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continues vertically up its façade ... snaking escalators create streets in the air

English translation: escalators are like moving sidewalks

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:continues vertically up its façade ... snaking escalators create streets in the air
Selected answer:escalators are like moving sidewalks
Entered by: Stephanie Ezrol

03:22 Jan 9, 2010
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Architecture
English term or phrase: continues vertically up its façade ... snaking escalators create streets in the air
The large public piazza in front of the building continues vertically up its façade, where snaking escalators create streets in the air.

The piazza continues up its facade and the escalators create streets? It doesn't make sense to me. Anyone rewrite the sentence for me.
Mark Chen
Local time: 02:29
escalators are like moving sidewalks
Explanation:
The author is waxing poetic. Take the sentence in the following three parts:

1. "The large public piazza in front of the building continues"
The piazza continues (as an idea of a public gathering place)

2. "vertically up its façade,"
(the idea of the piazza as a public meeting place continues with the walking area continuing on the outside front of the building)


3. "where snaking escalators create streets in the air."
(throught the means of a series of escalators, which are like moving sidewalks climbing up the front of the building)

Selected response from:

Stephanie Ezrol
United States
Local time: 14:29
Grading comment
thanks. I would also like to thank Annett for the picture. A good picture is worth one thousand words.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +8escalators are like moving sidewalks
Stephanie Ezrol
Summary of reference entries provided
external escalators
Annett Kottek (X)
This idea was a disaster in '60s and '70s public housing
B D Finch

  

Answers


47 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +8
a sentence
escalators are like moving sidewalks


Explanation:
The author is waxing poetic. Take the sentence in the following three parts:

1. "The large public piazza in front of the building continues"
The piazza continues (as an idea of a public gathering place)

2. "vertically up its façade,"
(the idea of the piazza as a public meeting place continues with the walking area continuing on the outside front of the building)


3. "where snaking escalators create streets in the air."
(throught the means of a series of escalators, which are like moving sidewalks climbing up the front of the building)



Stephanie Ezrol
United States
Local time: 14:29
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
thanks. I would also like to thank Annett for the picture. A good picture is worth one thousand words.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Annett Kottek (X): The people are technically not yet inside the building; these escalators can therefore be said to be a continuation of the public space.
3 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Jack Doughty
3 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Sarah Bessioud
3 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Teresa Reinhardt
4 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Shera Lyn Parpia
5 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Alexandra Taggart: I would say "sidewalks turn into escalators"
6 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Rolf Keiser
7 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Phong Le
1 day 4 hrs
  -> thanks
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Reference comments


3 hrs
Reference: external escalators

Reference information:
‘Entrance to Pompidou Center (with external escalators)’
IMAGE: http://www.dassance.org/paris/images/pomp19.jpg

Annett Kottek (X)
United Kingdom
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

12 hrs peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: This idea was a disaster in '60s and '70s public housing

Reference information:
"And that led to their theory of “streets in the air”, based on their opposition to modernist planning that carved cities up into quarantined functional areas.

"As younger members of CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) and, by 1956, as founding members of Team 10, they were at the heart of the debate on the future course of modern architecture, demonstrating a broad concern in the social environment and advocating for buildings that were specific to their location and purpose. Rather than the CIAM understanding that cities should be zoned into specific areas for living, working, leisure, and transport, the Smithsons argued in favor of mixed use within the same area. They conceived mid-rise housing as ’streets in the air’ to encourage sentiments of belonging and neighborliness, rather than isolated slab-like towers. They believed these goals could be achieved at differing levels of human association: house, street, district and city. (Harvard University Library Smithson Archive)

"Unfortunately, when they tried to put it into practice the result was Robin Hood Gardens."


    Reference: http://adaptivereuse.net/2008/03/05/dont-be-brutal-to-robin-...
B D Finch
France
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Alexandra Taggart: Would you agree, that the idea itself was appealing?
22 hrs
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