Bigger is better. That's the logic our species seems to function on, whether it's the Saudi Royal family and their kilometer-high Kingdom Tower or China trying to build a dam so big it will literally slow the rotation of the Earth. But it's one thing to dream big and quite another to invest in superstructures so massive they defy all sense, logic, and reason. We told you recently about 10 architectural wonders deemed too impractical to ever build. Here are 10 projects even less practical that they haven't quite given up on yet.
"越大越好"，这似乎是人类思考的逻辑基础，无论是沙特皇室和他们千米高的国王塔，或是中国计划建造的大到能够减慢地球自转的河坝。梦想是一回事，而藐视常理、无视逻辑、忽略理性，斥巨资建造超级建筑则是另外一回事。我们曾列出过十大不可能成真的建筑构想。而这次，我们将介绍十个更不现实、但是尚未被放弃的超级建筑项目。
10.The Chinese Supercity Bigger Than Many Countries
10.中国的超级大城市--比许多国家都大
With a land surface area of 790 square kilometers (305 mi2) and a metropolitan area population of over 20 million, New York is considered one of the largest cities on Earth. Jing-Jin-Ji in China laughs in the face of such paltry numbers. A planned project to link Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji is a play on their Chinese names) into one giant megacity, it would house approximately 130 million people and be bigger than nearly half the world's countries.
凭借占地790平方千米的面积(305平方英里)以及超过2000 万的城市人口，纽约被认为是世界上最大的城市之一。面对这样微不足道的数字，京津冀笑了。中国已有计划连接北京、天津以及河北(京津冀为简称)，实现京津冀一体化，将其打造成世界级城市群，将容纳约1.3亿人口，比世界上几乎一半的国家还大。
Everything about the project is enormous. At an estimated size of 212,000 square kilometers (82,000 mi2), Jing-Jin-Ji will be about the size of Kansas. Or, to put it another way, it will cover a larger surface area and house more people than Austria and Greece combined. It will also require an unprecedented amount of planning. President Xi Jinping has declared that each city within Jing-Jin-Ji will have a special role, with Beijing becoming its cultural and tech district, while Tianjin will be devoted to manufacturing. Hebei will hoover up the remaining smaller industries. High-speed rail networks are already being built to link each of these parts of the supercity in under an hour.Although it sounds like science fiction, Jing-Jin-Ji is well on its way to becoming fact. Work started in 2013. By 2020, the high-speed railways should already be in place. How far this behemoth will grow beyond that point is anybody's guess.
关于这个项目的一切都可以用"巨大"来形容。预计占地 212000平方千米(82000平方英里)，京津冀将和堪萨斯州一样大。或者换一种说法，这座城市的占地面积和所能容纳的人口是奥地利和希腊的总和还多。如此大规模的建设需要史无前例的大量规划。习近平主席称，京津冀的每座城市都有各自特殊的作用：北京作为文化、科技中心，那么天津主营制造业，而河北则会是中小企业的孕育地。高铁网络已经在建造当中，今后三个城市之间的路程将不会超过一小时。虽然听起来就像科幻小说，但京津冀一体化正在逐渐趋于现实。项目从2013年开始实施，到2020年，高铁网应该已经建造完成。这只巨兽最终会变成什么样，恐怕没人能猜到。
9.The San Francisco–Los Angeles Hyperloop
9.旧金山-洛杉矶的超级高铁
Before he became famous for trying to single-handedly conquer space, billionaire CEO Elon Musk was making waves with his proposal for a "hyperloop." A system of pressurized tubes that would propel commuters between San Francisco and Los Angeles at super-high speeds, the idea was initially dismissed as impossible. Reality would beg to differ. In May 2015, a Californian transportation company received the go-ahead to start building the world's first hyperloop test track.
亿万富翁兼特斯拉CEO埃伦·马斯克因其尝试单枪匹马征服太空而出名，然而在这之前，他提出的"超级高铁"的想法轰动一时。该运输系统通过压力管道推动乘车上班族以超高速度往返于旧金山和洛杉矶之间，一开始这个想法因为太不实际而被置之不理。现实并不接受这样的想法。直到2015年5月，加州的一家交通运输公司才接受了这个超前的想法，开始修建世界上第一条超级高铁的测试轨道。
Although it's in its early days yet, the goal is absolutely to get a track installed between the two cities in the near future. The company has already reached a deal with landowners along Interstate 5 to start construction, and successful tests could result in the thing actually being built. That would revolutionize travel. Moving at just under the speed of sound, the hyperloop would be able to get you from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes. For our European readers, that's like getting from Prague to Strasbourg in less time than your lunch normally takes. Construction on the test track begins in 2016. If it receives the go-ahead, the LA-SF hyperloop could be ready by as early as 2025.
虽然项目才处于初期阶段，但最终目标始终是在两个城市之间铺设一条轨道。这家公司已经和5号州际公路的沿线地主达成协议并开始建造。一旦测试成功，那么就可以开始建造真正的轨道。这将给出行方式带来革命性的改变。凭借接近于声音的速度，超级高铁可以让你在35分钟之内从旧金山到达洛杉矶。对于欧洲的读者来说，这相当于不到一顿午餐的时间，你从布拉格到斯特拉斯堡兜了一圈。测试轨道将于2016年开始建造，如果一切顺利，超级高铁最早将在2025年建成。
8.Nicaragua's Continent-Slicing Canal
8.尼加拉瓜的跨洋运河
At 77 kilometers (48 mi) long, the Panama Canal remains one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. Yet the continent-cutting canal could be about to lose its crown. In 2014, work began to build a canal three times longer than Panama's and over twice as deep. Costing around $50 billion, the project would see workers construct a waterway that would slice Nicaragua in half.
一直以来巴拿马运河以其77千米（48英里）的长度稳坐世界七大工程奇迹之一的宝座，而如今这座跨洋运河很有可能会丢掉王冠。2014年，一项工程开工，打算修建出一条比巴拿马运河长三倍，深两倍多的运河。该项目耗资约500亿美元，将见证工人们修建出一条河道把尼加拉瓜一分为二。
The brainchild of Chinese telecom billionaire Wang Jing, the Nicaragua Canal will require the removal of more than 4.5 billion cubic meters (160 billion ft3) of earth. As The Guardian put it, that's enough to "bury the entire island of Manhattan up to the 21st floor of the Empire State Building." It will also completely upend the Central American nation's ecosystem. Plans show the canal bulldozing through four separate nature parks, as well across the largest freshwater lake in the region, Lake Nicaragua. Since the lake's natural depth of 14 meters (45 ft) is only half what's needed, this will involve dynamiting the lakebed until a 100-kilometer (65 mi) channel can be carved through it. Insane as this is, there's another, even crazier aspect to the canal. No one wants it. The Chinese government is worried it will strain relations with the US, Nicaraguans are worried it'll destroy their country, and shipping companies are worried it'll be ill suited to their needs. Yet it's going ahead. The most optimistic projections claim the first ship could cross the canal by 2019.
根据信威集团董事长亿万富翁王靖的观点，尼加拉瓜运河需要挖去超过45亿立方米（1600亿立方英尺）的土地。因此英国《卫报》称，那些土足以"埋掉整个曼哈顿岛并且垒到帝国大厦21层楼那么高。"运河的修建将会彻底打破中美洲国家的生态系统。修建计划里，运河将会夷平四个独立的自然公园，同时会穿过最大的淡水湖，尼加拉瓜湖。然而尼加拉瓜湖的天然深度为14米（45英尺），只达到所需深度的一半，这意味着河床将被爆破，直到凿出一个长达100千米（65英里）的渠道使其能够通过。较之以上，还有更令人抓狂的方面，无人乐见。中国政府担心此举将导致与美国的关系更为紧张；尼加拉瓜人民担心自己的国家将遭到摧毁；船舶公司则担心市场需求会遭到削减。然而工程依旧。以最乐观的情况估计，第一艘船可能会于2019年从运河上通过。
7.Tunisia's Gigantic Solar Farm
7.突尼斯的巨型太阳能农场
The amount of energy the Sun pumps into the Sahara is beyond comprehension. Harnessing a mere 0.3 percent of it would be enough to power Europe for an entire year. Energy company Nur Power is suggesting we do just that. In a proposal put forward at the end of 2014, they outlined plans to build a 100-square-kilometer (40 mi2) solar farm in Tunisia by 2018.
撒哈拉沙漠所吸收的太阳能数量之庞大已远远超乎常人所能理解。仅仅利用其中的0.3%就足以满足欧洲一整年的用电之需。突尼斯能源公司Nur Power建议我们应行此道。Nur Power公司在2014年末提出设想并给出大致思路，计划到2018年在突尼斯建造一座面积为100平方公里（40平方英里）的太阳能农场。
The plan involves scattering thousands of computer-controlled solar cells across an area of land roughly three times the size of Macau. These cells would then be used to superheat a central tower, creating steam that would spin a turbine, generating electricity. This would then be run through a 450-kilometer (280 mi) underwater cable to a substation in Italy and, from there, away into Europe. According to The Independent newspaper, the farm could power up to 2.5 million homes in Britain alone. Although it sounds like high fantasy, the plan is already underway. The British government has expressed interest, and Nur Power is hoping to get more countries onboard. However, with the security situation in Tunisia being what it is, it could be a while yet before construction actually begins.
该计划将会把上千个智能操控的太阳能电池遍布在一片区域内，该区域面积约为澳门土地面积的3倍。太阳能电池把大量热能聚集在中心塔台，产生的蒸汽推动涡轮旋转，生成电能。电能将依靠长450千米（280英里）的水下电缆传送至位于意大利的变电站，随后输往欧洲各地。据英国《独立报》报道，该太阳能农场仅在英国就能满足二百五十万户家庭用电。尽管听上去太像天方夜谭，可该计划已经付诸实施。英国政府对此表现出浓厚兴趣，Nur Power公司还希望获得更多国家的支持。但由于突尼斯当地目前的安全状况，项目要真正开始推进，大概还需一段时日。
6.The Netherlands' Artificial Mountain
6.尼德兰的人造山
With its liberal sex and drug laws, long life expectancy, and excellent beer, it can be tempting to think the Netherlands has it all. Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveld disagrees. In 2011, he declared the one thing his low-lying country needed was a mountain. And he was going to make it his life's mission to ensure it got one.
以其对待性交易和毒品的法律自由化，较长的平均寿命和美味的啤酒而让人心生向往，似乎荷兰坐拥世上之美事。然而荷兰记者Thijs Zonneveld却不同意。在2011年，他宣称他所热爱的这座"低地之国"需要的是一座山。从今之后，他将实现这个愿望作为其毕生的使命。
It helped that the Netherlands is no stranger to absurd engineering projects. The province of Flevoland, near Amsterdam, was created in 1932 when Cornelis Lely drained part of the Zuiderzee, expanding the country by several thousand square kilometres. Compared to this and other insane land reclamation projects previously undertaken by the Dutch, a mountain would be easy.Although it was proposed mainly as a joke, Zonneveld's idea caught the public's imagination—so much so that the journalist decided to really do it. While construction has still to start as of mid-2015, Zonneveld is committed fully to the project. His official website for the mountain claims his team has spoken with thousands of companies, recruited financiers, and found planning permission. They say they even came close to building a prototype earlier this year. He maintains that his mountain will be built sometime in the decade.
听起来如此荒谬的建筑工程对荷兰来说并不陌生。阿姆斯特丹附近的弗莱福兰省建于1932年，当时莱利提议对须德海（即荷兰艾瑟尔湖）进行改造，采用围垦方案，将城市扩大到数千平方公里。相比较这个和荷兰之前开展的土地围垦项目，一座山还不是区区小事。最初这只是当做一个玩笑话被提及，然而Zonneveld的想法却吸引住了大众的眼球——正因为如此这个记者才决定真正要去实现它。尽管要到2015年年中才开始，Zonneveld 已经全身心地投入到了这个项目当中。筹建这座山的官方网站声明，他的团队已经和成百上千家公司和投资商进行了交流并且找到了可行性方案。据说他们今年早些时候甚至差点就建造出模型出来。他坚信他的山峰将在十年内的某个时间建成。
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