刊首语
本期在作品栏目中刊登了鹿特丹Luchtsingel人行天桥项目,这座400m长的天桥把被城市道路分割的多处地块联系起来,将破碎的公共空间重新整合,使得鹿特丹中心地带更加人性化,也更加舒适绿色。设计师在天桥的建造中组织了众筹(crowdfunding)活动,只要投资25欧元便可将自己的名字刻在桥护栏面板上,以此筹集到建桥主要资金。Luchtsingel天桥虽然只是一个小项目,但却是改善鹿特丹火车站区域环境的大计划,建造过程极富创意,众筹集资又非常成功,所以这个项目获得了一系列重要的奖项,并频繁出现在各种媒体中。
众筹(crowdfunding)是近些年出现的一个新词,指普通大众以互联网为平台,集中多笔小额资金用来支持某个项目或组织。Luchtsingel人行天桥项目的众筹途径为设计师实现某些设想提供了新的参考和可能,这个项目给我们以启发,一些惠及大众普遍利益的计划,如果因缺少资金或受限于某些条件遇到困难,组织者或可以通过众筹活动,依靠大众的力量和支持,实施这项计划,并在实施过程中更有效地控制好设计的走向,而支持者也会在项目完成后受益。
公众之所以会参与到一项工程的众筹之中,愿意出资,支持众筹,归根到底还是因为设计师的好创意、好想法和出色的设计打动了他们。只有强大的团队和创新的成果才有可能获得公众的青睐,从而唤起大家相同的想法和愿望,贡献一份力量并支持和参与其中,共同完成一件事情。通过设计师提供的成果,参与者会相信,只要依赖大家哪怕是微薄的贡献,项目就能实施,而项目一旦完成,参与者不仅会从实施的项目中受益,而且也能获得荣誉。
看到Luchtsingel人行天桥的介绍,又想到另外一件事。这个项目受到普遍关注的另一个原因或许还在于它号称是世界上第一例主要通过众筹募资建造的公共基础设施。的确众筹是一个新鲜词,众筹活动多以互联网为平台来进行,然而为实现某项计划向公众募资的行为古已有之。中国许多寺庙的建造都依赖于民众的齐心协力和捐钱捐物,大家不图物质上的回报,但精神的寄托贯穿始终,寺庙是民众的信仰中心,他们在这里企盼祈福纳祥、消灾解厄,寺庙在某些时日也是公共活动的场所。民间的一些公共设施如村路、学校、小桥、水井也都有公众筹资建造的实例,捐助者贡献财力,从这些设施中获益,名字也会刻在石碑上。或许有人认为这应属于募捐,但这些与Luchtsingel人行天桥的众筹在本质上并没有什么区别。
近年的许多项目也具有或部分具有众筹募资的特点。纽约高线公园的部分建设资金和公园的绝大部分运营费用都由高线之友募集,这些费用支撑着公园的建造,也支付着管理人员的薪水和公园日常维护及运营的开销,还可组织公共活动和周边社区的联谊活动。捐助者也可享受到一些服务,如定期收到公园的杂志、礼品和活动入场券等,这与众筹本质上也没有什么差别。
可以预计,未来通过众筹活动实现某项计划的可能性无所不在。我办公室楼下清华东路西口由于道路与铁路平交,从早到晚交通拥堵不堪,过这个路口成为成千上万上班族和学生的一块心病,这种状况几十年来从未改善,且越来越严重,似乎也从未听说政府部门会采取什么对策,真希望能发起一次众筹活动,让每天都要往返于这个路口的民众参与其中,寻求解决这里交通拥堵问题的途径。相信通过众筹,向公众募捐资金,促进某项公共设施的实施,从而惠及市民,这终将成为市民参与和影响城市决策的一种方式。
PREFACE
In our section of project, we publish the project:Luchtsingel from Rotterdam. The 400-meter-long pedestrian bridge has reconnected the various districts,which returns this former heart of Rotterdam back to being green and liveable. With the crowd-funding campaign for financing, anyone pay €25 could buy a board inscribed with their name, and then this public infrastructure to be accomplished mostly through crowdfunding. The Luchtsingel project helps to improve the regional environment of Rotterdam Station. The Luchtsingel introduces a new way of making city, which is full of innovative thinking and has developed new instruments for design, financing, and planning. That's why the Luchtsingel won lots of awards over the world and was reported often by different media.
Crowdfunding is a form of alternative finance, which is a new concept appears these years. Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people,today often performed via internet-mediated registries. The crowd-funding model provides a new reference and brings more possibilities for designers to realize certain innovations. The Luchtsingel project pushes us to think. For some public good projects, we could attempt to utilize the crowd-funding approach to solve financial problem. Rely on public support to implement of the planning and the residents also would benefit from the project.
How to gain the public support for a project depends on how great and how valuable the planning is. Individuals or groups would only support the real innovative designs and excellent design team, and would love to join and contribute to promote and accomplish such a project. Crowd-funding is the collective effort of individuals and the initiators to make a public project could be completed. Finally, both designer and participants are honored for accomplishing it.
Moreover, the Luchtsingel is called the world's first crowd funded public infrastructure. That's why the Luchtsingel draws tremendous attentions from the world. We have to admit this is a creative way to achieve the funding goal with Internet and public support. However,in China, we carry on the similar thing like fostering public participation and getting collective efforts to help on social projects at very early. Many Chinese old temples are constructed depending on people work together and make donations. As we all known, the Chinese temple is a worship place of the local residents and visitors,where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They are here praying for auspiciousness and to expel all evil things. Temples sometimes is also a public place for special local activities. In the past of China, some other public facilities such as country roads, schools, small bridges and water wells also have been built based on the public financing. Each individual acts as an agent of the offering. They will play a donor role oriented towards building on social projects and then their names also would be engraved on the stone, which action is very close to the Luchtsingel.
In recent years, many projects are attempting to raise funds from a number of donors. Like New York the High Line project, part of the construction funds and the park's mostly operating expenses are made by crowd-funding. These money help to support the construction of the park, afford the management and daily maintenance costs, and also allow to organize public activities with surrounding communities. Meanwhile, donors will periodically receive the gifts, tickets or brochures from the park. It is also one type of crowd-funding practice.
In the future, we can see more and more activities and practices will attempt to adopt crowd-funding. There is always seeing heavy traffic jam around my office building. Everyday, walk around the intersection as a terrible thing for tens of thousands workers and students. Such conditions for a decade have never improved and the government has not taken any measures till now. We sincerely hope who would be the initiator proposes the idea and raises public participation and support to seek for the solution to the heavy traffic jam. With the crowdfunding, improve some public infrastructure and provide citizens with more conveniences. After all, people have a right to be involved in the decisions that affect them.
WANG Xiang-rong October 18, 2015