城市风貌的制度基因

The Institutional Genes of Urban Landscape

当建筑师们在反思设计理论、比较中西文化和思想体系的差异时,很少有人意识到,所有这些我们喜欢的和不喜欢的,在我们选择这一增长机制时已经被确定。尽管我们可以通过建筑设计在微观尺度上为城市"整容",但东方的"城市面孔"依然顽固地维持同西方城市巨大的差异。的确,建筑师们的设计风格影响过我们居住的城市外貌,但从来没有决定过城市的历史景观。建筑师们自大地认为是他们的个人风格决定了城市的外观,而在背后,真正决定了城市景观差异的,却是城市内在的制度基因——正是城市的制度,决定了哪种风格的建筑师会最终胜出。

When architects reflect on design theories and compare the differences between cultural and intellectual systems of China and the West,few of them realize that our preferences and aversions in the choice of urban growth systems have already been predetermined.Although we may offer ＇facelifts＇ to cities through architecture on a microscopic scale,the great differences that set oriental ＇city visages＇ apart from their western counterparts are there to stay.Architects＇ personal styles may have impacts on the appearances of cities we dwell in,but never have they truly determined the historical landscape of a city.Architects tend to believe that no matter how complacently their personal styles determine a city＇s looks,yet what really underscore the differences in urban landscape are the institutional genes intrinsic to a city-precisely what that decides architects of which style are going to win out at the end.