Uncomfortable. It’s a word I’ve heard a lot while reporting on the ongoing Greek economic crisis during the past few years. People who once had good jobs， houses， a level of comfort， suddenly find it’s all vanished. Athens-based architect Katerina Kamprani’s no exception.
　　Kamprani： Well， the problem is getting worse， and here in Athens and in Greece in general， architecture is not going very well. I also try to do other stuff.
　　And what Kamprani’s done is tap into her own discomfort. A few years ago she started thinking of everyday objects and how they might be reimagined.
　　Kamprani： The first sketch that I did， it was a toilet. That was， the floor of the toilet was elevated two metres， approximately， from the floor， so you have to use a ladder to go to the toilet. And I then thought “that’s uncomfortable.”
　　Indeed！ And then，…
　　Kamprani： Another idea popped into my mind， which was a closet that， its doors would open inward. Yeah， even if you put something in it， you cannot take it out very easily.
　　 Kamprani transferred her sketches to her computer and started doing 3-D mockups of the objects. There’s an umbrella made of cement， a beautiful bowl with a hole in the bottom， and yellow rain boots without the toes.
　　 Kamprani： I tried for the objects to be a bit usable. I don’t want them to be completely useless. We could use them but you have to try a lot.
　　 She calls the set of designs “The Uncomfortable.”
　　 There are many variations on that classic， the fork. Kamprani’s got versions with hinged tines. There’s another with tines three inches thick. They’re forks， but they’re not.
　　 Kamprani： We all know what a fork does and what a spoon does， and， you know， all these everyday objects around us. So you have an expectation of that object to do something， and what I design doesn’t. It’s very close to that， but it’s a bit different.
　　 For my part， I started out by laughing at Kamprani’s designs， and then， after a couple of minutes， I got a bit annoyed.
　　 Kamprani： Many people get angry. I don’t know why. They say “I’m so angry seeing this.”
　　 Kamprani thinks it’s because people start thinking about what it would be like to try to use her uncomfortable objects.
　　 Take Kamprani’s design for a pretty blue watering can. She’s turned the spout backwards， so that if you tried to pour the water out， it would， instead， pour right back into the can.
　　 Kamprani： It’s not even in the guidelines that I have for myself for uncomfortable. I think it’s completely useless： doesn’t do anything. But it’s very symbolic. 　　 Symbolic， she says， of life in Greece these days. It’s moved beyond the uncomfortable， says Kamprani， and straight into the surreal. And what would be even more surreal， she says， is if one day the Greek economy actually improved， and she had enough money to build real versions of her computer-designed creations. I’d be the first in line for those toeless yellow rain boots. They’d actually go quite well with that watering can that doesn’t actually water. Kind of an official “sideways glance”uniform.
　　 “不自在”，这是在过去的几年里，我对希腊持续的经济危机进行报道时常常会听到的一个词。人们曾一度有份好工作，有自己的房子，生活安逸，突然间，一切都消失了。雅典的建筑师凯特琳娜·坎普拉尼也不例外。
　　 坎普拉尼：呃，问题越来越严重，在雅典，以至于在整个希腊，总的来说建筑业也不景气，所以我尝试做点别的。
　　 坎普拉尼所做的就是利用自己的不爽情绪。在几年前，她开始对日常生活用品进行思考，想想它们可以如何以不同的样子出现。
　　 坎普拉尼：我画的第一幅草图是一个马桶。那个马桶的底部离地面大概有两米高，这样的话，你要上厕所还得用梯子。当时我就想，“那可真不爽。”
　　 确实是不爽！接下来……
　　 坎普拉尼：我想到的另一个主意，那就是柜子，一个门朝里开的柜子。对，即便你把东西放到柜子里面，但想拿出来并不容易。
　　 坎普拉尼把自己的设计草图放到电脑里，并且开始做一些三维模型。那是用水泥做的伞，那是底部有一个洞的很漂亮的碗，还有露出脚趾头的雨靴。
　　 坎普拉尼：我尽量让这些物品能够派得上一点用场，我不会让它们完全不可用。我们可以使用这些物品，但我们得费不少劲。
　　 她把这个系列的设计命名为“让人不爽的物品”。
　　 叉是一个经典的设计，有多个版本。坎普拉尼设计的其中一款叉的叉齿是用铰链与叉的上部连接在一起的，另一款的叉齿则有三英寸厚。这些都是叉，但又不是叉。
　　 坎普拉尼：我们都知道叉和勺的用途，你也知道，我们身边的这些物品，我们也知道它们的功用，所以你会对一个物品的功用有一定的预期，但我设计的用品却不能满足这些预期。它很接近，但又有点不一样。
　　 而我呢，我一开始对坎普拉尼的设计一笑置之，但过了一会儿，我有点儿恼火。
　　 坎普拉尼：许多人都会生气，我也不知道为什么。他们说：“看到这些我很生气。”
　　 坎普拉尼认为，那是因为人们会想到如果真正使用她这些让人不爽的物品会怎么样。
　　 以坎普拉尼设计的这个漂亮的蓝色洒水壶为例吧。她把喷水口设计成朝里了。这样一来，如果你想往外倒水，水反而会倒回壶里。
　　 坎普拉尼：这个设计甚至不符合我为自己订立的不爽设计的规矩。我觉得这个东西完全是没有用的，什么都做不了。但它很有象征性。
　　 她說，它是当今希腊生活的象征。今天的生活已经远不止是不爽那么简单了，而是直接就进入了一个离奇的状态。而她说，更加让人难以置信的是如果有一天，希腊的经济有所好转，她有足够的钱可以把这些电脑设计变成实物。那我会第一个想要一对那种露趾的黄色雨靴，它们其实与那个不能倒水的洒水壶蛮搭的。两样放一起，应该会让人侧目吧。