第1段

The word ‘genius’ is universally associated with the name of Leonardo da Vinci. A true Renaissance man, he embodied scientific spirit, artistic talent and humanist sensibilities. Five hundred years have passed since Leonardo died in his home at Chateau du Clos Luce, outside Tours, France. Yet far from fading into insignificance, his thinking has carried down the centuries and still surprises today.

第2段

The Renaissance marked the transition from the 15th century to modernity and took place after the spread of the plague in the 14th century, which caused a global crisis resulting in some 200 million deaths across Europe and Asia. Today, the world is on the cusp of a climate crisis, which is predicted to cause widespread displacement, extinctions and death, if left unaddressed. Then, as now, radical solutions were called for to revolutionise the way people lived and safeguard humanity against catastrophe.

第3段

Around 1486 – after a pestilence that killed half the population in Milan, Italy – Leonardo turned his thoughts to urban planning problems. Following a typical Renaissance trend, he began to work on an ‘ideal city’ project, which – due to its excessive costs – would remain unfulfilled.  Yet given that unsustainable urban models are a key cause of global climate change today, it’s only natural to wonder how Leonardo might have changed the shape of modern cities.

第4段

Although the Renaissance is renowned as an era of incredible progress in art and architecture, it is rarely noted that the 15th century also marked the birth of urbanism as a true academic discipline. The rigour and method behind the conscious conception of a city had been largely missing in Western thought until the moment when prominent Renaissance men pushed forward large-scale urban projects in Italy, such as the reconfiguration of the town of Pienza and the expansion of the city of Ferrara. These works surely inspired Leonardo’s decision to rethink the design of medieval cities, with their winding and overcrowded streets and with houses piled against one another.

第5段

It is not easy to identify a coordinated vision of Leonardo’s ideal city because of his disordered way of working with notes and sketches. But from the largest collection of Leonardo’s papers ever assembled, a series of innovative thoughts can be reconstructed regarding the foundation of a new city along the Ticino River, which runs from Switzerland into Italy and is 248 kilometres long. He designed the city for the easy transport of goods and clean urban spaces, and he wanted a comfortable and spacious city, with well-ordered streets and architecture. He recommended ‘high, strong walls’, with ‘towers and battlements of all necessary and pleasant beauty’.

第6段

His plans for a modern and ‘rational’ city were consistent with Renaissance ideals. But, in keeping with his personality, Leonardo included several innovations in his urban design. Leonardo wanted the city to be built on several levels, linked with vertical outdoor staircases. This design can be seen in some of today’s high-rise buildings but was unconventional at the time. Indeed, this idea of taking full advantage of the interior spaces wasn’t implemented until the 1920s and 1930s, with the birth of the Modernist movement.

第7段

While in the upper layers of the city, people could walk undisturbed between elegant palaces and streets, the lower layer was the place for services, trade, transport and industry. But the true originality of Leonardo’s vision was its fusion of architecture and engineering. Leonardo designed extensive hydraulic plants to create artificial canals throughout the city. The canals, regulated by clocks and basins, were supposed to make it easier for boats to navigate inland. Leonardo also thought that the width of the streets ought to match the average height of the adjacent houses: a rule still followed in many contemporary cities across Italy, to allow access to sun and reduce the risk of damage from earthquakes.

第8段

Although some of these features existed in Roman cities, before Leonardo’s drawings there had never been a multi-level, compact modern city which was thoroughly technically conceived. Indeed, it wasn’t until the 19th century that some of his ideas were applied. For example, the subdivision of the city by function – with services and infrastructures located in the lower levels and wide and well-ventilated boulevards and walkways above for residents – is an idea that can be found in Georges-Eugene Haussmann’s renovation of Paris under Emperor Napoleon Ⅲ between 1853 and 1870.

第9段

Today, Leonardo’s ideas are not simply valid, they actually suggest a way forward for urban planning. Many scholars think that the compact city, built upwards instead of outwards, integrated with nature (especially water systems), with efficient transport infrastructure, could help modern cities become more efficient and sustainable. This is yet another reason why Leonardo was aligned so closely with modern urban planning and centuries ahead of his time.

第1段： “天才”一词普遍与达·芬奇的名字联系在一起。作为一个真正的文艺复兴人物，他具有科学精神、艺术天赋和人文情怀。自从达·芬奇于500年前在法国图尔市郊区的克罗斯吕斯城堡中去世以来，他的思想并没有逝去，而是传承下来，并在今天依然令人惊讶。

第2段： 文艺复兴标志着15世纪向现代的过渡，而在14世纪黑死病蔓延之后，人类经历了一场全球性的危机，在欧洲和亚洲造成了大约两亿人口的死亡。如今，世界正面临一场气候危机，如果不加以解决，预计将导致广泛的人口迁移、物种灭绝和死亡。与当年一样，需要寻求根本性的解决方案来革新人们的生活方式，以及保护人类免遭灾难。

第3段： 1486年左右，在意大利的米兰市一场夺去了该市半数人口生命的瘟疫之后，达·芬奇开始思考城市规划问题。顺应文艺复兴的潮流，他开始着手一个“理想城市”的项目，然而由于成本过高，这个项目最终没有实现。然而，考虑到不可持续的城市模式是全球气候变化的主要原因之一，自然而然地想知道达·芬奇将如何改变现代城市的形态。

第4段： 尽管文艺复兴以在艺术和建筑方面的令人难以置信的进步而闻名，但很少有人注意到15世纪也标志着城市规划作为一门真正的学科的诞生。直到显赫的文艺复兴人物在意大利推动大规模城市项目（如重建比恩扎镇和费拉拉城的扩张）之前，西方的思维中很大程度上缺乏有关城市概念的严格与方法。这些工程无疑启发了达·芬奇重新思考中世纪城市设计的决定，中世纪城市以其曲折拥挤的街道和挤在一起的房屋为特点。

第5段： 由于达·芬奇工作笔记和草图的无序性，很难确定他对理想城市有一个协调的构想。然而，通过迄今为止所收集到的最大数量的达·芬奇的手稿，可以重建出他对特纳河新城创设的一系列创新思想，特纳河是一条从瑞士流入意大利长248公里的河流。他设计了这座城市以便于货物运输和创造清洁的城市空间。他希望建设一个舒适而宽敞的城市，拥有井然有序的街道和建筑物。他建议建造“高大而坚实的城墙”，配有“必要而令人愉悦的塔楼和堡垒”。

第6段： 他对一座现代化和“理性”的城市的规划与文艺复兴的理念是一致的。但是，符合他个人特点的是，达·芬奇在城市设计中还加入了一些创新。他希望城市建在多个层次上，并通过垂直室外楼梯连接。这种设计在今天的高层建筑中可以看到，但在当时是非传统的。事实上，这种充分利用内部空间的想法直到20世纪20年代和30年代的现代主义运动中才得以实现。

第7段： 在城市的上层，人们可以在优雅的宫殿和街道之间自由行走，而下层则是用于服务、贸易、交通和工业的区域。然而，达·芬奇的构想真正独特之处在于将建筑与工程相结合。达·芬奇设计了广泛的水利设施，通过整个城市建造人工运河。这些运河由时钟和水池控制，旨在使船只更容易在内陆航行。达·芬奇还认为街道的宽度应与相邻房屋的平均高度相匹配，这是意大利许多现代城市仍然遵循的规则，以保证阳光的照射和减少地震风险。

第8段： 尽管一些特点在罗马城市中有所存在，但在达·芬奇的绘图之前，从未有过一个经过充分技术构思的多层次、紧凑的现代城市。事实上，直到19世纪才应用了他的一些想法。例如，通过功能划分城市，将服务设施和基础设施放置在较低层，为居民提供宽敞通风的大道和行人道上层，这个概念可以在拿破仑三世统治下的巴黎由乔治·尤金·奥斯曼在1853年至1870年间进行的改造中找到。

第9段： 如今，达·芬奇的想法不仅仅具有时效，更为现代城市规划提供了一种前进的方式。许多学者认为，紧凑的城市将向上而非向外发展，与自然（尤其是水系统）相结合，并配备高效的交通基础设施，有助于现代城市变得更加高效和可持续。这正是为什么达·芬奇如此紧密地与现代城市规划相契合，相对于他所处的时代领先了几个世纪的另一个原因。