The Crazy Engineering of Venice - YouTube

The year is 452, the Roman Empire is on the brink of collapse, and the Huns have just launched their attack on Northern Italy. Several cities are completely destroyed, forcing the locals to go on the run. They head for a lagoon just off the coast and take refuge on several small islands, a decision that would no doubt save their lives. Against all odds, this small civilization eventually went on to build one of the most impressive feats of engineering the world has ever seen, Venice.

公元452年，罗马帝国濒临崩溃，匈奴人刚刚对意大利北部发动了攻击。几个城市被彻底摧毁，当地居民被迫逃亡。他们前往沿海的一个泻湖，在几个小岛上避难。这个决定无疑拯救了他们的生命。尽管面临重重困难，这个小小的文明最终建造了世界上最令人惊叹的工程奇迹之一——威尼斯。

Despite having no roads, no land, and no fresh water, the Venetians managed to turn a muddy swamp into the most powerful and wealthiest city of its time. This unique layout of canals and bridges woven through hundreds of islands made Venice incredibly accessible, and it became the epicenter of all business. We modeled the entire thing to show you what's going on beneath the surface, and how its clever design and medieval engineering allowed it to take over the world.

尽管没有道路、没有土地、也没有淡水，威尼斯人还是成功地将一片泥泞的沼泽变成了当时最强大和最富有的城市。威尼斯独特的布局，由贯穿数百个岛屿的运河和桥梁交织而成，使这座城市极其容易抵达，并因此成为了商业中心。我们对此进行了全面的建模，向你展示其表面之下的情况，以及它巧妙的设计和中世纪的工程如何让它征服世界。

When the first refugees arrived to start their new lives on the islands, they had the worst possible surface to build on. The small, marshy islands were made of an incredibly soft clay, which would barely hold the weight of a human, let alone an entire city. To create stable foundations for buildings, the Venetians collected large timber piles from the forests of Croatia and started hammering them into the ground. They drove them about five meters deep until they reached a much harder layer of clay.

当第一批难民抵达岛屿开始他们的新生活时，他们面临的是最糟糕的地基。这些小而沼泽的岛屿由一种非常柔软的黏土构成，几乎无法承载人的重量，更不用说建设一整座城市了。为了给建筑物打下稳定的基础，威尼斯人从克罗地亚的森林中收集了大量的木桩，并开始将它们打入地下。他们将这些木桩打入大约五米深的地方，直到达到一个硬得多的黏土层。

Not only did this stabilize the piles, but by packing them really close together, it compressed the surrounding clay, pushing out the water and making it much stronger. Once the piles were firmly in the ground, the tops were cut off and wooden planks were laid on top to spread the load. Special blocks of Istrian stone were then placed to raise the foundations above the water. This design was a stroke of genius, as the wooden piles were sealed away from the air, making it impossible for them to rot. To this day, almost all of the original piles are in great condition and are still holding up the city.

不仅这样做稳定了木桩，而且通过将木桩紧密地堆放在一起，压缩了周围的黏土，挤出了其中的水分，使其更加坚固。一旦木桩牢固地插入地下，顶端就会被切掉，并在上面铺上木板以分散负荷。然后放置特别的伊斯特拉石块，把地基垫高，以防水浸。这一设计堪称天才之作，因为木桩被密封在空气之外，不可能腐烂。直到今天，几乎所有的原始木桩都保存完好，依然支撑着这座城市。

Once the foundation had been properly laid down, the buildings themselves were built. Venetians started off using wood for their houses, but after numerous fires, they switched to brick. To keep the buildings as lightweight as possible, they had to be no more than three stories high. Lime mortar had to be used instead of cement because it was flexible and would allow the entire building to flex as the ground beneath slowly moved.

一旦地基打好，房屋就开始建造了。起初，威尼斯人用木材建房，但因多次火灾改用砖块。为了尽量减轻建筑重量，高度不得超过三层。还需要使用石灰砂浆代替水泥，因为它更有弹性，可以让整个建筑随地面缓慢移动而调整。

The inner walls were built in a criss-cross pattern that would also flex like a trellis. The facade walls, which had large windows and elegant stone designs, made them much heavier, and so in order to stop them from falling over, they were pinned into the floor using iron rods, keeping the entire building together. This method of building worked well for the Venetians, and soon several islands around the Lagoon were established in this way. Instead of expanding outwards like most cities, these islands expanded into each other.

内墙被建成了交叉的图案，这样可以像棚架一样有弹性。外立墙则有大窗户和优雅的石头设计，使得它们很重，为了防止它们倒塌，人们使用铁杆将它们固定在地板上，使整个建筑稳固。这个建筑方法对威尼斯人来说非常有效，不久之后环绕泻湖的几个岛屿也采用了这种方式建造。与大多数城市向外扩展不同，这些岛屿相互之间扩展，形成了独特的城市布局。

At first, boats were the only way to cross between the islands, but eventually the islands grew closer together, and many could be crossed by simply wading through the shallow water on a horse. The next step in Venice's evolution would of course be connecting the islands. Surprisingly, there were no bridges for the first 500 years of Venice's existence, but as the population increased and business started to ramp up, there needed to be an easier way to reach Rialto, the financial center of Venice, and so the doge of Venice set up a prize for the engineer that could design the best bridge.

最初，船是唯一能在岛屿之间穿行的方式，但随着时间推移，岛屿逐渐靠近，许多地方通过骑马涉水就能过去。接下来，威尼斯的发展自然是要连接这些岛屿。令人惊讶的是，威尼斯成立的最初500年里并没有桥梁，但随着人口增加，商业活动增多，人们需要一个更便捷的方式前往威尼斯的金融中心——里亚尔托。因此，威尼斯总督设立了一个奖项，奖励能设计出最佳桥梁的工程师。

He announced this by putting up Displate posters all around the city. Just kidding. Displate, today's sponsor, makes awesome metal posters that can be easily mounted using their custom magnet mounting system. They have over 2 million pieces of artwork available, whether it's a beautiful Venice painting, or an official poster from collaborators like NASA, Star Wars, Call of Duty, or Netflix. My personal favorites are this Venice poster and this awesome James Webb design. With their magnet mounting system, you can mount a Displate in just 20 seconds without power tools and without damaging your walls.

他开玩笑说他是通过在全城张贴Displate海报来宣布这个消息的。实际上，今天的赞助商Displate制作了很酷的金属海报，可以使用他们的定制磁铁安装系统轻松安装。他们有超过200万件艺术作品，无论是美丽的威尼斯画作，还是像NASA、星球大战、使命召唤或Netflix的官方海报。我个人最喜欢的是这幅威尼斯画作和这个超赞的詹姆斯·韦伯设计。使用他们的磁铁安装系统，只需20秒你就可以安装一个Displate海报，无需电动工具，也不会破坏墙面。

Displate now offers these new texture posters, which bring the artwork to life with awesome 3D textures shaped into the metal itself. This premium finish is already available on hundreds of top-selling Displates. Displate offers ultra-fast shipping and your metal poster should be at your door in just 4 to 5 days. Start your collection today and visit Displate.com slash Primal Space or use code Primal Space.

Displate现在推出了这些新的质感海报，让艺术作品栩栩如生，采用金属本身打造出惊人的3D纹理。这种高端工艺已经在数百款畅销的Displate海报上应用了。Displate提供特快送货服务，你的金属海报只需4到5天就能送到你家门口。立即开始你的收藏，访问Displate.com斜杠Primal Space或者使用代码Primal Space。

In order to turn Venice from a collection of islands into a bustling city, bridges had to be built. The first attempt was a simple pontoon bridge that joined the two largest sections of Venice together, and crucially provided quick access to the Rialto area. The bridge was later upgraded to a wooden bridge, which eventually burned down and collapsed before it was finally replaced by a much stronger stone bridge. To build it, over 12,000 timber piles were driven into the banks of the canal, and 10,000 tons of stone were built on top to form the bridge. To this day, the bridge still stands and it serves as the main artery in the center of Venice.

为了将威尼斯从许多小岛变成一座繁忙的城市，必须建造桥梁。第一次尝试是一座简单的浮桥，将威尼斯的两大区域连接在一起，并且为快速前往里亚托区提供了便利。后来，这座浮桥被升级为一座木桥，但最终木桥被烧毁并倒塌，随后才被一座更坚固的石桥取代。为了建造这座石桥，需要将超过12,000根木桩打入运河两岸，随后在其上方堆砌了10,000吨石料。直到今天，这座桥依然屹立不倒，成为威尼斯市中心的交通主干道。

After this, stone bridges started to pop up everywhere, turning Venice into a compact city made up entirely of canals instead of roads. This gave Venice a unique advantage, since the canals allowed goods and traffic to flow quickly through every part of the city. The messy overlap of pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic didn't exist in Venice, since the walkways and canals were completely separated. Yet, people could transition between the two effortlessly without slowing down. By now, the city had become the most powerful and richest city in Europe. Everything being bought and sold went through Venice, and the Venetians were making enormous amounts of money.

在此之后，石桥开始在威尼斯各处涌现，将这座城市变成完全由运河而非道路组成的紧凑城市。这给了威尼斯一个独特的优势，因为运河让货物和交通能够快速地流经城市的每个角落。行人和马车交通混杂的混乱情况在威尼斯不存在，因为人行道和运河完全分开。然而，人们可以毫不费力地在两者之间切换而不减慢速度。到这个时候，威尼斯已经成为欧洲最强大、最富有的城市。一切买卖交易都通过威尼斯进行，威尼斯人赚取了巨额财富。

But as business increased, so did the population, and the demand or fresh water was out of control. Despite being surrounded by water, Venice couldn't use any of it, since it was extremely salty and undrinkable. Without natural springs or rivers to collect fresh water, Venice relied upon boats to deliver water from the mainland. But with 170,000 people, the demand became too much, and the Venetian engineers had to get creative.

但是随着商业的增长，人口也在增加，对淡水的需求变得失控。尽管被水环绕，威尼斯却无法使用这些水，因为它们都非常咸，无法饮用。威尼斯没有天然的泉水或河流来收集淡水，只能依靠船只从大陆运送水。然而，当时威尼斯有17万人口，这种需求变得太大，威尼斯的工程师们不得不变得有创意。

From the beginning, the Venetian islands were built around squares, which were initially just empty fields for animals to graze upon. The idea was to use these squares to collect rainwater. They started by digging out large areas under the entire square and lining the walls with a thick layer of clay to make it waterproof. The space was then filled in with sand and stones, and the surface was redone with tiles that would lead the water towards each corner of the square. From here, rainwater would flow into the basin and gradually filter through the sand and stones until it reached the main well at the center of the square. To maximize the surface area for water collection, the roofs of the nearby buildings were fitted with gutters that would direct the water onto the square and into the drains.

一开始，威尼斯的岛屿围绕着广场建造，这些广场最初只是供动物放牧的空地。设计的初衷是利用这些广场收集雨水。他们先在整个广场下方挖出大面积的空间，并在墙壁上涂上一层厚厚的粘土以防水。然后，这个空间填满沙子和石头，地面铺上瓷砖，使水流向广场的每个角落。从那里，雨水会流入蓄水池，逐渐经过沙子和石头过滤，然后到达广场中心的主井。为了最大限度地增加雨水收集面积，附近建筑物的屋顶安装了排水槽，将雨水引到广场并流入排水沟。

Venice then became an enormous funnel, which filled more than 600 wells around the city. The Venetians had once again engineered a masterpiece to save its city. But there was still one huge problem, waste. Until this point, people threw all of their waste out of the window, some of it landing in the canal. But for those who didn't live within throwing distance of a canal, urine, feces, and rotten food all ended up in the streets. And so, in the 16th century, the Venetians started building a network of underground tunnels that would collect the waste from every building and flush it into the canal.

威尼斯随后变成了一个巨大的漏斗，为全城600多个水井供水。威尼斯人再一次通过工程设计让他们的城市得以保存。但是仍然存在一个巨大的问题，那就是垃圾。在此之前，人们将所有的垃圾都从窗户扔出去，有些直接落到了运河中。但对于那些离运河较远的人来说，尿液、粪便和腐烂的食物都最终堆积在街道上。因此，在16世纪，威尼斯人开始建造一套地下隧道网络，这些隧道将每栋建筑的垃圾收集起来并冲入运河。

When the tide of the lagoon was down, solid waste would collect at the bottom, and the liquids would naturally flow into the canals. Then, when the tide rose, it would flood the tunnels and pull the solid waste into the canal. The motion of the tide coming in and out twice a day would exchange the dirty water for fresh water from the sea, flushing Venice from all of its waste. The extremely salty water worked as a strong disinfectant, and thanks to the system, the streets became clean.

当潟湖退潮时，固体废物会堆积在底部，而液体自然流入运河。然后，当潮水上涨时，它会淹没隧道并将固体废物带入运河。潮水每天进出两次，这种运动将脏水换成来自大海的干净水，把威尼斯的废物冲刷掉。非常咸的水起到很强的消毒作用，由于这个系统，街道变得干净了。

Amazingly, almost all of the incredible engineering that made Venice is still around today. The bridges, the canals, the buildings are all ancient relics sitting on a forest that has held up the entire city for over a thousand years. And now, time for the Primal Space giveaway. The winner of the previous giveaway is Leon. Congrats. In the next video, we'll be giving away this Primal Space designed Venice poster. All you need to do is sign up at the link below, like the video, and leave a comment saying what you think about Venice. Thank you very much for watching, and I'll see you in the next video.

令人惊叹的是，几乎所有让威尼斯成为奇迹的工程至今仍然存在。那里的桥梁、运河、建筑物都是古老的遗迹，坐落在一个支撑了整个城市超过一千年的森林上。现在是时候进行Primal Space的抽奖活动了。上一期抽奖的赢家是莱昂。祝贺你。在下期视频中，我们将送出这张Primal Space设计的威尼斯海报。您只需通过以下链接注册，点赞视频，并在评论中表达您对威尼斯的看法即可。非常感谢您的观看，我们下期视频再见。