For millennia people have made journeys eastwards. Alexander the Great, with his phalanx. Pompeius Magnus with his legions. Richard Lionheart with his crusaders. Vasco da Gama, with his little Armada. Napoleon with his grenadiers, the Britsh with their Royal Navy and the Americans, let’s say, with a certain rhetoric. Asians, less frequent, also traveled the other way. Among them King Darius of Persia, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Zhengis Khan, and the contemporary Chinese diaspora. The first was stopped at Marathon. The second lost to Charles Martel. The third suddenly dropped interest. And the latter increasingly seem to ponder today if all the wandering has been worth it. If not their new homelands want them out.
千百年来，人们一直向东方前行。亚历山大大帝率领他的方阵；庞培大帝带领他的军团；狮心理查德领导他的十字军；瓦斯科·达·伽马率领小舰队；拿破仑与他的近卫军；英国依赖皇家海军；而美国，可以说，以他们自称的例外主义进入东方国家。亚洲人相对较少向西方旅行。其中有大流士大帝止步于马拉松战役；阿卜杜勒·拉赫曼·艾尔·加菲奇败于查理·马泰尔；尽管统领万马千军，却突然失去了征服欧洲的兴趣。而当代侨民历经漫长的漂泊之后，如今反思这一切是否值得，尤其是当他们的新家园变得不再欢迎他们。
Strife, hostilities and other profound misunderstandings have marked these journeys and campaigns in the past thousands of years. Even trade seldom occurred without violence. Right now, in the middle East we are witnessing another chapter in a history that goes back to biblical claims. But today Eastern and Western antagonisms are dwarfed by the universal threats of our global climate break down. East and West need to come together as never before. A bridging between East and West has already been necessary for mutual inspiration and cultural rejuvenation. Mutual recognition also engenders peace in a political landscape increasingly marked by uncoupling and finger-pointing. But the most existential reason for east and west to stand together is to prepare for the looming existential climate disasters which only our joint efforts will be able to address. The challenge is re-weaving a thread of curiosity and re-fostering a sense of collaboration to bridge political and cultural divides. It’s the precious fabric we need for our current age. A new Silk for the 21st century. A new Road for sustainable and lasting connections.
这几千年的旅行和征程充满了冲突、敌意和深刻的误解。即使进行贸易，也很少能够在没有暴力的情况下完成。目前，在中东地区，我们正在目睹历史的又一个篇章，这一历史可以追溯到圣经的记载。然而，东西方之间的竞争已被全球气候崩溃的阴影所掩盖。东方和西方需要前所未有地走到一起。东西文化之间的桥梁早已成为相互启发和文化复兴的必要条件。相互认可也有助于和平，尤其在充斥分离和相互指责的政治格局下。东方和西方共同站在一起的最重要原因是应对迫在眉睫的气候灾难，只有通过合作才能勉强应对这一挑战。而这在于重新编织好奇之线，重新培养协作意识，弥合政治和文化的鸿沟。这是我们这个时代最宝贵的纽带，21世纪的新丝绸之路，持久和可持续连接的新路径。
I volunteer to contribute to such road. In its ideal form, the road should be tangible, interacting with the planet and with real people. The road also needs be traversed at a slow enough pace to perceive, digest and accept realities on the ground. Finally, the road should be staged, allowing the experience of crossing the boundaries between languages, customs, religions, historical scars, world systems, and fashions. I envision this road with a transport that depends on my own energy and efforts at a pace that permits each of these encounters – with the bicycle.
我志愿为这条道路献身。在理想状态下，这条道路应该是切实可感的，与地球和现实人群互动。这条道路也需要以足够缓慢的速度穿越，以领悟、领略并接受大›地上的现实。最后，这条道路应该分阶段进行，以便让人们体验跨越语言、风俗、宗教、历史伤痕、世界体系和时尚之间的边界。我所设想的这条道路，需要依赖于自身的能量和努力，以一种允许相遇的节奏前行——骑自行车。
I will therefore embark on a bicycle tour from Amsterdam to Shanghai, my current workplace. I will start on my own, but hopefully not travel alone. This platform connects me with many people. Some of them maybe be located somewhere on this road, in Amsterdam, Vienna, Istanbul, Tehran, Samarkand, Urumqi, Luoyang and Shanghai or somewhere in between. I welcome engagement, encouragement, and discourse. If there are any designers, curators, historians, or creative individuals on this path, who would like to meet, greet and perhaps collaborate, I most appreciate their contribution. For example, hosting an event revaluing the place as an indispensable cornerstone in the architecture of connection and understanding. The nature of such meetings, content and format, as well as timing and exact location, can be openly discussed, no doubt heavily determined by local circumstances.
因此，我将踏上一段自行车之旅，从阿姆斯特丹出发，一直骑行到我的当前工作地点上海。我将独自启程，但希望不是独自旅行。这个平台或许能够让我与沿途的人取得联系。其中一些人可能位于这条道路上的某个地方，如阿姆斯特丹、维也纳、伊斯坦堡、德黑兰、撒马尔罕、乌鲁木齐、洛阳、上海，或者是这些地点之间的某处。我欢迎互动、鼓励和对话。如果在这条旅途上有设计师、策展人、历史学家或创意人士，愿意与我会面、交流，或者有意合作，我将非常欢迎他们的贡献。例如，举办一场活动，重新评估场所作为连接和理解建筑中不可或缺的基石。这些会面的性质、内容和形式，以及时间和确切地点，可以公开讨论。毫无疑问，很大程度上是由当地情况决定的。
I teach at the architecture school of Tongji University, Shanghai, which allows me to frame my expected experiences with architecture, the medium of culture that combines the volatilities of life into a piece of undeniable reality. Architecture is as metaphor of the relentless human effort to make better, or at least meaningful places in this world, with gardens, buildings and cities. This is the architecture we need the most today, providing guidance on the tricky road we are on. Architecture is what connects the beginning and the end of this journey, from a first event at the KU Leuven, to an unpacking ceremony at Tongji University. Let’s see how it transforms as our oldest civilizational medium, across the vast landmass called Eur-Asia.
我在同济大学的建筑学院任教，这使我能够以文化作为媒介，将生活中的多变因素融入一个不可否认的现实之中，以此来构建我所期待的经历。建筑是人类不懈努力的隐喻，旨在在这个世界上创造更美好，或至少更有意义的场所，包括花园、建筑和城市。这正是我们今天最迫切需要的建筑，为我们在这艰难的道路上提供指导。建筑是连接这段旅程的起点和终点的纽带，从#鲁汶大学到#同济大学上海。让我们看看它如何随着时间的推移而转变，作为我们最古老的文明媒介，横跨广袤的欧亚大陆。
Welcoming your feed-back.
期待您的反馈。
Sincerely,
Ole Bouman
顺颂时祺,
奥雷·伯曼