasses.Studies have linked those gases to the rise in temperatures.
一座谈小组表示，常见的建筑材料混凝土与全球气温升高有关。有标志显示，混凝土是温室气体第三大排放者。一些研究表明这些气体的排放与气温升高有关。

Other information says harvesting wood has a lower environmental cost than manufacturing concrete because the materials do not need to be mined and processed.
另有信息表明，采伐木材的环境成本要比生产混凝土的环境成本低，因为木材不需要开采加工。

Another reason to use wood in buildings might be that it improves the way people feel about the building.
采用木材的另一个原因是，这可能改善人们对建筑的感情。

Piedmont-Palladino notes that people say they like being surrounded by or living in a home made of wood.
Piedmont-Palladino注意到，人们表示喜欢住在木质家园中。

“And then there’s this concept of biophilia.That’s the theory that we are attracted to and relaxed by, and in general our mental and physical health is improved by being in proximate condition to nature or to elements from nature.”
“因此有了‘生物恋’这个概念。我们深深为这个理论吸引，并感到放松，总的来说，通过接触大自然或者自然的一些元素，我们的心理和生理健康有所改善。

Wood cannot be used for all buildings, notes Piedmont-Palladino.It cannot be used in every situation.But she predicts there soon will be more structures made from manufactured wood products.
但Piedmont-Palladino表示，木材并不能用于全部的建筑。也不是用于所有场合。但她预测未来将会有更多由木制产品建造的建筑。

I’m Mario Ritter.
马里奥·利特给您报道。