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French to English: Architectural Text General field: Other Detailed field: Architecture
Source text - French En bordure de la "voie ferrée" de la ligne T2 du tram, un petit musée a récemment surgi, qui raconte une éminente chronique : comment, entre les deux guerres, par la volonté d'un élu visionnaire, Henri Sellier (1883-1943), l'humain fut placé au coeur de la politique d'une ville. C'est ce que relate le Musée d'histoire urbaine et sociale (MUS) qui a ouvert ses portes dans l'ancienne gare de Suresnes-Longchamp (Hauts-de-Seine).
Le lieu redonne vie aux cités-jardins d'Ile-de-France; des "utopies réalisées" qui ont éclos dans la première couronne parisienne. Après les errements de la gestion des grands ensembles et la morosité du pavillonnaire, on redécouvre aujourd'hui les vertus de ce mode d'urbanisme d'avant le tout-automobile. Un mode qui prônait la nature et le bien-vivre-ensemble, toujours d'actualité tandis que se développent les écoquartiers.
Au calcaire, à la pierre de taille et à la brique de l'ancienne gare, le cabinet d'architectes Encore heureux a adjoint un socle en béton beige. Echo à celle, mystérieuse, du Mont-Valérien, qui domine la ville, cette aimable citadelle accueille les expositions temporaires ; à la partie ancienne, qu'empruntaient jadis les usagers de la ligne des Moulineaux, les collections permanentes : le fonds est constitué de plus de 70 000 objets qui permettront de nourrir la programmation, et de documents, en grande partie numérisés.
Le MUS est la première des 21 étapes d'un "Parcours patrimoine du XXesiècle" dans la ville de Suresnes. Il propose une découverte de son histoire humaine et des lieux emblématiques qui l'ont enfantée : l'hôpital Foch et son pavillon Balsan de style anglo-normand, l'usine des parfums de l'ancienne société Coty, revisitée en 2003 par les architectes Valode et Pistre pourHavas Advertising, les maisons de la Criolla ou l'école de plein air et ses huit pavillons, à la fois salles de classe et solariums, ouverts sur un parc.
L'HABITANT L'ÉLÉMENT STRUCTUREL
Ce lumineux ensemble architectural, d'une modernité sans âge, classé aux Monuments historiques en 2002, a été construit entre 1932 et 1935 par Eugène Beaudouin (1898-1983) et Marcel Lods (1891-1978) associés à Jean Prouvé. Voulue par Henri Sellier, l'école était destinée aux enfants les plus fragiles de Suresnes, tuberculeux ou rachitiques. A l'abandon depuis une quinzaine d'années, les pavillons reliés par des coursives en pente douce attendent une peu probable rénovation, estimée à 40 millions d'euros. Les bâtiments adjacents abritent l'Institut national supérieur de formation et de recherche pour l'éducation des jeunes handicapés et les enseignements adaptés.
Translation - English At the edge of the T2 tram tracks, a small museum has recently been launched. It tells an important tale of events that took place between the two world wars: how, by the will of a visionary elected official by the name of Henri Sellier (1883-1943), human beings were placed in the center of the political heart of a city. This is the narrative presented at the Museum of Urban and Social History (MUS), which has opened its doors in the ancient station of Suresnes-Longchamp (Hauts-de-Seine).
The site brings new life to these garden cities of Ile-de-France; some “real utopias” that emerged in the inner suburbs of Paris. After the misguided management of large housing developments, and the gloominess of suburbia, people are now rediscovering the virtues of pre-automobile era urbanism. It is a model that encouraged harmony between nature and the desire to live well, still relevant today in the development of green districts.
The architectural firm Encore added a beige concrete base to the ancient station’s exterior of hewn and brick limestone. Echoing the mysterious Mount Valérien rising above the city, this gracious citadel welcomes temporary exhibitions. The permanent collection is housed in the old section of the station, which used to accommodate riders of the Moulineaux line. This collection is comprised of more than 70,000 objects that will remain to enrich the program, and documents which have largely been digitized.
The MUS is the first of 21 stages of a “Twentieth Century Heritage Route” in the city of Suresnes. It offers visitors the opportunity to discover its human history and the symbolic places that spurred its creation: Foch Hospital and its Balsan Pavillion in the Anglo-Normand style; the perfume factory of the ancient society of Coty, remodeled in 2001 by the architects Valode and Pistre for Havas Advertising; the Criolla (Criole) houses; or the open-air school and its eight pavilions, both classrooms and solariums that open towards a park.
THE INHABITANT AS STRUCTURAL ELEMENT
This brilliant architectural ensemble is contemporary in a timeless manner. Classified as a historic monument in 2002, it was constructed between 1932 and 1935 by Eugène Beaudouin (1898-1983) and Marcel Lods (1891-1978), associates of Jean Prouvé. The vision of Henri Sellier, the school was planned for the most fragile children of Suresnes, those with tuberculosis or rickets. Abandoned after some fifteen years, the pavilions are connected by gently sloping passageways awaiting an unlikely renovation, at an estimated cost of 40 million euros. The adjacent buildings house the National institute of Research and Training for the Special Education of Handicapped Youth.
Spanish to English: Literary Text General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Spanish - ¡Abdul! ¡Abdul!
La voz de Ismael recorrió la oscuridad de la noche como la súplica de un espíritu atormentado. Probablemente había rodeado su boca con ambas manos para que las palabras se dirigieran exactamente donde se suponía que me encontraba yo. Le respondí y la calma volvió a reinar en el pinar. Quizá debería dormir pero el suelo resulta poco acogedor y, de todas maneras, tampoco podría hacerlo sabiendo lo cerca que estaba del Espejo del Cielo. En lugar de dormir prefiero rezar, porque esta madrugada, más que nunca, será Su voluntad la que prevalezca sobre cualquier otro propósito.
¡Abdul! ¿Estás rezando? - ahora la voz de Ismael era un susurro. Estaba muy cerca.
- Sí – le respondí en voz baja.
- ¿Puedo rezar contigo?
-Sí, pero hazlo en silencio
Nos conocimos cerca de Usdah. Era de gran estatura y constitución fuerte, aunque también era evidente su carácter ingenuo y ciertamente simple. Por eso esta noche, al perderme de vista, se había sentido tan angustiado. Mientras las oraciones se suceden, el cielo adquiere una sutil claridad. El bosque comienza a tomar vida. Puedo ver a Ismael acurrucado muy cerca de mí. Parece dormir. Fahra se acerca y sin detenerse dice:
-Salimos en diez minutos. Despierta a éste o se quedará.
Asiento y lanzo una piedrecilla a Ismael.
-Diez minutos-le señalo con las manos
Ahora tenemos que esperar la señal. Puedo sentir los latidos de mi corazón estallando en mis sienes. Al mirar por encima del hombro sorprendo a Ismael orinando. ¡Dios mío!
¡No lo vamos a conseguir!
¡La señal, por fin!
Me levanto de un salto y empiezo a correr. Tras de mí oigo las pesadas zancadas de Ismael que me sigue de cerca. Pero al cabo de unos segundos, empieza a jadear y se queda atrás.
¡Corre Abdul!– grita mientras yo me alejo.
Pero en lugar de oír sus palabras de ánimo, oigo la voz de mi abuelo. Es una extraña pero reconfortante regresión temporal. Mientras mis piernas me llevan directamente a la valla, las palabras de Ismael me trasladan al tiempo en el que oí hablar por primera vez del Espejo del Cielo. ¡Corre Abdul! ¡No te pares! – gritaba mi abuelo.
Yo tenía ocho años y estaba a punto de ganar una carrera en la que participábamos todos los niños de la aldea. Recuerdo cada bocanada de aire caliente entrando en mis pulmones. La mirada fija en un punto inalcanzable; la escasa sujeción que ofrecía la arena bajo mis pies descalzos; los gritos de júbilo de mi madre y de mis tías.
Aquella noche, sentado junto al fuego, mi abuelo me premiaría con un cuento, porque tras su indómito espíritu, se escondía un auténtico ruwat, un cuenta-cuentos de fama legendaria.
- Erase que se era, Allah era en todo lugar y érase la albahaca y la azucena en el regazo de nuestro profeta, érase el bien y el mal, érase la vanidad de las estrellas y la bondad de Dios, que para satisfacerlas creó la arena y a los hombres del desierto. Las estrellas sabían de su propia belleza, pero a diferencia de la luna, que disponía del mar para colmar su vanidad, las estrellas carecían de un espejo lo suficientemente grande donde verse reflejadas.
Así es que Dios en su inmensa paciencia dispuso un grano de arena para que cada estrella tuviera su reflejo en la tierra. Y así, uno tras otro construyó un espejo para ellas. Y para que la envidia no se hiciera hueco entre tanta belleza, determinó que los hombres del desierto custodiaran su obra. Pero estos sucumbieron a su encanto y se creyeron poseedores del Espejo del Cielo, lo que despertó la ira de Dios castigándolos eternamente a padecer sed y a no encontrar un hogar permanente. Entonces, El en su inmensa misericordia, tuvo un gesto de piedad con aquellos desgraciados y les concedió el rocío para aliviar su sed y el camello para acarrear sus propiedades.
Así como lo he oído, así lo cuento y si miento, Dios lo sabrá.
Translation - English -Abdul! –Abdul!
Ismael’s voice travelled across the darkness of the night like a plea from a tormented spirit. He had probably put his hands around his mouth so that the words would be directed exactly where he assumed I’d be found. I responded and tranquility reigned again in the forest of pines. Maybe I should sleep but the floor is not very welcoming, and I couldn’t sleep anyway knowing how close I was to the Mirror of the Sky. I prefer praying instead, because this morning, more than ever before, it will be His will that will prevail over all else.
-Abdul! Are you praying? - now Ismael’s voice was a whisper. He was very near.
-Yes – I answered in a low voice.
-Can I pray with you?
-Yes, but do so in silence.
We met near Usdah. He was tall and strongly built, although his naivety and simple character were obvious. This is why he had felt such distress that night when he had lost sight of me. While prayers are going on, the sky takes on a subtle clarity and the forest begins to come to life. I can see Ismael curling up very close to me. He seems to be asleep. Fahra approaches and says without hesitation:
-We’re leaving in ten minutes. Wake him up or he’ll stay here.
I sit down and throw a pebble at Ismael
-Ten minutes I signal with my hands.
Now we have to wait for the sign. I can feel my heartbeats exploding in my temples. Looking over my shoulder I surprise Ismael while urinating. Oh my God!
We won’t make it!
Finally the sign!
I jump up and begin to run. Behind me I hear the heavy footsteps of Ismael following me closely. But after a few seconds, he begins to gasp and fall behind.
Run Abdul! – he shouts as I get further away.
But instead of hearing his words of encouragement, I hear the voice of my grandfather. It’s a strange yet comforting temporal regression. While my legs carry me directly to the fence, Ismael’s words take me back to the time when I first heard of the Mirror of the Sky. Run Adbul! Don’t stop! - shouted my grandfather.
I was eight years old and about to win a race in which all the children of the village took part. I remember each breath of hot air entering my lungs. Staring at an unattainable point in the distance, I remember the lack of control that the sand under my bare feet provided, and the jubilant shouts from my mother and aunts. That night, sitting together by the fire, my grandfather rewarded me with a story, because behind his indomitable spirit was an authentic ruwat, a storyteller of legendary fame.
Once upon a time, Allah was in all places. He was the basil and the lily in our profit’s lap; He was the good and the bad; He was the vanity of the stars and the goodness of God, who created the sand and the men of the desert to satisfy them. The stars were aware of their beauty, but unlike the moon, that used the ocean to satisfy its vanity, the stars didn’t have a large enough mirror to see their reflection.
So God, in his immense patience, ordered a grain of sand for every star, so that each would have its reflection on earth. And in this way, one after another, He made a mirror for them. And so that there would be no room for envy in the midst of such beauty, He determined that the men of the desert would look after his work. Overcome by its charm, they believed themselves to be the owners of the Mirror of the Sky. This aroused God’s wrath, who punished them to suffer from thirst and never find a permanent home. Then He, in his immense compassion, made a gesture of mercy towards those poor wretches and granted them dew to alleviate their thirst and the camel to carry their belongings.
As I have heard it, I have told it, and if I’m lying, God will know.
Portuguese to English: Environmental Text General field: Other Detailed field: Environment & Ecology
Source text - Portuguese O manejo, os fluxos e os intercâmbios de recursos biológicos (animais e vegetais) e genéticos e conhecimentos associados a eles, determinados pelas pautas e valores culturais de cada povo, têm sido uma base fundamental do processo de conservação e criação da biodiversidade. Por isto dizemos que ela é protegida pela diversidade cultural, ou em outros termos, que o reconhecimento da sociodiversidade é inseparável da conservação da biodiversidade. Incluem-se aqui tanto populações tradicionais e povos indígenas, quanto segmentos do campesinato, seja o de enraizamento antigo, seja o migrante que, na Amazônia, por exemplo, tem renovado suas tradições culturais, incorporando novos saberes em suas práticas agrícolas e agroextrativistas.
A Convenção sobre Biodiversidade colocou teoricamente a exploração econômica condicionada a sua preservação. Porém, tanto ela, quanto o marco geral da RIO 92 que representa a Agenda 21 destacam o desenvolvimento do mercado - um mercado aberto, sem barreiras - como condição e motor da sustentabilidade. Para o mercado garantir a manutenção da biodiversidade, dois problemas se apresentam: o mercado se interessa por produtos e não por ecossistemas; o tempo das suas estratégias não se adequa ao tempo da sustentabilidade ambiental.
As empresas de biotecnologia que usam como matéria-prima plantas, insetos ou outros animais da floresta, dos quais extraem princípios ativos, não se sentem diretamente responsáveis pela preservação desses ecossistemas. Mais parecem empreender uma corrida aos garimpos genéticos antes que acabem. A artificialização e homogeneização das sementes com as sementes híbridas e mais recentemente, com a imposição crescente, por parte dos grandes monopólios, das sementes transgênicas, provocam a erosão genética, que coloca em risco a segurança alimentar, e uma nova forma de poluição - a poluição genética - com sérios danos ao meio ambiente.
A mesma Agenda 21 afirma que a promoção do crescimento econômico, sustentado e sustentável, faz parte do combate à pobreza. Poderíamos deduzir dessa afirmação que o mercado garante que os benefícios do acesso aos recursos genéticos da biodiversidade serão repartidos de forma socialmente justa. Não é o que podemos constatar em geral. O mercado continua tendo como referência principal a distribuição de dividendos aos acionistas das empresas, com todas as implicações recorrentes: privilegiamento do curto prazo, migração rápida do capital e dos investimentos, busca permanente de vantagens comparativas.
Do mesmo modo que no século passado, o Estado Ocidental, pressionado pela luta de classes, disciplinou as empresas capitalistas, negociando ou impondo a legislação trabalhista e o estado de bem-estar, hoje, somente o poder público poderia, nos âmbitos nacional e internacional, impor regras a uma economia largamente internacionalizada para que seus lucros sejam revertidos em prol de maior igualdade.
O reconhecimento pela Convenção sobre Biodiversidade dos países sobre seus recursos genéticos significa tão somente o direito de negociá-los, não de subtraí-los às regras do mercado tais como definidas pela Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC), o que deixa as empresas multinacionais com enormes vantagens frente a possíveis estratégias nacionais na caça e na exploração da biodiversidade. Assim, a sociedade assiste e assistirá à sangria não só dos seus recursos, mas de remessas de lucro.
Translation - English A cornerstone in the process of conservation and the creation of biodiversity has been the management, flow and exchange of biological resources (animal and vegetable) and genetic knowledge associated with them, as determined by agendas and cultural values of each population. Therefore, we say that cultural diversity provides protection, or that the recognition of social diversity is inseparable from conservation and the creation of biodiversity. Traditional and indigenous populations, as much as segments of the peasantry, are included in this concept of social diversity, whether or not their roots are deep in the area. Recent migrants in Amazonia, for example, have renewed cultural traditions, incorporating new knowledge into agricultural practices and sustainable resource extraction.
The Convention on Biodiversity theoretically put preservation conditions on the economic exploitation of resources. However, the general milestones of RIO 92 represented in Agenda 21 promote market development – an open market without barriers – as a condition and engine of sustainability. There are two problems that affect the market’s ability to ensure biodiversity: the market is not interested in ecosystems but rather their products; and the timeframe of market strategies does not adapt to the timeframe of environmental sustainability.
Biotech companies that use plants, insects or other animals of the forest as their primary materials, extracting active ingredients from them, do not feel directly responsible for the preservation of these ecosystems. More seem inclined to race towards genetic prospecting before these resources run out. Genetic erosion is provoked by artificializing and homogenizing seeds with hybrid seeds, and more recently, by the increasing imposition of genetically modified seeds by large monopolies. This endangers food security and is a new form of pollution – genetic pollution – causing damage to the environment.
The same Agenda 21 affirms that the promotion of sustained and sustainable economic growth is part of the fight against poverty. One can deduce from this assertion that the market will guarantee that the benefits of access to the genetic resources of biodiversity will be distributed in a socially just manner. This is generally not what has been observed. The market continues to largely favor distribution towards company stockholders, with the repeating consequence of privileging the short term, including rapid migration of capital and investments, and the perpetual search for comparative advantages.
In the same way as in the past century, western governments, pressured by class struggle, disciplined for-profit corporations by negotiating or imposing worker legislation and social welfare reforms. Today, only public power, at the national or international level, could impose rules on a largely globalized economy so that profits will be allocated to favor greater equality.
The acknowledgement of the Convention on Biodiversity by countries regarding their genetic resources refers only to the right to trade these resources, not to exempt them from market rules as defined by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which confers enormous advantages to multinational corporations faced with conceivable national strategies regarding hunting and the exploitation of biodiversity. In this way, society facilitates not only the draining of natural resources themselves, but also their profits, and will continue to do so in the future.
Italian to English: Art / Science Text General field: Science Detailed field: Science (general)
Source text - Italian Davanti ad un'opera d'arte è facile emozionarsi, provare un'immedesimazione profonda con quello che si osserva. Impossibile rimanere indifferenti di fronte al dolore delle vittime dei "Disastri della guerra" di Goya o ai giochi di luce e di corpi nelle tele del Caravaggio. Meno scontato, forse, è che si abbia la stessa reazione con l'arte astratta, che di corporeo ha poco o nulla.
Eppure, si crea la stessa risonanza emotiva. Lo dimostra uno studio di un gruppo di ricercatori dell'Università di Parma e della Columbia University, che svela qualcosa di nuovo su come si comporta il cervello di chi osserva un'opera d'arte astratta. Nello spettatore che guarda, ad esempio, i tagli sulla tela di Lucio Fontana, si attiva la corteccia motoria. Un segnale indiretto dell'"accensione" dei neuroni specchio, cellule del sistema nervoso che permettono di spiegare dal punto di vista fisiologico l'empatia, ovvero la nostra capacità di metterci in relazione con l'altro.
Per la prima volta, i ricercatori guidati da Maria Alessandra Umiltà e Vittorio Gallese - scopritore, insieme a Giacomo Rizzolatti, Leonardo Fogassi e Luciano Fadiga dei neuroni specchio - con David Freedberg, storico dell'arte alla Columbia University di New York, hanno osservato una risposta motoria specifica nel cervello di chi osserva un'opera statica, astratta, anche se in questa non è presente alcuna rappresentazione di corpo in movimento. Del resto, è già stato dimostrato che la visione non è solo confinata all'attivazione delle parti visive del cervello, ma coinvolge anche le regioni cerebrali coinvolte nel movimento, nelle sensazioni tattili e nelle risposte emozionali.
Il rapporto tra arte e cervello affascina da tempo il professor Gallese. Se ne occupa in modo specifico una disciplina recente delle neuroscienze, la neuroestetica, che cerca di spiegare l'esperienza estetica a livello neurale. Con Freedberg Gallese ha già firmato un lavoro uscito nel 2007 in cui si ipotizzava come i neuroni specchio giocassero un ruolo chiave nel rapporto diretto con l'opera d'arte, attivando in chi la osserva una risposta universale.
"In quel lavoro teorico", ricorda il professore, "sostenevamo che l'empatia è una componente essenziale della nostra esperienza di fronte ad un'immagine, anche artistica. E lanciavamo l'ipotesi che questa forma di "risonanza" con l'opera d'arte si potesse osservare anche quando non c'è nulla di corporeo con cui immedesimarsi, come nell'espressionismo astratto di Jackson Pollock o nei tagli di Fontana".
Ora dallo studio pubblicato su Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, arriva una prima prova empirica a sostegno di questa idea. Nel loro esperimento, Gallese e colleghi hanno mostrato ad un gruppo di persone riproduzioni ad alta risoluzione delle tele squarciate di Fontana alternate ad uno "stimolo di controllo": in questo caso un'immagine modificata, in cui il taglio veniva sostituito da una linea. Quello che mancava era l'aspetto dinamico, ma tutto il resto era sostanzialmente identico alla riproduzione dell'opera d'arte: bianco e nero, contrasto, numero di pixel.
Quello che i ricercatori hanno constatato è che osservando la riproduzione dell'opera d'arte tutti i soggetti, indipendentemente dal grado di mediazione culturale - solo una metà conosceva l'artista - hanno mostrato a livello cerebrale la stessa reazione, che invece non si è verificata di fronte agli stimoli di controllo: la soppressione del ritmo mu, segnale dell'attivazione del sistema motorio corticale.
Translation - English Standing in front of a work of art, it’s easy to be emotionally moved, to experience a deep sense of identification with what one is viewing. It’s impossible to remain indifferent when confronted with the pain of victims in Goya’s “The Disasters of War”, or by the effect of lighting or bodies in Caravaggio’s paintings. Less expected, perhaps, is having the same reaction to abstract art, which includes little or nothing of the human form.
Yet, this type of art produces the same emotional resonance. A study conducted by a group of researchers from the University of Parma and Columbia University reveals something new about how the brain behaves when observing abstract art. The motor cortex is activated in a person viewing the cuts on a canvas by Lucio Fontana, for example. An indirect signal is emitted from the “ignition” of the mirror neurons, cells in the nervous system that provide a physiological explanation for empathy, our ability to relate to the experience of others.
For the first time, researchers headed Maria Alessandra Umiltà and Vittorio Gallese, in collaboration with Giacomo Rizzolatti, Leonardo Fogassi and Luciano Fadiga, who discovered mirror neurons, and Art Historian David Freedberg of Columbia University in New York, observed a particular motor response in the brains of people viewing static and abstract works of art, even those that did not include any representation of the body in motion. In addition, it had previously been determined that vision is not confined to the brain's optical areas, but that it is also associated with cerebral regions involving movement, the sense of touch and emotional responses.
The relationship between art and the brain has fascinated professor Gallese for some time. He specializes in neuroaesthetics, a relatively new discipline of neuroscience that seeks to explain the aesthetic experience on a neural level. Together with Freedberg, Gallese has just completed a study that he began in 2007, which hypothesized that mirror neurons played a key role in the direct relationship with art, soliciting a universal response from viewers.
“In that theoretic work”, the professor remembers, “we asserted that empathy is an essential component of our experience when viewing images, including artistic ones. And we proposed the hypothesis that this form of “resonance” with the work of art could also be observed when there is nothing corporeal to empathize with, as in the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock or in the cuttings of Fontana”.
Now the first empirical evidence supporting this idea has emerged in a study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. In their experiment, Gallese and his colleagues showed high-resolution reproductions of Fontana’s painting to a group of people, alternating a “control stimulus”, in this case a modified image in which the cut was substituted with a line. The dynamic aspect was missing, although the rest of the image was identical to the reproduction, including color, contrast and number of pixels.
Although only half of the subjects were familiar with the artist, the researchers established that all viewers demonstrated the same reaction on a neural level when observing the reproduction, regardless of their level of cultural sophistication. This was not the case with the control stimulus, which provoked a suppression of the mu rhythm, an activation signal for the motor cortex system.
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Years of experience: 2. Registered at ProZ.com: Sep 2013.
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