Английский язык для архитектора и градостроителя. Учебное пособие по английскому языку

took up valuable inside floor space.

New methods, devised at the end of the 1890s, made use of metal beams and columns encased in masonry or concrete. The beam supported only the single

story that rested upon it, and therefore the wall could be very thin. The weight passed to the end of each beam and was carried downward by the vertical columns to which the beams were attached. This method made higher buildings possible.

The Prudental Building, Buffalo(New York) was designed by Sullivan. The lines of the first two stories are strongly horizontal, suggesting a firm foundation for the building that rises ten stories. The windows are divided by slender, continuous bands that suggest columns supporting the floors. Flat ornamentation, invented by the architect, enriches but does not hide the structure. This is not the first building of this kind, but from such construction the skyscraper was born.

6.8 With your partner, make up a dialogue about one of the famous architects using information from the texts and your own knowledge on the subject. Don't forget to mention:

when and where he worked

what his favorite motifs in architecture are

what his works are

6.9 Summarize your knowledge of the question under consideration. Tell what you think about the architecture of the future and the prospects of its development. Was the architecture of the past better in your opinion?

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7 Unit 7 Town Planning

7.1 Pretext exercises

7.1.1 Warming up.

There are many interesting and noble professions nowadays

1)Why did you make up your mind to become a town planner?

2)Did anybody advise you to choose this career?

3)What can you say about the role of a town planner in civilized society?

7.1.2 Read the words. Pay attention to the letters in italics

[ju:] museum, attitude, usually, supervise, duty, occupant, reduce

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7.1.4 Read the following verbs. Mind their meaning. Pay attention to the principal forms

7.1.5 Find the proper Russian words with the same roots as the following English words

tunnel, canal, damb, construction, industrial, hospital, museum, person, profession, initiative, modern, electricity, central, project, constructor, plan, specification, practical, portion, philosophy, client, material, combine, economics, aesthetics.

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7.1.7Find the English equivalents of the following Russian words

Азнать что-либо; взгляд; служить; обеспечивать; привлекать; заниматься чем-либо;

выполнять; цель; опыт; снижать; попытка

В experience; to attract; aim; to carry out; to serve; to reduce; to be familiar with something; judgment; to provide; to be engaged in something; effort

7.1.8 Form all possible word-combinations

scientific building

modern elements

large aim

essential value

serious profession

residential requirement

honorable attitude

fundamental scale

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7.1.9 Read the following word - combinations and translate them into Russian

housing construction; residential and industrial buildings; honorable profession;

judgment, obtained by experience; the main aim; to provide with different types of buildings; the efforts of an engineer; such as; be directed towards the same goal; to prepare the plans and specifications; to supervise the construction; at the lowest practical cost; the duty of an engineer; to reduce the cost of the project; to change a design; to modify the requirements; to revise portions of specifications; in such a way; essential value; it seems evident; to render a real service to the client; have to combine

7.2 Read the text. Give your reasons that the town planner is an honorable profession

Text 7 A

The town planner

In our country town planning is being carried out on a large scale and the profession of a town planner attracts a great number of young men and women nowadays.

Town planners prepare projects, construct and reconstruct residential and industrial buildings, schools, hospitals, museums, theatres.

The person entering this honorable profession must have a scientific attitude, imagination, initiative and good judgment obtained by experience and serious work. The town planner must receive a great deal of scientific training connected with his profession. He must know mathematics and physics, facts about town plan and master plan. He must need knowledge of city and town planning, town patterns, design, mechanical engineering, geography, geodesy etc. Since a society is an organic thing, the plan of a city must be flexible. A city or a town he creates should give us pleasure, a sense of beauty.

The main aim of a town planner is to provide engineers and builders with a town plan. The efforts of an engineer, who designs a project, and a constructor, who builds a project, are directed towards the same goal, namely the creation of the building which will serve the purpose for which it is built.

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The project itself, placement and form of buildings in relation to their sites, the distribution of spaces within buildings and other planning devices are fundamental elements in the aesthetics of construction.

The town planner is engaged to prepare the plans and specifications and usually to supervise the construction of a project. It is a duty of a town planner to design a project which will satisfy the needs of the occupant at the lowest practical cost.

He should study every major item to determine if it is possible to reduce the cost of the project. It may be possible to change a design, modify the requirements for construction or revise portions of specifications in such a way that the cost of the project will be reduced without sacrificing its essential value. A town planner who practices this philosophy is rendering a real service to his client. Major expenses in buildings are for land, materials and labor. Thus, it seems evident that a town planner should be reasonably familiar with building methods, building materials and equipment which may be used to construct the project. He has to combine art, advanced technology, science and economics in his work.

7.3 Excises to the text

7.3.1 Read the text again and find out if the following statements are true or

false

1)Profession of a town planner is not popular nowadays.

2)A town planner never supervises the construction of a project.

3)A town planner must receive a great deal of scientific training.

4)Town planners are engaged to prepare the plans of residential buildings only.

5)The main aim of town planner is to construct buildings with all modern conveniences.

7.3.2Complete the sentences

1)Town planner is being carried out on a … a) same goal

b) large scale

c) modern conveniences

2)Town planners design residential and industrial…

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a)specifications

b)materials

c)buildings

3)A town planner must have scientific …

a)requirement

b)attitude

c)value

4)A town planner is engaged to prepare plans and…

a)specifications

b)constructions

c)services

7.3.3Find the passage describing the professional qualities of a town planner, translate it into Russian

7.3.4Read aloud the passage concerning the cost of the project

7.3.5Answer the following questions in written form

1)What can you say about town planning in our country?

2)Why does profession of a town planner attract so many young people nowadays?

3)Do you know what town planner design?

4)What qualities must a person entering this profession possess?

5)What is the main aim of a town planner?

6)What kind of training must a town planner receive?

7)Why should town planner be familiar with building methods, materials and equipment?

7.3.6Find in the text and put down key words that can be used to speak about the profession of a town planner

7.3.7Speak on the topic: “I’ve chosen town planning as a career because”

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7.3.8Summarize your knowledge of the question under consideration. Discuss it with your partner. Use the following plan:

1)Town planning.

2)The qualities of a town planner.

3)The scientific training of a town planner.

4)The main aim of town planners.

5)The quality of the project.

7.3.9Read the text and translate it with a dictionary:

Text 7 B

Town Planning

That cities should have a plan is now admitted in our time of large-scale construction and plan-making has become an everyday activity. The purpose of a town plan is to give the greatest possible freedom to the individual. It does this by controlling development in such a way that it will take place in the interests of the whole population.

The new development absorbs or modifies an existing environment, and so before it can be designed it is necessary to find out about that environment. It is also necessary to do research of the trends of population growth, the distance from work to home, the preferences for different types of dwelling, the amount of sunshine in rooms, the degree of atmospheric pollution and so on. After the survey is complete a forecast of future development is made in the form of a map, or series of maps: the master plan or development plan. As no one can be certain when the development is to take place and since a society is an organic thing, with life and movement, the plan of a city must be flexible so that it may extend and renew its dwellings, reconstruct its working places, complete its communications and avoid congestion in every part.

The plan is never a complete and fixed thing, but rather one that is continually being adapted to the changing needs of the community for whom it is designed. Until quite recent years town plans were always made as inflexible patterns, but history has shown that a plan of this description inevitably breaks down in time.

The flexible plan, preceded by a survey, is one of the most revolutionary ideas that

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man has ever had about the control, of his environment.

Most towns today, have a characteristic functional pattern as follows: a central core containing the principal shopping centre, business zones, surrounded by suburbs of houses. Most town planners accept the traditional town pattern. In the preparation of a master plan they are preoccupied with the definition of the town centre, industrial areas, and the areas of housing; the creation of open space for recreation, the laying down of a pattern of main roads which run between the built-up areas (thus leaving them free of through traffic) and connect them to each other.

The master plan thus has to define the ultimate growth of the town, but though the master plan is a diagram, and even a flexible one, it is the structure upon which all future development is to take place.

7.3.10 Read the text and retell it according to the plan

Text 7 C

Design of the Complete Town

In considering the design of a town or city we must always remember that the town must be sited in a healthy position, free from dust, fogs, its layout must not encourage winds through urban spaces, and it must not pollute its own atmosphere. It must provide proper standards of space and sunlight to its buildings and open spaces, and it must be possible to move about the town easily and without danger to life. Its parts must be so arranged that it is a convenient place for dwelling, working and playing.

Connected with these and many other technical problems is the problem of economy. The problem must be thoroughly examined which does not suggest that the cheapest scheme may be the best.

The town must work properly but it should also give pleasure to those who look at it. When we say that a town should be beautiful, we do not mean that it should have some fine parks and noble buildings, we mean that the whole of the environment, down to the most insignificant detail, should be beautiful.

If we examine a typical urban scene we see all kinds of objects like buildings, lamp posts, pavings, posters, and trees. It is all of them, together with all the other kinds of

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objects that are found in the town, that are called the raw materials of a town design. Each of them down to the least important should be aesthetically satisfying.

Designing in terms of past time does not imply the imitation of the existing environment but respect of the form, colour, texture, and general qualities of the existing development. That which is being constructed is for immediate use which is not to suggest that there must be an attempt to ignore the past and be "modern".

Future time must also be thought of in terms of the estimated life of the objects. Objects like buildings and lamp posts grow old and become out-of-date, and the designer must select those materials that are adequate for their life, no more and no less.

Until comparatively recent times the growth of cities has been without purpose in any sense. Cities must grow, for growth is a law of life. But this natural overgrowth should have aroused action to restore balance. Mere size, as such, is no index of greatness.

All overgrowth means overcrowding, which is loss of space, one of the vital needs of cities. The lesson that has to be learned is that natural growth, and all the other forms of growth have to be made subject to will and intelligence, or the city must be harmed. This is a certain lesson of history.

7.3.11Find the true sentences

1)When building a town we should be very careful not to spoil what exists already.

2)The streets and buildings of existing towns will serve many future generations.

3)When designing a town we should not forget that its citizens should be able to move about it without any danger to their life.

4)The economics of a town plan and the technical problems are closely connected.

5). Scientific forecast also includes progressive methods of planning.

6)The designer should select the best building materials for the objects of his planned town.

7)Cities will grow but their growth must be controlled.

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