Arthur Analts设计的蜂巢硬币
Arthur Analts designs honeycomb coin in tribute to Latvia

由专筑网王帅，李韧编译

拉脱维亚（Latvian）设计师Arthur Analts设计了一枚5欧元硬币，蜂窝状的外形非常漂亮，表达了拉脱维亚丰富的自然资源。

蜂蜜硬币（The Honey Coin）模仿蜂巢的六角形结构，该结构用于蜜蜂储存幼虫、蜂蜜和花粉。

硬币的边缘为细胞状波浪，其中一些细胞闪闪发亮，仿佛里面充满了蜂蜜，而一部分细胞呈哑光状。

Latvian designer Arthur Analts has created a €5 coin with a tessellating honeycomb shape, to highlight the abundant natural resources of his home country.
The Honey Coin coin imitates the hexagonal cell structure of honeycomb, where bees store larvae, honey and pollen.
It has six sides, with wavy edges created by the shapes of the cells. Some of these cells are shiny, as if filled with glistening liquid honey, while others are frosted.



Analts赢得了由拉脱维亚银行（Latvijas Banka）组织的年度设计竞赛。纪念币由立陶宛铸币厂（Lithuanian Mint）铸造，现已由银行作为收藏品发行。

Analts解释，该项目的出发点来源于物理学家爱因斯坦（Albert Einstein）的一份声明，该声明声称，如果蜜蜂从地球上消失，人类将会在四年内灭绝。

Analts won an annual design competition organised by Latvijas Banka to create the coin. It was minted by the Lithuanian Mint and has now been issued by the bank as a collectors' item.
According to Analts, the starting point for the project was a statement by physicist Albert Einstein, claiming that the human species would become extinct within four years if the bee disappeared off the face of the earth.



拉脱维亚的生态资源非常丰富，这位伦敦设计师决定将蜜蜂作为生态资源的象征。

Analts说：“我想设计一枚关于拉脱维亚的硬币。我研究和思考了潜在的发展路线，据统计，拉脱维亚是世界上最环保的国家。”

他继续说：“我想展示生态，这对我们来说真的很重要，那么如何在硬币中做到这一点呢？”

The London-based designer decided to use the bee as a symbol of Latvia's impressive ecological credentials.
"The idea was to create a coin about Latvia. I was researching and contemplating the potential development routes, and according to statistics, Latvia is one of the greenest countries in the world," said Analts.
"I wanted to show ecology, and that it's really important to us," he continued. "The question was how to do it in a coin."



除了模仿蜂巢的结构外，这枚硬币还融入了拉脱维亚和里加湾的地理特征。在硬币的表面上，一些蜂巢细胞稍微扁平，形成了国家的抽象轮廓形态。

硬币的左下角刻着LATVIJA和2018。

硬币反面的五个蜂窝单元被压平，象征硬币的5欧元面额。数字5刻在中心偏左，下面刻有EURO（欧元）字样。

As well as emulating the texture of honeycomb, the coin also references the geography of Latvia and the Gulf of Riga. On the face of the coin, some of the honeycomb cells are slightly flattened, creating an abstract outline of the country.
LATVIJA is engraved onto the lower left part of the coin, while the year 2018 is inscribed below it.
On the reverse side of the coin, five honeycomb cells are flattened to symbolise the €5 value of the coin. The number 5 is inscribed to the left of the centre, with the word EURO engraved below it.



Analts说：“蜂巢上面的细胞结构很自然，虽然看起来棱角分明，十分工业化。但是，如果你仔细观察，你就会发现它们半径不同，深度不同，每一个都是独一无二。”

他继续说：“虽然它们看起来非常相似，但都有自己独有的东西，就像每一个拉脱维亚乡村农场的不同特性。”

“蜂巢闪闪发光，就像一面镜子，部分细胞呈哑光，这就是我们想要表达的内容，我们充分利用了材料、纹理、光泽和哑光特征。”

"These cells are also natural themselves. They may look angular and industrial, yet, if you look deeper, each of them is unique. Each has its own radius, each has its own depth, every one of them is unique," said Analts.
"They seem to be very much alike but they all have something of their own," he continued, "in the same way as probably every Latvian country farm is unique in its own way."
"Honey is a glistening substance, like a mirror, the cells are frosted, that is what we wanted the coin to show. We were playing with materiality, textures, lustre, frosting."



Analts希望人们能够利用形状的本质。

他补充说：“假如你买了很多硬币，你就能像拼图一样把它们拼凑在一起。每个小元素都是大元素的一部分。”

曾经使用欧元的欧洲国家有19个，包括拉脱维亚。

其他曾尝试重新设计货币的设计师还有白俄罗斯设计师Andrey Avgust。他提议将美国钞票旋转90度。还有One Rise East设计事务所，设计了26枚硬币套装，代表现代英国的A到Z字母。

Analts hopes that people will take advantage of the tessellating nature of the shape.
"A person buying several coins will be able to put them together like a puzzle. Each smallest element is a part of something bigger," he added.
The euro is currently used in 19 European countries, including Latvia.
Other designers that have had a go at redesigning currency include Belarusian designer Andrey Avgust, who proposed turning American banknotes 90 degrees, and design agency One Rise East, which created a set of 26 coins to represent an A to Z of modern-day Britain.