5.The People's Palace Was Filled With Ridiculous Flaws
5.充满了荒谬缺陷的人民宫
In 1977, an earthquake tore through downtown Bucharest. Hitting 7.3 on the Richter scale, it killed 1,500 people and flattened a significant portion of the city's buildings. For Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, this wasn't just a tragedy. It was his chance to build a palace befitting his megalomania. In the following years, the affected areas (and some less-affected ones) were cleared to make room for the biggest palace on Earth.
1977年，布加勒斯特市发生了一场里氏7.3震级的地震，震荡造成1500人死亡，市内许多重要建筑被夷为平地。然而，对于齐奥塞斯库，这位罗马尼亚的独裁者来说，与其说是一场灾难，倒不如说是他炫耀功绩的一个契机。他要趁此机会在市中心建造一座金碧辉煌的宫殿来满足自己膨胀的虚荣心。于是齐奥塞斯库开始组织人力清理废墟，甚至一些较为完好的建筑也被拆除，目的就是要建造专属于齐奥塞斯库的世界第一宫殿。
Seven times bigger than Versailles, the People's Palace was the last word in Communist opulence. Entire mountains were torn down to build it as an army of 1.5 million people worked to build it around the clock. The finished building contained 7,000 luxury rooms and 3,500 tons of crystal. It also contained enough stupid design flaws to make living there hilariously impractical.For starters, the People's Palace was stupidly big. After an hour's solid walking, you could cover less than 10 percent of it. Even worse were the stairs. Cut to fit Ceausescu's tiny feet, the staircases were considered impossible for any normal-sized adult to use. Thanks to the dictator's paranoia about chemical attacks, there was also no air-conditioning which was not good in the sultry heat of a Romanian summer. Ceausescu never got to try living in his palace. Before construction finished, he and his wife found themselves on the wrong end of a revolution and were executed.
人民宫比凡尔赛宫大7倍，大概是欧洲共产主义革命成就的唯一亮点。齐奥塞斯库调派一百五十万人的军队夜以继日建造人民宫，过程中有座山妨碍了进度，齐奥塞斯库索性下令把整座山给凿通。在他当权期间，总共建造了7000个房间，挥霍3500吨水晶粉饰装点。尽管宫殿如此华丽奢靡，但似乎世上所有中看的东西都不中用。首先，人民宫的占地面积算得上大到可笑。沿直线在宫内步行一小时，也只是穿过了十分之一的面积。整座宫殿充斥着齐奥塞斯库的个人色彩，房间内的楼梯宽度是专为齐奥塞斯库设计的，也就是说除了他的那双小脚，其他任何一位成年人都无法使用他的专属楼梯！貌似这位独裁者对现代化学应用偏见不少，不允许在宫殿内安装空气疏通系统，罗马尼亚的夏天闷热潮湿，住在里面真是遭罪。令人啼笑解非的是，齐奥塞斯库从来没有在宫殿里居住过。宫殿还没竣工，他和他的妻子便因为发生的革命被处决了。
4.The Villa Savoye Was Cold And Miserable
4.白色魔宅——萨沃耶别墅
A gleaming white villa built in 1929, Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier was one of the most important buildings of the 20th century. Designed as "a machine for living in," it single-handedly transformed the future of architecture. Today, it's considered a masterpiece, drawing students from all around the world to witness it. One can only guess what Madame Savoye, the original owner, would say about this. She absolutely hated living there.
勒·柯布西的萨沃耶别墅建于1929年，从远处看是一座闪着银光的白色别墅，它是20世纪最具代表性的建筑之一。一开始设计别墅的目的仅是用来居住，但在今天看来，它的建筑意义远远超过其实用功能，是向未来建筑风格过渡的转型作品。萨沃耶别墅被认为是建筑史上的杰作，世界各地学习建筑和美术的学生都为之吸引，前来参观学习。当然，人们一定会好奇别墅的主人萨沃耶夫人在里面是如何生活的。出人意料，萨沃耶夫人对这座别墅是百分之百的差评。
From the moment it was finished, Villa Savoye had problems. The roof leaked badly in multiple places from the garage, to the hall, to the bathroom, and the interior was constantly wet. In a letter to Le Corbusier, Madame Savoye also noted the skylight made a terrible noise in bad weather that kept her entire family awake. Meanwhile, the large windows caused insane levels of heat loss and the entire villa felt cold and damp 24/7. There's even some evidence that living there triggered her son's terrible health problems. By 1935, the entire family had moved out and Madame Savoye was threatening Le Corbusier with legal action for building her such a terrible home.
从萨沃耶夫人搬进别墅的那一刻起，各种问题就一直困扰着她。别墅渗水严重，从车库到客厅再到浴室几乎无处不漏，屋内水珠成股流下，如同下雨般潮湿。在写给好友勒•柯布西耶的信中，萨沃耶夫人抱怨每逢刮风下雨，屋顶的天窗都会发出刺耳的噪音，全家人整晚听着轰隆轰隆的声音，难以入眠。和范斯沃斯夫人的别墅一样，萨沃耶屋内的落地窗户也使得热量散失太快，一到冬天就把人冻得发抖。更糟糕的是，由于长期生活在萨沃耶别墅，萨沃耶夫人的儿子的健康状况也出现了问题。到1935年，萨沃耶一家搬出这座白色魔宅，并且对柯布西耶提出了法律诉讼。
3.The Great Halls Of Norse Legend Were Disgusting
3.惊悚传说——北欧大礼堂
If you've ever read Beowulf, you'll remember Heorot. The palace of King Hroogar, Heorot was the greatest hall in Norse legend—a great, tall building that literally shone with gold. While Heorot was fictional, it drew inspiration from the great Viking longhouses of the real world. However, the anonymous author of Beowulf missed out one important point: Even a longhouse as awe-inspiring as Heorot would've been utterly disgusting.
读过《贝奥武夫》的朋友，一定会记得希奥罗特宫殿，整座宫殿的墙壁镶满黄金，光彩夺目，是北欧传说中最华丽的宫殿。虽然希奥罗特王宫只存在于神话当中，相信大家都知道维京人传统民居——长屋，希奥罗特王宫的原型就取于此。有个秘密一定要分享，《贝奥武夫》的作者隐去了长屋的另一面：看上去金碧辉煌的维京长屋有着一股恶臭，进去的人无不恶心作呕。
For starters, even the greatest halls were exactly that—halls with no additional rooms. This meant everyone from the lord or king to his charges slept, changed, and had sex under the same roof. They also shared their living space with the animals they owned, meaning the whole place likely stank to high heaven. Noise was also an issue, as were dirt, disease, and pests.That's before we get into the smoke. Prior to the 14th century, European halls created heat by simply lighting a gigantic fire in the middle of the room. Since there was no fireplace, smoke leaked out a big hole in the ceiling. This method meant halls were often filled with acrid fog. It may have looked like paradise to the writer of Beowulf, but Heorot would've been uninhabitable by our modern standards.
华丽梦幻的金屋是个大通间，偌大的宫殿没有任何隔板，可以想象国王和侯爵们整日生活在同一间屋子里，吃饭，睡觉，在众目睽睽之下做爱是什么画面。除此之外，维京人还会把他们饲养的动物栓在屋里，屋内的噪音，动物粪便的恶臭，灰尘，细菌全都弥漫在空气中，阴暗的角落里还有各种小虫子在偷偷活动，想想便觉得头皮发麻。十四世纪以前，欧洲人通常会在屋子的中间划一大块区域点火供暖。那时没有壁炉，燃烧树干放出的浓烟四处弥漫，人们总是被呛得直流泪，有意思的是他们还乐在其中，认为浓烟缭绕如同天堂，离上帝更近了。总之，不管是希奥罗特宫殿，还是维京人的四角长屋，它们都与我们现在的住房标准相距甚远。
2.Life In Topkapi Palace Was Terrifying
2.托普卡帕宫里可怕的生活
A sprawling palace lying alongside Istanbul's Bosphorus, Topkapi has been inspiring people for centuries. Constructed in the 15th century, the palace is today a UNESCO heritage site and major tourist attraction. People from all over the world come to wonder what it must've been like to live there. So we'll be clear about this: It was terrifying.
宏伟壮丽的托普卡帕宫兴建于15世纪，盘踞在伊斯坦布尔海岸边，几个世纪以来令无数人神往。现在被联合国教科文组织选为世界物质遗产并且被当地政府开发为旅游景点。托普卡帕宫的名气吸引世界各地的游客前来参观，想对皇宫里的生活探个究竟。然而真实体验可要让游客跌破眼镜了。
Topkapi Palace was so full of intrigue and brutality it would've frightened Machiavelli. The sultan was so prone to assassination he would take his baths locked away in a giant cage where nobody could kill him. For those slightly lower down the pecking order, things were even worse. Right up until the 17th century, it was considered acceptable for a sultan to kill all his male relatives to ensure his son got the throne. In 1595, all 19 of Mehmet III's brothers were murdered and his father's pregnant concubines drowned at sea. When Selim II outlawed killing princes, it instead became practice to lock them in a gilded cage until they died of natural causes. By the time you got down to the harem girls, life was basically an Eli Roth movie. Uncooperative girls could be locked in tiny cages or, if they continued to rebel, tied up in sacks and thrown into the Bosphorus. Ibrahim I is even said to have ordered all 280 members of his harem drowned just for the heck of it. Whatever social level you were at, life in Topkapi was generally nasty, brutal, and very short.
苏丹王室内部有一条不成文的传统，为了保证苏丹王的儿子顺利继承王位，必要时可以杀死其他男性成员或者全部囚禁在笼子中直到老死。1595年，穆罕默德三世的19个兄弟都被杀害，他父亲的一个小妾有孕在身也没幸免于难，被人投进了海里。一直到斯莱姆二世宣布要处死王子们时，王室发生内乱，情况才有所改变。皇宫里的生活处处充满血腥和阴谋，苏丹王马基雅维里神经过敏，日夜担心被刺杀，竟想出要把自己和浴室反锁在笼子里，认为这样就没人能谋害他了。皇宫内等级森严，对于那些地位卑贱的人虽然不太可能被刺杀，但情况只坏不好。宫女如果犯错，不听话，根据宫规会被关进一个极小的笼子里。如果依然不听话甚至反抗，会被塞进麻袋直接扔进博斯普鲁斯海里，结局十分悲惨。有传闻说易卜拉欣一世仅仅因为心情不好就下令将280名宫女活活淹死。无论是至高无上的苏丹王还是微不足道的宫女，纵使身份地位不同，一生在托普卡帕皇宫里的生活都是血腥恐怖的。
1.Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses Are Uninhabitable
1.赖特的玩具——无人荒屋
The man behind the famous Guggenheim Museum, Frank Lloyd Wright, may be the most revered architect in American history. His houses are so sought-after today they change hands for millions of dollars, and many consider them to be icons of design. Many more consider them virtually uninhabitable.
弗兰克·劳埃德·赖特是名声享誉世界的美国建筑师。他设计的房子一直到现在仍受到人们的热烈追捧，最著名的就是古根海姆博物馆。但人们对赖特的作品仅仅是从观赏角度评价，作为艺术品，真正谈到实用功能，应该没人愿意居住。
The scope of the problems differs, but they all seem to have one thing in common: poorly planned design. In one case, a New Jersey home bought for $400,000 flooded seven times in 25 years. Each time, it flooded badly enough to cause terrible damage. Others are reported to spring heavy leaks during the rain, while his iconic Fallingwater house (pictured above) very nearly collapsed due to structural flaws.Then there are the smaller, but no less frustrating, problems that make day-to-day living hell. One couple discovered that their dream Wright home had doorways only 55 centimeters (22 in) wide, meaning moving their furniture in became a costly nightmare. Other houses have kitchens so tiny it's almost impossible to cook without banging into something, and none of them come with basements, attics, or garages. They're also absurdly expensive to fix up. A recent Wall Street Journal article recounted horror stories of buyers paying double the purchase cost to restore their new homes to something like a livable state.
赖特设计的房子虽然造型独特，外观华丽精致，但有一个非常重要的问题，没有考虑到建筑的内部结构。早期他在新泽西设计的一栋房子卖了四十万美元，可后来二十五年的时间里这栋房子被淹了七次，而且一次比一次严重，房主人损失巨大。他的另一杰作流水别墅有一次渗水太过严重，险些倒塌。赖特的玩具还有一个特点——任性，仿佛他只根据自己的喜好随意设计，很多时候建成的房子只是孤零零一座，类似地下室、阁楼、车库这些配套设施赖特从不考虑。有对夫妇十分喜爱他的建筑风格，就请赖特专门为他们设计一座房子，有趣的是这对夫妇看见期待已久的房子顿时傻了眼，房门太窄，只有半米宽！于是搬迁的过程中，大件家具让他们伤透了脑筋。不仅门窄，厨房也是袖珍版，一个人在里面做饭都转不开，更别说其他人来帮忙了。《华尔街日报》有一则新闻说有位买家痴迷于赖特设计的房子，不惜花几百万美金来整修新房，成本超出房子本身两倍还多。
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