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Now, Harriet Irwin's contribution to architecture was relatively minor but still quite interesting and unique.
哈里特·歐文對建筑的貢獻相對較小，不過依然是很有趣和獨特的。
She designed a house with a hexagonal shape. Josh?
她設計了一個六角形房子。喬希？
Student: A house with six sides?
學生：一個有六面的房子嗎？
Instead of the standard, you know, four-sided home?
而不是，你知道的，標準的四面的房子嗎？
Professor: Yeah. The rooms inside the house were also hexagonal, six-sided.
教授：是的，而且在房子里面的房間也都是六邊形的，就是說房間有六面。
So one important thing was that the rooms were arranged around a chimney in the center of the house, which could provide heat for the whole house through flues, uh, small air passageways into each room, as opposed to having a fireplace in every room, which would require more cleaning and make the air inside the house dirtier.
所以一個很重要的事情是，房間圍繞著位于房屋中心的煙囪建造，這樣可以通過煙洞給整個房子提供熱量，經過小的空氣通道送達到每個房間。而不是在每個房間都做一個壁爐，那樣就要做更多的清潔工作，而且會使在房子里面的空氣比較臟。
The house's shape also allowed for more windows.
房子的形狀也允許設計更多的窗戶。
Each room had a large wall that could fit a couple of big windows, giving every room a nice view of the outdoors.
每個房間有一面很大的墻，可以放入兩扇大窗戶，讓每個房間都能很好地看到外面的景色。
Student: Plus there would be good airflow through the house.
學生：另外還能有良好的氣流穿過整個房子。
Professor: Yes. In warm weather when you can open all the windows. Good.
教授：是的，在溫暖的天氣里你可以打開所有的窗戶。很好。
The doors to the house as well...uh...the house didn't have a main entrance or any hallways.
房子的門，房子沒有主入口或任何走廊。
So there could be a couple of entry doors in different places, which like the windows, provided ready access to the outdoors.
所以可能有幾個入口門開在不同的地方，就像窗戶的設計一樣，提供了非常方便的和戶外的連接。
So, what other advantages might there be to hexagonal rooms?
那么，六角房間可能有其他的優勢嗎？
OK. Think about cleaning.
好，想想清潔。
What part of a room is usually the hardest to clean?
房間的哪一部分通常是最難清潔的？
Like...to sweep with a broom.
比如用掃帚掃。
Student: Oh! The corners.
學生：哦！墻角！
Because in square or rectangular rooms, the corners are at 90 degree angles.
因為在正方形或者矩形的房間里，墻角是90度的角。
It's hard to reach all the dust that gathers in the corners.
這樣就很難夠到聚集在角落里的塵埃。
But if Irwin's rooms were closer to a circle than a square, it would be easier to reach all the dust and dirt with a broom. Right?
但如果歐文設計的房間更像圓形而不是正方形，掃帚就能更容易夠到所有的灰塵和污垢，對嗎？
Professor: Exactly. Now, um...biographers who wrote about Irwin in the 19th century, I feel, sort of downplayed the ingenuity of her design.
教授：正是這樣。現在我認為19世紀給歐文寫傳記的作家們并沒有重視她設計的獨創性。
But I think if she had designed this house today, the same biographers would praise her for coming up with a floor plan that emphasized function, efficient function of a house, as well as a design that's creative and unique.
不過我認為如果她是在今天設計了這所房子，同樣地傳記作家會贊揚她設計的平面圖里對功能性的強調，有效的房屋功能，還有她設計的創意和獨特性。
In any case, three houses were built in Irwin's time that used her hexagonal design.
無論怎么說，在當時有三座房屋利用了歐文的六角形設計來建造。
And in 1869, when she was 41, Irwin became the first woman in the United States to receive a patent for an architectural design. And that speaks volumes if you ask me.
在1869年，當歐文41歲的時候，她成為第一位在美國獲得專利的女性建筑設計師。依我說，這很有意義。
