happened to be across the street from the wonderful art gallery

我在三十年前就讀的建築學院

designed by the great architect Louis Kahn.

對面是一座令人驚豔的美術館

I love the building, and I used to visit it quite often.

是由名建築師路易斯．康設計

One day,

我很愛這棟建築，也經常造訪

I saw the security guard run his hand across the concrete wall.

有一天

And it was the way he did it,

我看見警衛用手輕輕劃過水泥牆

the expression on his face --

而看著他這樣的舉動

something touched me.

還有臉上的神情

I could see that the security guard was moved by the building

某種東西觸動了我

and that architecture has that capacity

我可以看出警衛也深受那棟建築感動

to move you.

建築就是有這樣的魔力

I could see it, and I remember thinking,

足以感動人心

"Wow. How does architecture do that?"

這個場景仍歷歷在目，我當時想著

At school, I was learning to design,

哇，建築要怎麼擁有這種力量

but here -- here was a reaction of the heart.

我在學校裡學的是設計

And it touched me to the core.

但在這裡的—卻是心靈的真實反映

You know, you aspire for beauty,

那深深觸動了我

for sensuousness, for atmosphere, the emotional response.

我們知道，人們追尋美麗的事物

That's the realm of the ineffable

是為了感官愉悅或氣氛

and the immeasurable.

這類情感上的需求

And that's what you live for:

這是個無法言喻

a chance to try.

也不可丈量的領域

So in 2003, there was an open call for designs

這就是我們生活的目的：

for the Bahá'í Temple for South America.

擁有嘗試的機會

This was the first temple in all of South America.

2003年時有場公開徵選

It's a continental temple,

徵的是南美洲巴哈伊靈曦堂的設計圖

a hugely important milestone for the Bahá'í community,

這在當時是全南美第一間靈曦堂

because this would be the last of the continental temples

且是間洲際性的靈曦堂

and would open the door for national and local temples to be built

是巴哈伊信仰的重大里程碑

around the world.

這是最後一座洲際性神廟

And the brief was deceptively simple

也促使地區靈曦堂遍布於

and unique in the annals of religion:

世界各地

a circular room, nine sides, nine entrances, nine paths,

它的結構看似簡單

allowing you to come to the temple from all directions,

在宗教史上卻是獨一無二

nine symbolizing completeness,

它是由一個圓廳

perfection.

九面牆、九個入口及九條小徑組成

No pulpit, no sermons,

讓民眾能夠從各個方向進入靈曦堂

as there are no clergy in the Bahá'í faith.

「九」這個數字象徵完整

And in a world which is putting up walls,

以及完美

the design needed to express in form

建築中沒有講道壇、沒有佈道

the very opposite.

因為巴哈伊信仰中沒有神職人員

It had to be open, welcoming

在這個充斥隔閡的世界

to people of all faiths, walks of life, backgrounds,

設計必須藉由形式上表達

or no faith at all;

一個完全相反的概念

a new form of sacred space

也就是開放與包容

with no pattern

各種信仰、階級、背景

or models to draw from.

或是沒有任何信仰的人

It was like designing one of the first churches for Christianity

這是神聖空間的全新形式

or one of the first mosques for Islam.

別出心裁

So we live in a secular world.

不落窠臼

How do you design sacred space today?

就像在設計第一座基督教教堂

And how do you even define what's sacred today?

或第一座伊斯蘭教清真寺

I stumbled across this beautiful quote from the Bahá'í writings,

既然我們身處在世俗的世界

and it speaks to prayer.

當今的我們該如何建築神聖空間

It says that if you reach out in prayer,

更甚者，我們該如何定義「神聖」

and if your prayer is answered -- which is already very interesting --

我曾偶然發現一句優美的巴哈伊禱文

that the pillars of your heart will become ashine.

那是關於禱告的意義

And I loved this idea of the inner and the outer,

它說，若你誠心祈禱

like when you see someone and you say, "That person is radiant."

並真的得到回應-這本身就夠神奇了

And I was thinking, "My gosh, how could we make something

那就會點亮你的心房

architectural out of that,

我很喜歡這個內在與外在的概念

where you create a building

就像是你看到一個人時

and it becomes alive with light?

你說，這人真是容光煥發

Like alabaster, if you kiss it with light, it becomes alive.

我就心想：

And I drew this sketch,

天啊，我該怎麼把這運用到建築上？

something with two layers, translucent

要怎麼讓一個建築物

with structure in between capturing light.

因為光而生動呢

Maybe a pure form, a single form of emanation

就像是雪花石膏

that you could imagine

它會因光的襯托而有了生命

would be all dome

於是我就畫了這張圖

and everything we kept making was looking too much like an egg.

它有兩層，而且半透明

(Laughter)

中間的結構能捕捉光影

A blob.

若提到發散光芒最簡單的形式

So you search.

我們都會直接聯想到

You all know this crazy search, letting the process take you,

圓頂的樣式

and you live for the surprises.

我們所建築的一切都長得太像蛋了

And I remember quite by accident

（觀眾笑聲）

I saw this little video of a plant moving in light,

或是水滴

and it made me think of movement,

所以我們追尋

reach,

我們都知道這段瘋狂的探尋

this idea that the temple could have reach,

會帶給我們無限驚奇

like this reach for the divine.

而我恰巧記得

You can imagine also

曾經看過一部植物趨光性的短片

that movement within a circle could mean movement and stillness,

這讓我想到了動態

like the cosmos,

與追尋

something you see in many places.

這都可以應用在靈曦堂上

(Laughter)

就像是對神聖的追尋

But rotation was not enough,

我們也能想像

because we needed a form.

在圓圈內的移動能同時展現動與靜

In the Bahá'í writings, it talks about

和宇宙的旋一樣

the temples being as perfect as is humanly possible,

隨處可見

and we kept thinking, well, what is perfection?

（觀眾笑聲）

And I remember I stumbled into this image of this Japanese basket

但這樣的旋還不夠

and thinking our Western notions of perfection need to be challenged,

因為我們需要一種形式

that this wonderful silhouette of this basket, this wonkiness,

在巴哈伊的篇章中曾提到

and that it has the kind of dimple of what you might imagine a shoulder

靈曦堂應盡可能地完美

or the cheekbone,

而我們所要思考的就是：什麼是完美？

and that kind of organic form.

我記得當時無意間瞧見這張日本籃子的圖片

And so we drew and made models,

就覺得西方對於完美的觀念必須被挑戰

these lines that merge at the top,

這籃子的輪廓奇妙，外觀有些歪斜

soft lines,

表面的凹陷或許會讓人聯想到肩窩

which became like drapery

或酒窩

and translucent veils and folding,

這類有生命的形式

and the idea of not only folding but torquing --

所以我們設計、製作出模型

you remember the plant and the way it was reaching.

也就是這些在上端匯合的線條

And this started to become an interesting form,

這些柔軟的線條

carving the base, making the entrances.

像是垂墜的帳帘

And then we ended up with this.

與半透明的面紗及褶層

This is this temple with two layers,

不只是折疊的概念，還有扭轉的形式

nine luminous veils,

還記得剛剛那株植物伸展的方式吧

embodied light,

這開始成為一種引人入勝的形式了

soft-flowing lines

挖掘基地，建置入口

like luminescent drapery.

我們最終得到這個結果

180 submissions were received from 80 countries,

這就是那間雙層靈曦堂

and this was selected.

九道發光的紗帳

So we went to the next stage of how to build it.

蘊含其中的光源

We had submitted alabaster.

柔美流動的線條

But alabaster was too soft,

就像是透著光的帷幕

and we were experimenting, many experiments with materials,

我們收到超過80個國家的180份提案

trying to think how we could have this kind of shimmer,

最後這份雀屏中選

and we ended up with borosilicate.

接下來就要思考如何建造

And borosilicate glass, as you know, is very strong,

我們原先想用雪花石膏

and if you break borosilicate rods just so and melt them

但那太軟了

at just the right temperature,

所以我們又用其他材料做了實驗

we ended up with this new material,

試圖讓它產生這樣的微光

this new cast glass which took us about two years to make.

最後我們決定用硼矽酸玻璃

And it had this quality that we loved,

硼矽酸玻璃很強韌

this idea of the embodied light,

若要重塑玻璃得先把它融化

but on the inside, we wanted something with a soft light,

還必須在特定溫度

like the inner lining of a jacket.

我們最後選用這種新材料

On the outside you have protection, but on the inside you touch it.

這個新鑄造的玻璃花了我們兩年的時間

So we found this tiny vein in a huge quarry in Portugal

我們很喜歡這種玻璃的特質

with this beautiful stone,

因為它能夠透光

which the owner had kept for seven generations in his family,

但也希望內部有個柔和的光源

waiting for the right project, if you can believe it.

像是外套的內襯一樣

Look at this material, it's beautiful.

外層提供保護，內層則會實際接觸到肌膚

And the way it lights up; it has that translucent quality.

我們在葡萄牙發現一條小礦脈

So here you see the structure.

礦脈中富含這種美麗的石頭

It lets the light through.

這些石頭在礦主家傳了七代

And looking down,

只為等待合適的計畫，信不信由你

the nine wings are bound,

看看這個石材，多麼美麗

structurally but symbolically strong,

點亮它後，會呈現半透明的狀態

a great symbol of unity:

這邊可以看到建築架構

pure geometry, a perfect circle,

光線能夠透過去

30 meters in section and in plan,

而往下俯瞰

perfectly symmetrical,

九面側翼一同匯聚

like the idea of sacredness and geometry.

結構堅固且意義重大

And here you see the building going up,

那是合一的象徵

2,000 steel nodes,

也是純粹的幾何與完美的圓

9,000 pieces of steel,

每部分高達30公尺，就跟設計圖上的一樣

7,800 stone pieces,

完美的對稱

10,000 cast glass pieces, all individual shapes,

就像是神聖與幾何的概念

the entire superstructure all described,

我們一路看著建築向上興建

engineered, fabricated with aerospace technology,

2000個鋼骨節點

prefabricated machine to machine,

9000片建築鋼

robotically,

7800片石材

a huge team effort, you can imagine,

一萬片鑄造玻璃，每片獨立成形

of literally hundreds,

剛提到的整個上層建築

and within three percent of our $30 million budget

是以航太技術設計、打造

set in 2006.

以多臺機器預先製造

(Applause)

過程精密準確

Nine wings bound together

這是大規模的團隊合作

forming a nine-pointed star,

由數百人組成

and the star shape moving in space,

只用了三千萬預算中的3%

tracking the sun.

這是在2006年訂下的

So here it is.

（觀眾掌聲）

Audience: Wow!

九面側翼匯聚

(Applause)

形成一顆九芒星

Hopefully, a befitting response to that beautiful quote,

這顆星星會隨著時空移動

"a prayer answered,"

追隨著陽光

open in all directions,

這就是最終樣貌！

capturing the blue light of dawn,

（觀眾驚呼）

tent-like white light of day,

（觀眾掌聲）

the gold light of the afternoon,

我們希望這能呼應那句優美的禱文

and of course, at night, the reversal:

「蒙應允的祈禱」

sensuous,

向四面八方開展

catching the light in all kinds of mysterious ways.

捕捉破曉時的藍光

And the site: it's interesting; 14 years ago when we made the submission,

白晝時有著帷幕狀的白光

we showed the temple set against the Andes.

午後則有金黃色的光芒

We didn't have the Andes as our site,

當然，到了晚上，一切翻轉：

but after nine years, that's exactly where we ended up,

這是感性的

the lines of the temple set against nothing but pure nature,

以各種神祕的方式捕捉光

and you turn around and you get nothing but the city below you,

有趣的是，我們14年前提交建案時

and inside, a view in all directions,

是把靈曦堂設立在與安第斯山相對的位置

radiating gardens

我們沒有要將安第斯山當作靈曦堂的位址

from each of the alcoves,

但9年之後，卻真的建在安第斯山旁

radiating paths.

靈曦堂的輪廓與純粹的自然相映

Last October, the opening ceremonies --

轉過身便能俯瞰整座城市

a beautiful, sacred event,

室內則有360度美景

5,000 people from 80 countries,

放射狀的花園

a continuous river of visitors,

從各壁龕外旋

indigenous people from all over South America,

形成輻射狀的步道

some who had never left their villages.

去年十月的開幕儀式

And of course, that this temple belongs to people,

既美麗又神聖

the collective, of many cultures and walks of life,

來自80個國家的5000位參與者

many beliefs,

接踵而至

and for me, what's most important is what it feels like on the inside;

包含許多南美洲原住民

that it feel intimate,

當中有些甚至不曾離開自己的村莊

sacred,

而這座神廟當然屬於人民

and that everyone is welcome.

這些人民來自不同文化背景及各行各業

And if even a few who come

擁有不同信仰

have the same reaction as that security guard,

對我來說，最重要的是內在的感覺

then it truly would be their temple.

那是種親密的感覺

And I would love that.

神聖的感覺

Thank you.

我們歡迎所有的人

(Applause)

而要是真的有些人