多义的栏杆

范路/FAN Lu

作者单位：清华大学建筑学院/《世界建筑》

栏杆是最基本的建筑构件之一，也是具有丰富内涵的建筑要素。而为了充分理解栏杆的多重内涵及其在建筑设计中的意义，我们可以简要考察其在英文中的名称、释义和词源。

栏杆（阑干），也常称作扶手和护栏，对应的英文则有“railing”“handrail”“balustrade”“baluster”“banister”和“parapet”1）。栏杆最直白的翻译应该是railing，意指由杆件构成的护栏。其词根rail大约在14世纪初，由古法语和民间拉丁语传入英语，意指直杆。这充分体现了栏杆最简单质朴的形态。到了19世纪，随着工业革命的到来，rail多了铁轨和纤细的含义，railing也就更多指向现代建筑中由水平竖直的金属细杆构成的栏杆。顾名思义，虽然扶手handrail常常等同于栏杆，但更强调其中的水平横杆，及其对人手和身体的支撑。与railing的简单直白形成对比，栏杆的另一组译名baluster和balustrade则更具有古典的形式风格意味。栏杆柱baluster词根最早则可以追溯到希腊语，意指野生石榴花。而到了17世纪初，该词从法语和意大利语传入英语，则用来表示具有石榴花萼曲线或里拉琴身曲线的、支撑横杆的立柱。而balustrade则是由成排或一系列的baluster构成的楼梯或阳台护栏。对形式风格的强调还产生了“栏杆柱式”，常采用古典柱式的微缩处理。还有一个近似的词是banister，从17世纪下半叶到18世纪上半叶，常用来指称设计粗俗的栏杆立柱。最后一个词护栏parapet是16世纪末从中古法语或意大利语和拉丁语传入英语，它最初是指城堡和城墙上具有防御性的矮墙和屏障，后来也指称阳台、桥梁、屋顶、平台等处的护栏。

通过上述概念辨析，我们可以将栏杆设计的特色大致分为4类，而这也是本专辑案例选取的参考依据。

第一类，强调栏杆自身的材料和几何构成。其中，纯杆件和纯墙体可算是这一类的两极。然而这两极在具体设计中又可以相互结合、相互转化。例如贝聿铭建筑中常出现的在楼梯一侧墙面上挖出凹槽的扶手处理，便可看作是墙体与虚体杆件的整合。在耐克MSK盒项目中，钢框架不仅充当栏杆，更延伸为活动平台的围墙。而在丹麦海事博物馆建筑中，玻璃护栏采用无框无柱处理。高透明度的玻璃板如同墙体一样，既是围护构件又发挥结构作用。远远望去，仿佛仅剩一根横杆漂浮在空中。

第二类，突出栏杆与其他建筑构件的关系，并表现整体设计意图。在建筑中，栏杆并不会单独存在，它势必与其他构件相结合，形成楼梯扶手、平台护栏、门窗把手等大量形态独特的建筑部件。而对此精心设计便会产生某种诗意，强化整体建筑秩序——前面提到的栏杆柱式便是很好的例证。而在现代建筑史中，尽管菲利普·约翰逊的玻璃自宅占得首次发布的先机，但玻璃墙上的护栏扶手却使其成为一座“普通建筑”。反观密斯·凡·德罗设计的范斯沃斯住宅，却凭借超越重力的清晰建构和无栏杆的玻璃外墙，成为一个纯粹的哲学性结构和范式经典。而在当代的加尔西穆尼奥斯城堡改造项目中，加建的栏杆、天桥、隔栅等钢和玻璃构件，与石材砌筑的城堡遗址交织在一起，共同形成了延续加泰罗尼亚文化气质的艺术空间。

第三类栏杆的设计特色是暗示内外空间关系，参与建筑对地形与城市界面的定义。在空间中，栏杆是一种弱隔断。它一方面提供防护，阻挡继续前行以避免危险；另一方面它又让视线越过，暗示空间和行为的可能性。同时，栏杆作为一种竖向构件，会成为楼板、墙体或立面的一部分，塑造建筑的对外姿态。在金牛山森林步道项目中，“悬浮”的步道随地形起伏，避免破坏山体植被。而步道护栏采用竖向隔栅样式，强调通透性以及与山林树木的视觉融合。而对于挪威国家歌剧与芭蕾舞剧院项目，护栏的设计却是强调水平延伸。其室外斜坡与护栏墙体没有直接相交，而是留出下沉的凹槽。这些凹槽作为阶梯或坡道，在边缘形成了快捷路线。同时这也削弱了护栏围墙的竖向尺度，带来斜坡可以向四周延伸出去的意向。

还有一类栏杆，其特色则突显了栏杆与人身体、行为、记忆以及与情感的关系。栏杆扶手是充分体现人体尺度的建筑构件。它诱惑人在建筑中行进，促进建筑流线的形成。它还激发人的触觉体验和想象，塑造使用者的身体姿态，如中国传统建筑中的“美人靠”。更进一层，就像米开朗基罗在西斯廷天顶画中用手指的轻触来象征赋予人类灵魂，用手握住扶手也有可能隐喻进入物质空间之外的记忆与情感世界。当然也有表达反向意图的设计。在法国国家图书馆项目中，建筑师变换了3种护栏样式——极少杆件式的、T型钢构的和高墙式的。但这些非常规的处理，都是要弱化栏杆的人体尺度特征，以超尺度的方式突出图书馆的纪念性。

上述4类划分只是出于认识上的简便，而在栏杆设计中，建筑师常常会有多重考虑，护栏也会具有多重涵义。例如在李&郑住宅项目中，新置入的白色钢架结构既是护栏扶手，也是连接楼板、让绿植、光线和视线穿透的墙体。它还充当“悬空而透明”的看台，并成为立面上颇具吸引力的构成元素。

最后，需要表达一下致谢。感谢李路珂、青锋和古斯塔夫·安布罗西尼3位学者为本期撰写主题文章。还需要感谢以下各位建筑师和学者——胡越、五十岚太郎、龙灏、柳亦春、曹晓昕、葛明、胡恒、唐芃、鲁安东、刘亦师、张昕楠，正是他们对于诸多精彩案例的介绍和点评，才使本期专辑得以完成。□

注释

1）对于栏杆在英文中的名称、释义和词源的辨析，综合参考了以下资料来源：《朗文当代高级英语辞典》《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》《牛津建筑与景观词典》和EtymOnline。

The railing is one of the most fundamental architectural components and has rich meanings. To understand sufficiently those multiple meanings in architectural design, we could make a brief review of the synonyms in English of railing, and their connotations and etymologies.

In English, railing is synonymous with handrail,balustrade, baluster, banister and parapet1), while the connotations of those words are of subtle difference. The railing is a fence made of bars, and its etyma, rail, was from old French and vulgar Latin in the beginning of the 14th century and meant bar or straight stick. In the 19th century, with the coming of Industrial Revolution,it was used figuratively for thinness and railroads. And then the railing usually referred to a fence with horizontal and upright metal bars which was applied in modern architecture. The handrail is frequently used instead of the railing, but it emphasises a little more about the long horizontal bar and its relationship with human hands and the support for peoples. The other two words, baluster and balustrade, are with more decorative implications.Baluster originated from Greek and came from French and Italian in the beginning of the 17th century. It means uprights with lyre-like double curves or shapes like the calyx tube of the pomegranate flower. The balustrade is a row or a series of balusters supporting a handrail of a stair or forming a type of parapet. And the balustrade order or the orders of balustrade columns are the design with the miniature versions from the Classical orders. There is another similar word, banister, which was often used to indicate the corruptive and vulgar baluster from the first half of the 17th century to the second half of the 18th century. The last word to be discussed is parapet which in the end of the 16th century came from Middle French or directly from Italian and Latin. It originally means a low wall or barriers at the top edge of defensive buildings such as castles and town-walls, but later it also implies a low wall along the edge of a balcony, a bridge, roofs, a terrace,etc.

Through the connotational analysis above, we could roughly recognise four categories of features in architectural railing design. And those are also the reference standard for us to select projects in this special issue.

The first category emphasises materials and geometrical composition of the railing itself.Constructions of pure bars or low walls are the two extremes in this category. While in specific designs, the bar style and the wall style could be integrated or mutual transformed, such as the railing disposition usually found in I.M. Pei's buildings could be regarded as the combination of wall and void bar.

The second category highlights the relationship between the railing and other architectural elements,and between railing design and the expression of overall intention. In the Farnsworth House designed by Mies Van der Rohe, railings are deliberately removed from the glass walls, which intensify the idea that it should appear as a philosophical structure.

In the third category, railings located in roof terrace,entrance and exterior space of a construction play an important role in connecting inside and outside and in architectural definition of the topography or urban interface. As in the project of Jin Niu Shan Trans-Urban Connector, "floating" walkways undulate with the mountain landform, and grating plates are used as walkway parapets which brings about a sense of visual fusion of walkways and mountain forest.

Furthermore, in the fourth category, the handrail has a close relationship with users' subjective feelings.It brings about tactile experience and imagination for users, shaping their body gestures, and promotes the formation of circulation by tempting users to walk through a building. The "Meirenkao" in traditional Chinese garden pavilions – railing with the curves echoing the beauty's resting-gesture, are typical of this kind.Generally speaking, the classification is made just for epistemological purpose, while in practical design, railings are considered to be with multi-category connotations.

Finally, we would like to appreciate the help of many scholars and architects. Without their contributions,this issue wouldn't come out. We'd like to thank LI Luke,QING Feng, Gustavo Ambrosini, who wrote articles specially for this issue. We'd also like to thank HU Yue,Igarashi Taro, LONG Hao, LIU Yichun, CAO Xiaoxin,GE Ming, HU Heng, TANG Peng, LU Andong, LIU Yishi,ZHANG Xinnan, who made enlightening reviews of railing design.□