爲什麼列車的座椅會如此醜陋不堪?
No matter how many subway lines, buses, trams, trains, and other public conveyances we ride, we are rarely left with a positive impression of the upholstery. How does this happen?
無論我們坐多少次地鐵、公交車、電車、火車和其它公共運輸工具，我們很少會對墊襯套留下一個好的印象。這是爲什麼呢？Excuse 1: The design constraints.
理由之一：設計限制。We ask a lot of transport fabric. It has to be durable, since each seat will cradle hundreds of backsides a day. It has to last for years, be easy to clean, and it has to be able to resist or disguise stains both accidental and vandalistic. It must also seem clean, even when it's not. Perhaps most important, it has to be safe: Fire, smoke, and smolder can be deadly, particularly dozens of feet underground in a poorly ventilated tunnel.
我們需要大量用於交通的布料。它必須得耐用，因爲每一個座位一天之內會有很多人去坐。它必須得能夠用上很多年，易於打掃，並且必須得能夠抵抗或者是掩蓋無意或有意留下的污點。它還必須得看起來乾淨，即使是並非如此。也許最爲重要的是，它必須得安全：火、煙和悶燒是致命性的，尤其是在地下幾英尺、通風條件較差的隧道里。
Excuse 2: The design process.
理由之二：設計流程。A design for a new railway coach is a tremendous get for a design firm like Wallace Sewell, but an updated Tube coach isn't the central assignment for a transport textile designer. Instead, most designers are working on branding for private coach companies or on small municipal lines. There, design as a civic good may not be the highest priority.
對於像華萊士·休厄爾這樣的設計公司來說，設計一種新的鐵路客車可以帶來巨大收益，但是更新地鐵並非交通紡織品設計師的核心任務。反而，大多數設計者在爲民營長途公交公司或小型市政客運線的品牌推廣工作。在這裏，利於公民的設計可能就不是優先考慮的事情了。Excuse 3: Fashion is fickle.
理由之三：時尚是變化無常的。"It's a trend industry now," says Newton. Transport fabrics follow fashion just like any other designed commodity, with big name artists and textile designers fighting to create the next classic moquette. But when fashion trends are less understated, so too is the design of your subway seat back.
牛頓表示，"現在這是一個時尚產業"。跟任何其它設計的產品一樣，運輸紡織品也會緊隨潮流，大名鼎鼎的藝術家和紡織品設計師努力去創造下一個經典的針織地毯。但是，當流行趨勢惹人注目時，地鐵的座椅靠背的設計也會緊隨潮流。
