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Serene Chinese boarding school named World Building of the Year
A Chinese boarding school designed to let students unwind and “waste time mindfully” has been named 2023’s World Building of the Year.
Featuring a rooftop park, treehouses and elevated walkways in a “floating forest,” the Huizhen High School in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in eastern China, won the coveted title at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore on Friday.
Designed by Approach Design Studio and the Zhejiang University of Technology Engineering Design Group, the serene campus’ communal areas are intended to blur the distinction between inside and out. The building features an open-air lecture hall and tree-lined pathways, in addition to study facilities for the 30-class school’s students.
Approach Design Studio said that while teaching prioritizes efficiency, a school’s campus itself should inspire free thinking. In its project description, the firm said its design was intended to let students “release stress, adjust their body and mind and discover beauty” outside the classroom.
The coveted World Building of the Year title is considered one of the architecture profession’s top accolades and is decided at the annual festival by a 140-strong expert panel. This year’s winning design was commended by judges for breaking with the conventions of school design.
Citing the jury while presenting the award on stage, WAF’s program director Paul Finch described the project as “(as) unexpected as it is delightful.”
“The architects managed to create a school which is very different than the usual model, where students are boxed in and put under teaching — as well as architectural — pressure,” Finch told attendees. “By contrast, this design encourages walking, fresh air and the possibility of relief from academic intensity.”
The design was chosen from almost 250 shortlisted projects, including Newark Liberty International Airport’s recently opened Terminal A, Australia’s Holocaust Museum in Melbourne and new national stadiums in both Cambodia and Senegal.
Buildings were judged across 18 categories, spanning commercial, cultural and residential architecture. Those winners then competed for the overall prize.
Huizhen High School triumphed in the school category. Other category winners included India’s 7.1 million-square-foot Surat Diamond Bourse, which this year surpassed the Pentagon to become the world’s largest office building, the Lanserhof Sylt, a hotel and health resort in Germany where buildings combine to form the largest thatched roof in Europe, and a residential home in the suburbs of Winnipeg, Canada.
Held in Singapore, which is home to three recent winners of World Building of the Year, WAF also handed out prizes for landscape architecture — this year awarded to the Benjakitti Forest Park in Bangkok, Thailand, an “urban ecological sanctuary” being developed on the grounds of a former tobacco plant — as well as proposals for ambitious future architecture projects and interior design.
Last year’s top prize was claimed by Australia’s Quay Quarter Tower, dubbed the world’s first “upcycled” high-rise after its design retained two-thirds of an old skyscraper on the site.
注释：
unwind: v
表示" 解开；松开；放松"，means "separate the tangles of"，如：She started to unwind her scarf. 她开始解开她的围巾。
covet: v
表示" 觊觎；"，means "wish, long, or crave for "，如：Never covet what is not yours, for it is a sin to steal a pin. 不是自己的东西就不要妄想，即使是偷一根针也是一种罪过
communal: adj
表示"公有的；公社的"，means "for or by a group rather than individuals"，如：In college we had a communal kitchen. 念大学时，我们有共有的厨房。
accolade: n
表示" 表扬；嘉奖"，means "a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction"，如：His new book received accolade from the papers. 他的新书受到报纸的热烈赞扬。
commend: v
表示" 推荐；称赞"，means " speak well of; praise"，如：He commend them for their enthusiasm. 他称赞他们的热情。
Senegal: n
表示" 塞内加尔(非洲国家名)"，如：The island of Goree lies off the coast of Senegal, opposite Dakar.戈雷岛位于塞内加尔海岸不远处，与达喀尔隔海相望。
thatch: v
表示" 用茅草等盖(屋顶)"，如：The family lived in a thatched cottage before liberation. 解放前，他们一家住在茅屋里。
sanctuary: n
表示" 圣所；耶路撒冷的神殿；避难所"，means ""，如：His garden was his pride and joy and became a sanctuary for birds. 他的花园是他的得意之作，并成为了鸟儿的庇护所。
dub: v
表示" 配音；授予称号"，means "give new or different sound efforts to; give a nickname to "，如：Is the film dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部影片是经过配音的还是配上字幕的？This led the official Chinese media to dub Rio a “dishonourable woman”. 这使得中国媒体将力拓称为“不忠诚的女人。”
upcycle: v
表示" 升级改造"
中文简要说明：
2023年世界建筑奖（World Building of the Year）近日在新加坡揭晓，中国浙江省宁波市的惠贞高中从8百多件参赛作品中脱颖而出，夺下「年度最佳建筑」殊荣，评审称赞该设计「打破了学校的常规」，不仅出人意料，也让人感到愉悦。
据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）报导，惠贞高中有别于一般学校，除了有容纳30个班级的教室之外，更特地在校舍中穿插以木头打造的空中廊道，衔接露天讲堂、树屋、顶楼公园和绿树成荫的小径，让师生无论走到哪个角落，都像是置身在绿意盎然的森林中，宛如一座「漂浮的森林」。
负责设计的「Approach工作室」和浙江工业大学团队表示，虽然教学注重的是效率，但校园也应该激发学生进行自由思考，因此希望能打造一个可以认真「浪费时间」的场所，让学生「释放压力，调整身心并发现美」。
世界建筑奖被认为是建筑业的最高荣誉之一，有建筑界奥斯卡之称，今年的评审由140名专家组成。项目总监保罗‧芬奇（Paul Finch）表示，惠贞高中的设计让人既惊喜又愉悦：「建筑师创造了一所截然不同的学校，学生们不是关起来，被教学和建筑物压得喘不过气。相反地，这里鼓励步行、呼吸新鲜空气，让学生能从紧张的学习中获得释放。」
世界建筑奖总共涵盖18个项目，包括商业、文化、住宅等等。去年的首奖由澳洲悉尼的「大桥街50号大楼」（Quay Quarter Tower）夺下，保留了原有的旧摩天大楼，设计师在原址上重新设计、打造，被誉为全球第一座「升级再造」（upcycled）的高楼。
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