TED@NYC
Dan Barasch: A park underneath the hustle and bustle of New York City
Dan Barasch: Un parc sota el bullici de la ciutat de Nova York
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Dan Barasch i James Ramsey tenen un pla esbojarrat per crear un parc ple de vegetació, sota la ciutat de Nova York. Tots dos estan desenvolupant la Low Line, un espai verd subterrani de la mida d'un camp de futbol. Ho estan construint en una terminal de tramvia abandonada el 1948, utilitzant una tecnologia que capta llum solar a la superfície i després la dirigeix sota terra. És un parc que pot prosperar fins i tot a l'hivern.
Dan Barasch - Strategist
Dan Barasch’s grandmother grew up in New York’s Lower East Side. Now, he’s building an underground park in her old neighborhood, where greenspace is limited. Full bio
Dan Barasch’s grandmother grew up in New York’s Lower East Side. Now, he’s building an underground park in her old neighborhood, where greenspace is limited. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
My dream is to build the world's first
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Somio en construir
00:14
underground park in New York City.
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el primer parc subterrani de Nova York.
00:17
Now, why would someone want
to build an underground park,
to build an underground park,
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Per què construir-lo?
00:19
and why in New York City?
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Per què a Nova York?
00:23
These three tough little buggers
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Aquestes tres petites bestioles
00:24
are, on the left, my grandmother, age five,
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són, a l'esquerra,
la meva àvia, amb 5 anys,
la meva àvia, amb 5 anys,
00:27
and then her sister and brother,
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i els seus germans,
00:29
ages 11 and nine.
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amb 11 i 9 anys.
00:30
This photo was taken just before they left
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Aquesta foto va ser presa
just abans de deixar
just abans de deixar
00:32
from Italy to immigrate to the United States,
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Itàlia i emigrar als Estats Units,
00:35
just about a century ago.
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fa un segle.
00:37
And like many immigrants at the time,
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I com molts immigrants,
00:39
they arrived on the Lower East Side
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van arribar a Lower East Side
00:41
in New York City
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a Nova York
00:42
and they encountered a crazy melting pot.
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i van trobar un gresol de races.
00:45
What was amazing about their generation
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El sorprenent de la seva generació
00:46
was that they were not only building new lives
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no només va ser que
comencessin noves vides
comencessin noves vides
00:49
in this new, unfamiliar area,
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en aquesta zona desconeguda,
00:51
but they were also literally building the city.
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sinó que també construïssin
literalment la ciutat.
literalment la ciutat.
00:54
I've always been fascinated by those decades
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Sempre m'han fascinat
aquelles dècades
aquelles dècades
00:56
and by that history,
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i aqueslla història,
00:57
and I would often beg my grandmother
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i sovint pregava a la meva àvia
01:00
to tell me as many stories as possible
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que m'expliqués històries
01:01
about the old New York.
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sobre la vella Nova York.
01:03
But she would often just shrug it off,
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Però sovint s'encongia d'espatlles,
01:06
tell me to eat more meatballs, more pasta,
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i em deia que mengés més
mandonguilles i pasta,
mandonguilles i pasta,
01:08
and so I very rarely got
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i en poques ocasions sentia
01:10
any of the history that I wanted to hear about.
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les històries que volia.
01:13
The New York City that I encountered
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La Nova York que vaig trobar
01:14
felt pretty built up.
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estava bastant construïda.
01:16
I always knew as a kid that I wanted
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Sempre vaig saber de nen que volia
01:18
to make a difference, and to somehow
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aportar una cosa especial,
01:20
make the world more beautiful, more interesting
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fer el món més bonic, més interessant
01:22
and more just.
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i més just.
01:23
I just didn't really know how.
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Només que no sabia com.
01:25
At first, I thought I wanted to go work abroad,
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Primer volia treballar l'estranger,
01:26
so I took a job with UNICEF in Kenya.
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i vaig agafar una feina a UNICEF a Kenya.
01:29
But it felt weird to me that I knew more about
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Però em resultava estrany saber més
01:31
local Kenyan politics than the
politics of my own hometown.
politics of my own hometown.
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de la política local kenyana que
la política de la meva ciutat.
la política de la meva ciutat.
01:35
I took a job with the City of New York,
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Vaig trobar una feina a Nova York,
01:37
but very quickly felt frustrated
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però molt aviat em vaig sentir frustrat
01:39
with the slowness of government bureaucracy.
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per la lentitud
de la burocràcia governamental.
de la burocràcia governamental.
01:42
I even took a job at Google,
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Vaig aconseguir una feina a Google,
01:44
where very fast I drank the Kool-Aid
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on em vaig empassar el que em deien
01:47
and believed almost wholeheartedly
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i creia gairebé de tot cor
01:48
that technology could solve all social problems.
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que la tecnologia podria
resoldre tots els problemes socials.
resoldre tots els problemes socials.
01:52
But I still didn't feel like I was
making the world a better place.
making the world a better place.
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Però encara no sentia que
millorava el món.
millorava el món.
01:55
It was in 2009 that my friend
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El 2009 el meu amic
01:57
and now business partner James Ramsey
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i ara soci James Ramsey,
01:59
alerted me to the location of a pretty spectacular site,
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em va ensenyar un lloc força espectacular,
02:02
which is this.
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que és aquest.
02:04
This is the former trolley terminal
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És l'antiga terminal de tramvia
02:06
that was the depot for passengers
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que era l'estació per a passatgers
02:08
traveling over the Williamsburg Bridge
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que creuaven el pont de Williamsburg
02:10
from Brooklyn to Manhattan,
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de Brooklyn a Manhattan,
02:12
and it was open between 1908 and 1948,
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i va estar oberta entre 1908 i 1948,
02:15
just around the time when my grandparents were
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just en l'època en què els meus avis
02:18
living right in the area.
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vivien en la zona.
02:19
And we learned also that the site
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I ens vam assabentar que el lloc
02:21
was entirely abandoned in 1948.
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va ser abandonat per complet el 1948.
02:24
Fascinated by this discovery,
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Fascinats per aquest descobriment,
02:26
we begged the authorities to draw us into the space,
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vam demanar a les autoritats
que ens hi portessin,
que ens hi portessin,
02:29
and we finally got a tour,
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i vam aconseguir una visita,
02:31
and this is what we saw.
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i això és el que vam veure.
02:33
Now, this photo doesn't really do it justice.
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Aquesta foto no li fa justícia.
02:35
It's kind of hard to imagine the unbelievably magical
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És difícil imaginar el sentiment màgic
02:37
feeling that you have when you get in this space.
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que tens quan entres en aquest espai.
02:40
It's a football field of unused land
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És un camp de futbol
de terra no utilitzada
de terra no utilitzada
02:43
immediately below a very crowded area of the city,
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a sota d'una zona
molt concorreguda de la ciutat,
molt concorreguda de la ciutat,
02:47
and it almost feels like you're Indiana Jones
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i et sents com Indiana Jones
02:49
on an archaeological dig,
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en una excavació arqueològica,
02:51
and all the details are all still there.
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i tots els detalls segueixen allí.
02:52
It's really pretty remarkable.
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És realment extraordinari.
02:54
Now, the site itself is located at the very heart
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El lloc està situat en el cor
02:57
of the Lower East Side,
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del Lower East Side,
02:59
and today it still remains one of the most
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que encara és un dels barris
03:00
crowded neighborhoods in the city.
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més concorreguts de la ciutat.
03:02
New York City has two thirds the green space
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Nova York té 2/3 d'espai verd
03:04
per resident as other big cities,
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com altres grans ciutats,
03:06
and this neighborhood as one tenth the green space.
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i aquest barri és 10 % espai verd.
03:09
So we immediately started thinking about how we
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Immediatament vam començar a pensar
03:11
could take this site and turn it into something
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com transformar aquest lloc en una cosa
útil per al públic,
03:13
that could be used for the public,
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03:15
but also could potentially even be green.
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però que potencialment fos verda.
03:17
Our plan, in a nutshell,
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El pla, en poques paraules,
03:19
is to draw natural sunlight underground
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consisteix a portar
llum solar natural sota a terra
llum solar natural sota a terra
03:21
using a simple system that
harvests sunlight above the street,
harvests sunlight above the street,
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amb un sistema simple que
capta llum solar de la superfície,
capta llum solar de la superfície,
03:24
directs it below the city sidewalks,
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i la redirigeix per sota de les voreres,
03:27
and would allow plants and trees to grow
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i permet a plantes
i arbres créixer
i arbres créixer
03:29
with the light that's directed underneath.
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amb la llum redirigida al subsòl.
03:31
With this approach, you could take a site
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Amb aquest enfocament,
03:33
that looks like this today
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un lloc que ara és així
03:35
and transform it into something
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podria transformar-se en alguna cosa
03:37
that looks like this.
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com aquesta.
03:39
In 2011, we first released some of these images,
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El 2011 vam publicar
algunes d'aquestes imatges,
algunes d'aquestes imatges,
03:43
and what was funny was,
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i va ser graciós que
03:45
a lot of people said to us, "Oh, it kind of looks
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molta gent ens va dir: "S'assembla
03:47
like the High Line underground."
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al parc High Line sota a terra".
03:49
And so what our nickname ended up becoming,
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Per això vam batejar el projecte
03:53
and what ended up sticking,
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amb un nom que va agradar:
03:55
was the Lowline, so the Lowline was born.
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el Lowline.
03:58
What was also clear was that people really wanted
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Estava molt clar que la gent
03:59
to know a lot more about how the technology
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volia saber-ne més
04:01
would look and feel,
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i provar la tecnologia,
04:03
and that there was really much more interest in this
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i que hi havia més interès en això
04:05
than we had ever thought possible.
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del que pensàvem.
04:07
So, like a crazy person, I decided to quit my job
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Vaig comentre la bogeria
de deixar la feina
de deixar la feina
04:09
and focus entirely on this project.
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i centrar-me en aquest projecte.
04:11
Here is us with our team
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Aquí estem amb el nostre equip
04:13
putting together a technology demonstration
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fent una demostració de la tecnologia
04:16
in a warehouse.
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en un magatzem.
04:18
Here's the underbelly of this solar canopy
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Aquesta és la part més vulnerable
d'aquest pavelló solar
d'aquest pavelló solar
04:21
which we built to show the technology.
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construït per mostrar la tecnologia.
04:23
You can see the six solar collectors at the center there.
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Podeu veure els sis col·lectors
solars en el centre.
solars en el centre.
04:26
And here's the full exhibit all put together
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Aquesta és l'exposició
de tot el conjunt
de tot el conjunt
04:29
in this warehouse.
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en el magatzem.
04:30
You can see the solar canopy overhead,
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Podeu veure el pavelló solar a sobre,
04:32
the light streaming in,
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la llum que entra,
04:33
and this entirely live green space below.
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i tot aquest espai verd a sota.
04:36
So in the course of just a few weeks,
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En unes poques setmanes,
04:37
tens of thousands of people came to see our exhibit,
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milers de persones
van venir a veure l'exposició,
van venir a veure l'exposició,
04:41
and since that time, we've grown
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i des de llavors ha crescut
04:42
our numbers of supporters both locally
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el nombre de simpatitzants locals
04:45
and among design enthusiasts all over the world.
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i d'entusiastes del disseny de tot el món.
04:47
Here's a rendering of the neighborhood
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Aquesta és una representació del barri
04:49
just immediately above the Line's site,
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just per sobre del Lowline,
04:52
and a rendering of how it will look
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i una representació de com es veurà
04:54
after major redevelopment that is coming
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després d'una important remodelació
04:56
over the course of the next 10 years.
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que tindrà lloc en els pròxims 10 anys.
04:58
Notice how crowded the neighborhood still feels
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Observeu com d'ocupat segueix el barri
05:00
and how there's really a lack of green space.
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i la falta que hi ha d'espais verds.
05:02
So what we're proposing is really something that will
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Per això proposem una cosa
05:05
add one football field of green space
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que afegirà un espai verd
de la mida d'un camp de futbol
de la mida d'un camp de futbol
05:09
underneath this neighborhood, but more importantly
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per sota del barri,
però el més important
però el més important
05:12
will introduce a really community-driven focus
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és que introduirà un espai
per a la comunitat
per a la comunitat
05:14
in a rapidly gentrifying area.
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en una zona de ràpid creixement.
05:16
And right now, we're focusing very closely
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En aquest moment ens estem concentrant
05:18
on how we engage with the City of New York
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en com implicar-nos
amb la ciutat de Nova York
amb la ciutat de Nova York
05:21
on really transforming the overall ecosystem
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per transformar l'ecosistema
05:24
in an integrated way.
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d'una manera integrada.
05:26
Here's our rendering of how we would actually
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Aquesta és la nostra representació
05:28
invite people into the space itself.
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de com convidar a la gent
en l'espai en si.
en l'espai en si.
05:30
So here you see this iconic entrance
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Aquí veieu aquesta entrada icònica
05:32
in which we would literally peel up the street
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en la que literalment obrim el carrer
05:34
and reveal the historical layers of the city,
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i revelem les capes
històriques de la ciutat,
històriques de la ciutat,
05:37
and invite people into this warm underground space.
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i convidem la gent
a un càlid espai subterrani.
a un càlid espai subterrani.
05:40
In the middle of winter, when it's
absolutely freezing outside,
absolutely freezing outside,
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A l'hivern, quan a fora glaça,
05:43
the last place you'd want to go would be
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l'últim lloc on anar
05:44
an outdoor space or outdoor park.
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és un espai o parc a l'aire lliure.
05:46
The Lowline would really be a four-season space
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El Lowline seria un espai
per tot l'any
per tot l'any
05:48
and a respite for the city.
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i un respir per a la ciutat.
05:51
So I like to think that the Lowline actually brings
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M'agradaria pensar que el Lowline tanca
05:53
my own family's story full circle.
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el cercle de la meva història familiar.
05:55
If my grandparents and my parents were really
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Els meus avis i pares es van centrar
05:57
focused on building the city up and out,
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en construir la ciutat de punta a punta,
06:01
I think my generation is focused on reclaiming
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crec que la meva generació
vol recuperar
vol recuperar
06:03
the spaces that we already have,
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els espais que ja tenim,
06:05
rediscovering our shared history,
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redescobrint la nostra
història compartida,
història compartida,
06:07
and reimagining how we can make our communities
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i tornant a imaginar com podem
fer les nostres comunitats
fer les nostres comunitats
06:09
more interesting, more beautiful and more just.
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més interessants, més boniques
i més justes.
i més justes.
06:12
Thanks.
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Gràcies.
(Aplaudiments)
06:14
(Applause)
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Reviewed by Òscar Aznar Alemany
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dan Barasch - StrategistDan Barasch’s grandmother grew up in New York’s Lower East Side. Now, he’s building an underground park in her old neighborhood, where greenspace is limited.
Why you should listen
Dan Barasch is the co-founder and executive director of the Lowline, an underground park that is being developed underneath the streets of New York City—in the Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal. In use from 1908 to 1948, this terminal is now abandoned. The Lowline will be a one-acre park in a neighborhood where greenspace is hard to come by. The project uses innovative solar technology to capture light above ground and distribute it below, making it a space that can be used in all four seasons. Once a wild idea, the project got a big boost on Kickstarter, raising more than $155,000 for its development in 2012. The project promises to be the inverse of New York's High Line.
Barasch has long known that he wanted to make a difference, but for years, wasn't quite sure how to go about doing that. Before he left his job to work fultime on the Lowline, he led strategic partnerships at PopTech; held multiple roles at Google; and worked in small business development in New York City government. He also consulted for UNICEF in Nairobi and with the 9/11 Survivors’ Fund in Washington DC. He began his career at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, co-producing the weekly NPR show “It’s Your World.”
Dan Barasch | Speaker | TED.com